Raytracing is clever. Good for realism. But end of the day, these are games, not simulations. Being blinded by reflective materials periodically doesn't sound like my kinda fun
Real-time ray traced reflections are an impressive trick, but real-time global illumination is where this tech shines IMO. This Digital Foundry video (https://youtu.be/NbpZCSf4_Yk) is a good overview of why this is such a huge leap forward for developers and players alike.
Metro: Exodus EE (the game discussed in the video) is the only game I've played that really shows what 'RTX' and similar GPU hardware is capable of, IMO. Even CP77, which was supposed to push modern systems to their limit, feels like its ray tracing and GI stuff is janky and tacked-on.
Damn, that really makes a massive massive difference. Makes me realise that the reason I can’t see anything in dark scenes in video games is technical limitations not artistic effect!
One of the things that hadn't occurred to me before watching this video is how much easier GI can make environment artists' jobs. Rather than "faking it" with a bunch of artificially placed light sources, they can just light the scene naturally and the effect should be as good as or better than the old techniques.
Raytracing is emulating photons and thus not only showing reflections, but all visible pixels on the screen. Shadows, light, dark reflections, glow, transparency, glossy, shinny ..everything.
