We’re getting ever closer to the release of Minecraft‘s ray tracing update. And by “close,” we mean the Minecraft ray tracing beta for Windows 10 launches April 16 — just two days from now.
The news comes from an Nvidia blog post offering a deep (deep) dive into Minecraft ray tracing.
The gist of it is this: Minecraft ray tracing makes Minecraft look downright gorgeous. Apart from smoothing out edges and making better use of light effects, ray tracing brings adds a sense of realism to the sandbox builder.
Block textures stand out, reflections sparkle and bloom glows, making even mundane areas look special, and all this opens up a wealth of creative opportunities for Minecraft-ers of any skill level.
Ideally, it’s not going to destroy the game’s resolution and frame rate either. Alongside the ray tracing beta, Nvidia is bringing Nvidia DLSS 2.0 to Minecraft on the same day. In essence, it’s designed to support stability and keep ray tracing from tanking the game.
To help get started with all the creative possibilities — and show off what ray tracing can do — Nvidia is providing six Minecraft worlds spanning Creative, Adventure, and Survival made by Minecraft creators from around the world.
On top of that, there’s a range of HD texture packs Nvidia is making available, along with the option to create your own textures. It probably goes without saying, but you’ll need a rig capable of supporting ray tracing to take part in the beta.
Nvidia will provide more details about signing up on the ray-tracing overview page.
It’s not the delayed Minecraft festival, but it’s certainly welcome nonetheless. Stay tuned to GameSkinny for more Minecraft news as it develops.
