This is likely the we will see before a potential architectural rewrite. It’s not exciting, but it is reliable . And for a mod that essentially reverse-engineers global illumination, reliability is gold.
The pursuit of realistic lighting in gaming has long been the holy grail of graphics engineering. While modern NVIDIA RTX cards offer hardware-accelerated ray tracing, Pascal Gilcher—better known as Marty McFly—revolutionized the field for those on older hardware or looking to enhance games lacking native support. Released in late 2020, (Ray Traced Global Illumination) marked a significant milestone in the evolution of ReShade-based, screen-space ray tracing.
Performance Improvements
Originally released on Pascal Gilcher’s Patreon . You must be a member of the appropriate tier to access the official download link and associated Discord for support. rtgi 0.17.0.2 release
Released around , this version focused on refining the performance and visual stability of the Ray Traced Global Illumination effect.
The release of marked a pivotal moment in the shader's evolution. Arriving in late 2020, it represented a major leap forward in performance and visual fidelity. This update wasn't just another incremental fix; it was a carefully engineered overhaul that made ray-traced global illumination more accessible and effective than ever before.
Move the .fx and .fxh files from the RTGI package into your game's reshade-shaders/Shaders and Textures directories. This is likely the we will see before
This period also saw Gilcher beginning to formalize his development ecosystem. The release post for 0.17.0.2 announced the impending launch of the official website, Marty's Mods, designed to centralize documentation and support. This move was part of a rebranding effort, as he noted that the nickname "Marty McFly is less than ideal for obvious reasons but everyone knows me by Marty, so there's that". It also marked a departure from the strict early-access model, acknowledging that RTGI "is not at all considered a WIP product anymore" but rather had taken on the responsibilities and workload of commercial software.
The shader became much smarter at distinguishing matte surfaces (like carpet or dirt) from reflective surfaces (like wet asphalt, metal armor, or polished marble). This added a layer of material accuracy that rivaled native engine retrofits. Step-by-Step Installation Guide
Adjust the shader settings within the menu for the best balance of look and performance. Conclusion The pursuit of realistic lighting in gaming has
To help get this running smoothly on your specific setup, tell me: What are you trying to mod with RTGI? What graphics card (GPU) do you currently have?
The engine casts a relatively low number of rays from each probe into the scene. These rays hit geometry, sample the material properties, and calculate the incoming light.
| Game (1440p, RTGI at High Quality, ½ resolution rays) | 0.16.1 | 0.17.0.2 | Change | |-------------------------------------------------------|--------|----------|--------| | Cyberpunk 2077 (no in-game RT) | 58 fps | 61 fps | +5% | | Elden Ring (locked 60, GPU load) | 89% | 84% | -5% load| | Skyrim SE (ENB + RTGI) | 45 fps | 47 fps | +4% | | Dead Space (2023) (no native RT) | 52 fps | 54 fps | +3% |
The update optimizes how the shader samples the screen space. By being more selective with ray casts, it achieves a similar visual quality to older versions while using fewer system resources. This makes it a more viable option for 1440p and 4K gaming. Why This Version Matters
The algorithm for calculating how colored light reflects onto surrounding surfaces (e.g., a red wall casting a faint red tint onto a white floor) was refined for a more natural, subtle look.