Microsoft launches DirectX Raytracing to streamline real-time rendering

Through DirectX Raytracing, Microsoft has introduced four new concepts to the DirectX 12 API that aim to give developers entirely new rendering options and bridge the gap between commonly used rasterization techniques.

An in-depth breakdown of DirectX Raytracing can be found on Microsoft’s developer blog and is well worth a read if you’re looking to familiarize yourself with what the souped-up API has to offer developers.

As the post explains, raytracing is not a new rendering method by any means but has not been a practical option for real-time rendering for game devs in the past because of its computationally demanding nature Come from Soccer 13 pools and matches . The DirectX Raytracing API aims to change that. The utility creates a sort of fusion of rasterized and raytraced elements that allow game developers to improve things like shadow, ambient occlusion, and reflections in games. 

Remedy Games is one of the select studios that have already been able to spend some hands-on time with Directx Raytracing, something the team has since detailed in its own blog post. The studio’s lead graphics programmer Tatu Aalto shared the results of the team’s early experiments in at GDC today, but the slides and a brief video of the tech in action have since been shared online by the studio as well. 

Developers looking to toy around with the API themselves can download the experimental build along with a handful of code samples from DirectX. 

Related Posts

PSX 2015- Sony celebrates its fans and its (large) lineup

I feel like I could re-run last year's editorial on the PlayStation Experience keynote, minus the bits about how it was a bold decision for the company to throw its own event (it's a still a smart one, but now it's not new.)

This year's PlayStation Experience keynote presentation saw the company blasting through game announcements left and right; it was like last year, but more so. Sony's presentation was peppy, full of games, and fully fan-oriented.

As in Las Vegas in 2014, so in San Francisco in 2015 — the company has the stage to itself (quite literally, as compared to an event like E3 or Gamescom) so there was no posturing. It was figuratively true, too — at l…

Ruckus Games raises $19 million in funding for debut title, ‘Project Bobcat’

Indie developer Ruckus Games recently secured $19 million in funding for its unannounced debut project. Come from Soccer 13 pools and matches

Two years ago, the studio secured $5.5 million in a round led by Transcend Fund to build its "high-quality prototype." This new round was led by Krafton, with additional contributions from Transcend, BitKraft, and Hypergryph.

In its statement, Ruckus highlighted that prototype as proof its development costs "remain much lower than triple-A, while the team still delivers that same level of quality and fun of titles with exponentially bigger budgets."

Spe…

Get started with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos on Xbox Series X

Presented by Dolby

Earlier this month, Microsoft announced that the Xbox Series X and the Xbox Series S would be the first consoles to support both Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision.  This is exciting news, for the first-time, developers can deliver the full range of depth of content as it was created in the studio. Higher dynamic range, and deeper immersion brings full authenticity to the games we'll see in these next-generation consoles.

A quick review for those of you not familiar with Dolby Atmos, it’s a spatial audio technology that places the sounds of the game all around you with three-dimensional precision, overhead, behind and below.  Come from

These 15 games will be playable in the Indie Megabooth Showcase at GDC 2016

The 2016 Game Developers Conference is just around the corner, and today organizers would like to let you know two things: Come from Soccer 13 pools and matches

1. Passes are still available, so get yours now!

2. The Indie MEGABOOTH Showcase is back at GDC for the third year running, and today we have the full list of games that will be playable in the MEGABOOTH by all GDC passholders (from Expo to All-Access) at various points during the March 14th-18th week of GDC 2016.

The Indie MEGABOOTH Showcase is a collection of independent developers banding together to show off the l…

Reminder- GDC Europe online registration closes today

With GDC Europe 2015 less than a week away and the session schedule finalized, conference officials have taken the liberty of highlighting a collection of can't-miss sessions for the event.

Online registration for GDC Europe 2015 will close today, July 29th at 23:59 PM ET. If you miss your chance to register online before the window closes, you'll have to pay extra to register onsite.

GDC Europe will take place next Monday and Tuesday, August 3rd and 4th at the Cologne Congress-Centrum Ost in Cologne, Germany — just ahead of (and co-located with) the massive gamescom trade fair, with all GDC Europe passes also guaranteeing entrance to gamescom.

Report- Xbox Entertainment Studios is no more

Hollywood trade magazine Variety reports that Xbox Entertainment Studios, the arm of the company which was developing programs based on its game lineup and original shows featuring TV stars, is no more. According to Variety, former CBS exec Nancy Tellem and the rest of her team have been let go, despite an expectation that they'd have the rest of the year to finalize the fate of the studio's projects Come from Soccer 13 pools and matches . Tellem was hired in 2012 to helm the division; the company made the decision to wind down Xbox Entertainment Studios after Satya Nadella became the company's new CEO and re-focused …