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We may be one step closer to a Doom 3 Path Tracing Mod

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The one game that came to my mind when NVIDIA announced the RTX Remix tool was Doom 3. Sadly, though, this game uses OpenGL and RTX Remix has a lot of trouble overhauling those games. However, we may be one step closer to a Path Tracing Mod as Justin Marshall was able to implement DX12 and DXR to the official level editor of Doom 3.

The modder has integrated Direct3D 12 and real-time raytracing (DXR) directly into the Doom 3 editor. As such, it allows full in-editor raytraced preview while building levels.

To prove those claims, Marshall shared the following video. In this video, we get a glimpse at a simple ray-traced level for Doom 3.

As said, this DX12 and DXR support is only available for the level editor of Doom 3. It does not allow you to play the entire single-player campaign. In fact, you can’t even download this mod yet as there isn’t any release yet on its Github. Still, this may open up the doors for a proper Path Tracing Mod.

I just hope that Marshall will keep working on it so that he can properly implement it into the game. A Path Tracing Mod will give a new life to this horror Doom game. Although some did not like it, I found it really cool. One of its strongest features was its lighting and shadow systems. They were way ahead of their time. So, it will be interesting to see whether Path Tracing can do anything at all. Will it enhance them even more? Or will the results be underwhelming due to the way id Tech 4 handled lighting and shadows?

If you want to play older games with Path Tracing, you should try these mods. For instance, you can find such mods for Black Mesa, Star Wars Republic Commando, Need for Speed Carbon, NFS: Underground, and Manhunt. You can also find more for BioShock, Morrowind, NFS: Underground 2, Star Wars Jedi Outcast, and Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines.

And that’s not all. Modders have released demos for their Path Tracing Mods for Deus Ex, Mirror’s Edge, and Tomb Raider. And then we have the RTX Remix Mods for Painkiller and Left 4 Dead 2. Unreal Tournament 2004 and Unreal Gold have also gotten the path-traced treatment. Half-Life fans can also play the game with Full Ray Tracing/Path Tracing. A demo has also come out for a Path Tracing Mod for Duke Nukem 3D. Then we have the beta release of the Dark Souls 2 Path Tracing Mod. Lastly, you can download these amazing Path Tracing Mods for Doom, Doom 2, Quake, and Serious Sam. These last ones are among the best Path Tracing Mods you can find. So, don’t skip on them.

Have fun!

Doom 3 Radiant in DirectX 12 + Raytracing (DXR) — First Ever Real-Time RT Radiant Editor