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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

Quake II gets free real-time raytracing updates on June 6 [arstechnica.com]

While Quake II's fast-paced first-person shooter gameplay might be timeless [arstechnica.com], the 22 years since the game's release have not been kind to its muddy textures, pointy polygons, and extremely basic light modeling. Nvidia is looking to fix that with an updated, real-time ray-traced version of the game, dubbed Quake II RTX [nvidia.com].

Windows and Linux users will be able to download the first three levels of the graphically updated game as shareware starting at 6am Pacific Time on June 6. You can play the remaining levels and multiplayer if you point the installer to a legit copy of the full game on your hard drive. The source code for the Vulkan-based [arstechnica.com] update will be posted on Github as well, though Quake II expansion packs will not be supported without extra effort from the community.

"It's rare that a PC game has the impact and longevity of Quake II, and seeing it reimagined with ray tracing 20 years later is something special for me," id Software Studio Director Tim Willits wrote in an announcement post [nvidia.com].

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