We have gotten to the stage where big video game titles often cost more to produce than Hollywood movies. However, for game designers and players, there is good news on the way. New developments in AI and ray tracing will help reduce the cost and improve the quality of video games. The lower cost would be due to the reduction of some of the brunt work designers would need to carry out, if AI helps out. While the higher quality will be attributed to games becoming more realistic by moving more towards 3D visual arts.
Ray tracing is going to make more realistic gaming
A key breakthrough to add realism to gaming comes from Nvidia. The graphics card firm introduced real-time ray tracing, or simply “ray tracing” This technology works by simulating millions of photons, mimicking exactly the way light reflects on different objects in real life. The results add a higher level of realism, making games more immersive and life-like. With this technology, virtual reality becomes interchangeable with reality itself.
Currently, in video games, light behavior is just simply implemented based on how it’s expected to work in real life. Ray tracing actually works out and simulate how light should act in each individual case, in game, giving it more realism. This same concept is why we see lighting looking so authentic to real life in Pixar movies when compared to those produced with the use of a green screen.
However, for the animation house, this involves a huge amount of labor and money. Unlike the old method, used by Pixar, the new take on ray tracing will be a low-cost and more efficient alternative. Until now, ray-traced 3D graphic required a huge collection of GPUs and processing power to generate.
The new Nvidia’s RTX graphics card utilises AI and other technologies to be more efficient. This helps to produce ray-traced graphics more efficiently, costing a fraction of before, being generated in real time.
Minecraft, the popular sandbox video game, is infamous for its basic graphics. It got the ray tracing treatment during tests. The results were astonishing. Applying ray-tracing to the game drastically improved realism, notably as players moved around in the game.
Faster development time at lower costs with AI
Nvidia is not alone using new technologies to improve realism in games. As it stands, AI can mimic and simulate human movement. These behaviours include the ability to crouch under certain obstacles, balance on a fine line, and mimic other human movements. Beyond this, AI can teach itself how to generate 3D images of an object. Furthermore, it can handle huge quantities of data. This means, during game development, AI can create objects without the need of designers to worry about every microdetail. The designer would just need a general idea of what they need e.g. a 4 floor Georgian Townhouse and the programme would generate it.
However, the ultimate way to bring real-life quality to your virtual world is by merging the power of AI and ray tracing together. By combining the two, a game developer can mimic various aspects of real life.
These changes affect how we think about gaming, going forward. It’s going to be an interesting future for gamers. For this and more follow us at Wiredelta to keep up the date with the latest advances in everything technology.
