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Ray tracing is becoming extremely demanding among developers and gamers. Although it's a very good feature to elevate the usual gaming experience, its requirements are no joke. In "Minecraft," this graphics technology arrived on PC last year. However, the Xbox platform has just received it recently. In this case, we will discuss how you can download ray tracing on your PC and Xbox Series X|S. Stay tuned for more information as we go along. In the earliest days, the old video games relied on artificial lighting to simulate the lights coming from the surroundings. However, some people do not prefer this visual since it's not realistic and out of touch. With ray tracing, the players could now see a more realistic light. However, this capability is not to be underestimated since it requires heavy graphical power to operate. In "Minecraft," ray tracing has been available for some time on PC. However, the feature is still absent from the game's standard version. 'Minecraft' Ray Tracing RequirementsYou need to have a high-end PC to meet the minimum requirements for ray tracing in "Minecraft." Here's what you need to consider.
How to Enable Ray Tracing in 'Minecraft' for PCIf you want to test the ray tracing feature on your computer, you first need to download the ray tracing pack via the Minecraft marketplace. As of writing, Nvidia has released 14 RTX worlds that you can install right away. There's no extra charge upon downloading these packs. When it comes to using ray tracing in your "Minecraft" world, you need to open the game first and turn on the feature. You also need to consider getting a resource pack from Nvidia through this link. Once you're done obtaining it, go to the folder where it is located and open it. Restart the game afterward. In case ray tracing does not work upon loading the game, you need to tweak a few options on the video settings. Search for RTX toggle and turn it on later. Related Article: OpenAI Introduces a Neural Network That Can Play 'Minecraft' How to Enable Ray Tracing in 'Minecraft' for XboxIf you have an Xbox Series X or S, you switch on ray-tracing by first downloading the resource pack that's needed. Then, you can now proceed in downloading the Xbox Insider Hub by clicking here. Scroll over the Previews menu until you see "Minecraft Preview." After that, link your Xbox account to the Minecraft PC. You will notice that the ray-tracing pack is already there. Upon joining your Xbox console, head to the Settings and look for the sidebar. Tap Video and look for the Ray Tracing toggle. Click this option until it turns green. Read Also: Ray Tracing to Android? ARM to Release Immortalis GPU For 'Ultimate' Mobile Gaming Experience' This article is owned by Tech Times Written by Joseph Henry ⓒ 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Ray tracing is the latest generation of rendering technology to push real-time graphics closer to photorealism. It takes high-end hardware to make it work well, but if you’ve got the PC to handle it, there’s nothing else like its visual flair. Even Minecraft, known for its retro-style blocky 3D worlds, has not escaped the ray tracing glow-up. It’s not enabled by default, but you’re in for a magical time if you have the right hardware. What Does Ray Tracing Do in Minecraft?First, what’s generally referred to as real-time ray tracing in games is a more advanced approach known as path tracing. The general idea between the two is the same, but the math used in path tracing makes for a better final image. For this article, we’re just going to stick to “ray tracing,” but it’s worth knowing the term “path tracing” because it comes up repeatedly in modern graphics discussions. For a deep dive into this technology, check out What Is Ray Tracing? & What are Path Tracing and Ray Tracing? In Minecraft, ray tracing makes Minecraft more photorealistic. Light is simulated to act as it does in real life. The textures of objects in Minecraft have also been replaced with PBR (Physically-based rendering) materials with ray tracing mode on. In other words, wood has the optical characteristics of wood. Metal acts as it should, and so on. The result is a Minecraft world with reflections, shadows, and lighting that looks more like a real-world diorama of Minecraft than a video game. It must be seen to be believed, so feast your eyes on these screenshots. Amazing, right? If you’re keen to enter the world of ray-traced Minecraft for yourself, let’s start by checking if your system meets the minimum requirements. Minecraft Ray Tracing RequirementsTo use the ray-tracing mode in Minecraft, you need to meet the following requirements:
Only the Bedrock Edition of Minecraft supports ray tracing at the time of writing. This version is also known as the Windows 10 Edition, but it works just as well on Windows 11. The Java version of Minecraft, which is still immensely popular, doesn’t support ray tracing. While Radeon RX 6000-series cards support hardware-accelerated ray-tracing, they don’t have dedicated hardware like Nvidia’s RTX cards. If you have a low-end RX 6000 GPU, you may have some performance issues with ray tracing in Minecraft, especially if you crank up the detail. You should also note that the Bedrock Edition of Minecraft is available through Xbox Game Pass for PC or Game Pass Ultimate. If you’re a first-time subscriber, you can usually get the first month for a dollar to try it out and see if it works for you. There’s no need to purchase the Bedrock Edition if you have bought the Java Edition in the past unless you don’t want to play through Game Pass. The first thing to do is update your GPU drivers to the latest version. It’s also a good idea to update Windows if there are any pending updates. Purchase Minecraft Bedrock Edition in the Microsoft Store App or install it from the Xbox app if you’re a Game Pass subscriber. Once you launch the game, you’ll have to sign in with your Microsoft Account. If you’re already signed in through Windows, this should happen automatically.
Wait for the world generation process to complete, and you should be spawned in the game. If the game still looks like regular Minecraft, go back to the main menu. Then select Settings > Video and toggle the Ray Tracing switch to the on position. Your screen might flash briefly as the game world is re-rendered. Things should now look dramatically different. Welcome to the world of ray-traced Minecraft! If you want to return to a ray-traced world, all you have to do is select New Game from the main menu and then choose an RTX world from the list. Adjusting Ray Tracing SettingsUnlike in games such as Cyberpunk 2077, there’s not much you can adjust to ray tracing settings in Minecraft. The only things you have control over are Ray Tracing Render Distance and Upscaling. As the name suggests, render distance determines how far into the distance rays are traced. Beyond the render distance you set, ray tracing isn’t applied. So distant objects may not be reflected in shiny surfaces close to you. The higher this setting, the more spectacular the graphics will look, especially in outdoor areas lit by the sun. Eight “chunks” of distance are the default setting and the minimum. We suggest pushing this up one notch at a time until the game is no longer playable or becomes unstable. Don’t worry. You can’t break anything. The worst that can happen is that the game crashes, and you’ll know how far you can push your system. Upscaling simply means that the game is rendered below your screen’s native resolution and then scaled up. This is a great way to improve performance, and Minecraft scales well thanks to its chunky nature, so toggle this on if the frame rate is low. Ray Tracing for Minecraft on Xbox Series XAlthough Microsoft has demonstrated a ray-traced version of Minecraft running on the Xbox Series X, as we write this, there is no indication that this will become an official feature. If you want ray-traced Minecraft, the only place is a PC using the Bedrock Edition. No Ray-Tracing GPU? Try Alternative Shaders and OptiFineNot everyone is in the position to buy the latest GPU, or perhaps you prefer the Java Edition of Minecraft, which lacks the microtransactions and Windows 10 and 11 lock-ins. While you can’t get true ray tracing, there are many alternative shader packs you can download to change the game’s look dramatically. “Shaders” refer to pixel shaders, which are special graphics programs that help determine the exact color and brightness value that every pixel in the game should have. There are shaders to make things look wet and shaders to make things look lit or in shadow. There are shaders for anything you want to achieve on a computer screen. While traditional shader-based graphics don’t look as good as ray tracing, you can get pretty close! There are many options, and this isn’t a guide for alternative shaders in Minecraft. However, an excellent place to start is with alternate shaders and Optifine. YouTuber Daniel Plays has an excellent tutorial that walks players through this moderately technical process. |