CD Projekt Red and Nvidia have debuted Cyberpunk 2077‘s path tracing feature (termed “Overdrive Mode”) with a new trailer, comparing scenes and environments from the game with and without the usage of path tracing. Additionally, the video also reveals significant improvements in framerate with the usage of Nvidia’s DLSS 3 technology.
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Check out the reveal trailer below:
As announced previously, full ray tracing (commonly referred to as “path tracing”) is coming to Cyberpunk 2077 in a technical preview set for an April 11 release on PC. Full ray tracing “accurately simulates light throughout an entire scene,” and the addition of the feature to Cyberpunk 2077 has apparently only been made possible by Nvidia’s work with its RTX 40 series of GPUs and its AI-powered DLSS 3 technology.
The upcoming technical preview incorporates the NVIDIA RTX Direct Illumination SDK (RTXDI), which allows developers to place thousands of objects with ray-traced light in a scene. Additionally, the Global Illumination (GI) system has also been revamped to use path tracing, and reflections now “incorporate bounced detail” and are rendered at full resolution. Check out a scene comparison below:
Finally, the usage of Nvidia’s DLSS 3 supersampling solution heavily improves framerates while the resource-hungry path tracing feature is enabled. In ray-traced gameplay environments with numerous moving parts – such as when players are driving through Night City – enabling DLSS 3 can boost the framerate from under 20fps to above 130fps in many conditions.
Unfortunately for many PC gamers, Nvidia recommends that players be equipped with an RTX 40 series GPU (and enable DLSS 3) to enjoy the technical preview when it rolls out with update 1.62 on April 11, owing to how demanding path tracing is. However, those who do not have such powerful setups can still enjoy the feature using Nvidia’s GeForce Now cloud gaming service. Check out other scene comparisons as well as a more detailed technical analysis of path tracing in Cyberpunk 2077 here.