About the Grand Theft Auto 5 RT Upgrades
Grand Theft Auto 5 on PC has finally received the RT upgrades to achieve feature parity with the current generation console versions, almost three years since they arrived on Xbox and PlayStation consoles. The wait was worth it as scalability is impressive and the game also includes the ability to toggle ray traced global illumination – which may well hint at the kind of RT features we can expect to see in the upcoming Grand Theft Auto 6.
The Realistic Expectations
To begin with though, let’s be realistic. GTA 5 is almost 12 years old now and as such, there are limits as to how much better the game can actually look. The original was built around the fundamental constraints of the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, after all, and that still shines through today, even in the maxed out PC experience. Character models are of their era, while material and texture quality is nowhere near as impressive as modern releases. GTA 5 comes from a time before the games industry switched to techniques like physically-based art pipelines and shading maths. Ray tracing can still transform the game in many respects, but not to the extent of making it comparable to a brand-new triple-A release.
RT Global Illumination Enhancements
RT global illumination is a game-changer, providing a superior quality of light bounce around the environments in Grand Theft Auto 5. The impact of bounce lighting from the sun and the resulting indirect shadows drastically changes the overall look of the game for the better.
Detailed RT Upgrades
RT reflections, in particular, play a significant role in enhancing the visual quality by changing reflections on surfaces like windows to per-pixel RT upgrades. While not universally applied to all materials, the RT reflections still offer a more detailed and complex representation of the game world compared to console versions.
Implications for GTA 6
The comprehensive RT global illumination solution in GTA 5 suggests a potential preview of the lighting technology that could be featured in GTA 6. The level of detail and performance displayed in the RT upgrades for GTA 5 hints at what players can expect in the upcoming Rockstar release.
Performance and Optimisation
The optimisation of RT features in GTA 5, especially in terms of RT global illumination, sets a promising precedent for the performance of similar features in GTA 6. The detailed shadows and reflections, coupled with efficient GPU utilisation, point towards a visually stunning experience on the next-generation consoles.