Quake II RTX Gets Updated to Version 1.7.0

[GFreeman]

NVIDIA has released a new update for Quake II RTX, version 1.7.0. The newest update adds a couple of improvements and fixes several issues. Quake II RTX has been NVIDIA's popular tech-demo playground to show off RTX capabilities, and while the latest update is not a major one, it does include some important fixes.

According to the short highlights, the newest update adds a player flashlight, fixes multiple compatibility and stability issues, fixes some texturing issue, reduces visual noise and flicker in some conditions, as well as tunes some visual effects like full-screen blend and particles.



DOWNLOAD: Quake II RTX v1.7.0

Quake II RTX 1.7.0 release notes:

Fixed Issues:

• Fixed a crash in the game logic when a monster interacts with a door in notarget mode (#92)
• Fixed a crash when the map file doesn't have a VIS hunk (#223)
• Fixed some Vulkan validation layer issues (#229, #246, more)
• Fixed texture alignment issues on some doors (#211)
• Fixed the flare gun still using ammo with dmflags including 8192 (DF_INFINITE_AMMO) (https://github.com/NVIDIA/Q2RTX/issues/)191)
• Fixed Vulkan queue initialization on platforms that don't support split queues (#248)
• Switched the OpenAL dependency with a statically linked library (#224)

Misc Improvements:

• Added support for building on PowerPC 64 LE CPU architecture (#260)
• Adjusted the automatic UI scaling to avoid making the UI too big
• Improved precision of target frame rate adjustment (#242)
• Tuned the full-screen blend effects to be less intensive
• Updated the Loading plaque texture (#265)

Contributions by GitHub user @res2k:

• Added a warning when screen-space image memory usage is very high (#179)
• Added control over fallback radiance of emissive materials (#210)
• Added menu controls for the full screen blend effects (#216)
• Added support for spotlights with an emission profile and a player flashlight (#203, #214)
• Fixed a crash when some textures are missing (#263)
• Fixed an overflow condition when pt_bsp_sky_lights is more than 1 (#262)
• Fixed animated textures on BSP models (#187)
• Fixed crashes when renderer initialization fails (#199)
• Fixed FSR image scaling in some cases (#232)
• Fixed incorrect scaling of textures without a custom material definition (#235)
• Fixed mode setting on Linux in GitGub CI builds (#268)
• Fixed save game compatibility with Q2RTX 1.5.0 (#193)
• Fixed some issues with lighting in custom maps (#189)
• Fixed texture data size computation for R16_UNORM textures (#236)
• Fixed the HDR screenshot feature (#190)
• Fixed the look of smoke effects (#195)
• Fixed the range of animated light intensities (#200)
• Fixed the replacement textures when multiple materials are used with the same base texture (#222)
• Improved light list handling to fix excessive flicker and noise (#234)
• Improved material system robustness for games with custom textures (#201)
• Improved polygonal light sampling to reduce noise and darkening (#266)
• Improved Wayland support (#261, #221)
• Integrated several fixes from Q2PRO (#196)
• Replaced the single sky_clusters.txt file with per-map files (#219)
• Tweaked particles to have more nuanced colors (#197)
• Updated SDL2 to 2.26.1 (#252)

View at TechPowerUp Main Site | Source

 

[ZoneDymo]

the answer is probably nope.avi but I wonder if a conversion like this one makes it easier to convert other games that ran on the Quake 2 engine, like Sin, would love to see that RT'ed

 

[Cheeseball]

Take note, it is still possible to use any old school movement tech (air strafing, bunny hopping, etc.) even in RTX mode. Speed runners rejoice!

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

Added support for building on PowerPC 64 LE CPU architecture (#260)

I’m confused. Isn’t PPC really old and outdated now? I’m sure I’m missing something.

 

[ValenOne]

I’m confused. Isn’t PPC really old and outdated now? I’m sure I’m missing something.

Perhaps, Power 9-based machine. e.g. PCIe 4.0 enabled Supermicro P9DSU-C or Raptor's Blackbird / Talos II motherboards for IBM's Power 9.

 

[lexluthermiester]

the answer is probably nope.avi

What question are you answering? I don't see anyone asking a question...

And just an FYI, Quake2RTX is excellent.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

Does it also work with the expansion games that were made? I want to say it was something like Xatrix that made them and not ID.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Does it also work with the expansion games that were made? I want to say it was something like Xatrix that made them and not ID.

Yup, already tested it. Anything that plugs into the main engine works like a charm. Same with the Quake1 RTX source port. All of the expansions work perfectly.

 

[Vayra86]

the answer is probably nope.avi but I wonder if a conversion like this one makes it easier to convert other games that ran on the Quake 2 engine, like Sin, would love to see that RT'ed

Oh shit...SIN.
Thanks for bringing that up

While they're at it... MDK too plx

 

[kondamin]

I wonder who is playing quake on a power system recent enough to have an Rtx graphics card in it.

 

[lemonadesoda]

I'm looking forward to RT on id Tech 3, Quake III Arena engine. Then things get really interesting.

 

[droopyRO]

Is this the full game version or just a demo of sorts ?

 

[ZoneDymo]

What question are you answering? I don't see anyone asking a question...

And just an FYI, Quake2RTX is excellent.

I mean, its literally right after the part that you quoted.

Is this the full game version or just a demo of sorts ?

Its the full game, its effectively a mod on the actual game, same as Portal RTX, you need the original game and then you can download the RTX "update" for free.

actually:
Quake II RTX is fully ray-traced and includes the 3 levels from the original shareware distribution.

So yeah you can also get it as a demo, but the entire game is RT'd, but you need to own the actual game to play the entire thing.

 

[lexluthermiester]

I wonder who is playing quake on a power system recent enough to have an Rtx graphics card in it.

That answer might be surprising.

Is this the full game version or just a demo of sorts ?

Full game, without the expansions. If you own the expansions or buy them by some means, they will work perfectly.

same as Portal RTX, you need the original game and then you can download the RTX "update" for free.

Nope, full game fully free. Download, enjoy.

 

[Count von Schwalbe]

the answer is probably nope.avi but I wonder if a conversion like this one makes it easier to convert other games that ran on the Quake 2 engine, like Sin, would love to see that RT'ed

Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory?

 

[ZoneDymo]

That answer might be surprising.


Full game, without the expansions. If you own the expansions or buy them by some means, they will work perfectly.


Nope, full game fully free. Download, enjoy.

doesnt say so on steam:

"Quake II RTX is fully ray-traced and includes the 3 levels from the original shareware distribution."
"Purchase the game to access all levels as well as multiplayer support."

I guess the "all levels" is the expansion then?

 

[lexluthermiester]

doesnt say so on steam:

"Quake II RTX is fully ray-traced and includes the 3 levels from the original shareware distribution."
"Purchase the game to access all levels as well as multiplayer support."

I guess the "all levels" is the expansion then?

This article is not about what's on Steam. The direct download provided in the above article is to the installer for the full version. Completely free.

 

[3lfk1ng]

I'm looking forward to RT on id Tech 3, Quake III Arena engine. Then things get really interesting.

They (id) already did that in 2004, it just hasn't been released.

 

[lexluthermiester]

They (id) already did that in 2004, it just hasn't been released.

That was a very different implementation of ray-tracing. The way RTX operates has the same effect, but works a different way from what they did in the 2000's. For example, the way they did it back then was with MIPPS CPU's on a Unix code base.

 

[Athlonite]

Oh shit...SIN.
Thanks for bringing that up

While they're at it... MDK too plx

I'll second MDK that was a fun game

 

[Vayra86]

They (id) already did that in 2004, it just hasn't been released.

So... why does this look far better than the weak lighting in Q2 RTX? I played that the other day and... well, totally unimpressive... a lot of objects are lit incorrectly and the lighting itself looks cheap. The basic pistol is a good example, there is no connection to the particle effect and the light it emits.

 

[ZoneDymo]

This article is not about what's on Steam. The direct download provided in the above article is to the installer for the full version. Completely free.

"This installer comes with the free shareware levels, or you can point it to the folder of your Quake 2 installation to get the full Quake II experience."

So no, its not the full version.

 

[lexluthermiester]

"This installer comes with the free shareware levels, or you can point it to the folder of your Quake 2 installation to get the full Quake II experience."

So no, its not the full version.

Where are you quoting that from?

 

[ZoneDymo]

Where are you quoting that from?

From the link in the article, 5th paragraph.

 

[lexluthermiester]

From the link in the article, 5th paragraph.

Oh hey. Weird. Maybe it finds my GOG install and copies files over. I gave it it's own folder...