Активност

Days after cancelling the long-delayed graphics update that was planned for Minecraft, Microsoft has unveiled a separate boost for the block-based game’s visuals.

This update enhances how light bounces around Minecraft scenes to make them look more “realistic”.

The graphics patch will only be available to RTX Nvidia users.

Microsoft stated that it would be available in 2020, but they did not specify a date for the launch.

Hefty price

The RTX graphics cards use the technique of “ray tracer” to do a better job of working out how light bounces around virtual worlds in games.

It can make the visuals on the screen more realistic by making shadows, colours, and the play of light in game environments appear more realistic.

“Ray tracing is at the heart of what we believe will happen next to Minecraft,” stated Saxs Persson (creative director of Minecraft at Microsoft), in a statement.

“In normal Minecraft the block of gold just appears yellow, but with ray tracing enabled, you can see the specular highlight. You get to see the reflection, and you can even see a mob reflected in it,” he said.

Writing on the Rock Paper Shotgun game news website, Katharine Castle said the update was “impressive in action”. Minecraft

She added: “I do have concerns regarding how easy Minecraft’s RTX update will run.”

Ms. Castle said it would take an “hefty” RTX card to run all the different lighting, shadow and atmospheric effects at the same time.

Minecraft abandons Super Duper graphics plan Minecraft What’s to come 10 years later? Minecraft player is sacked for five years The cost of Nvidia cards differ widely across online retailers, but the lowest-end cards typically cost more than PS300, The most expensive models in the range can cost thousands. The update will only be available on Windows 10.

As the update is being developed, Minecraft-maker Mojang said it would be added as an option on the settings screen, so players could test it out.

It also added that it was working on a more general overhaul of Minecraft’s graphics engine. This, it said, could bring some improvements in visuals to those who do not have an RTX graphics card or do not play the game on the PC.

“Not all devices will be able to support the ray tracer, but we will be able to provide some graphics enhancements on the majority of devices,” said Mojang. There is no date set for when this general update will be available.