Quake 2 gets official ray-tracing support from Nvidia – Destructoid

The classics never die

Nvidia has announced a fully RTX enabled version of Quake II today. Dubbed Quake II RTX, this remaster of the 1997 ID Software classic adds ray-tracing support and dramatically overhauls the atmosphere of the shooter. Coming as a free download for PC and Linux on June 6, 2019, Nvidia states that this newest update will include “top-to-bottom enhancements that improve virtually every aspect” of the classic game.

For a few months now, mods have been going around that unofficially add ray-tracing support to Quake II. While that won’t mean a lot to the average user, the massive change in how light is rendered practically gives the game an entirely new look. It also shows the potential for what ray-tracing can do for future games, which will become much more important as the next-generation of consoles comes in. That statement is corroborated by Nvidia, which wrote on its website, “Quake II RTX demonstrates the possibilities of ray tracing, and offers a glimpse at the future of gaming, with realistic real-time lighting, shadows, and effects.”

When released, Quake II RTX will include the first three levels of the game for everyone to sample. If you happen to own Quake II (and who doesn’t?), you’ll be able to experience the entire game in this remastered format. Nvidia recommends having a GTX 2060 to ensure the best possible performance, though I’m not sure how else you’d run this on a non-RTX card.

Quake II RTX Available On Windows and Linux June 6th [Nvidia]

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