Quake II RTX Gets Support for HDR Monitors, AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution, and More

A new feature list for the upcoming Quake II RTX graphics update has been revealed. This release also means that support of HDR monitors will be coming to this classic game, as well as a super resolution mode and more cool features.

FidelityFX Super Resolution is a new technology that was just released. It allows users to play games on monitors with HDR displays, and also enables them to get better performance.

Image courtesy of id Software

The ray-traced version of id Software’s iconic 1997 FPS Quake II RTX has gotten a fresh update that adds at least a handful of reasons for players to revisit it.

Quake II RTX’s 1.6.0 update, according to Steam’s patch notes, not only fixes faults but also adds a slew of new features, including contributions from GitHub user @res2k. Support for HDR displays and tonemapping are among the new features, as is the ability to use FidelityFX Super Resolution by AMD, the red team’s upscaling solution for improved performance.

The highlights, as presented by Alexey Panteleev of NVIDIA:

FidelityFX Super Resolution by AMD
Automatic emissive texture creation for custom maps
Effects of full-screen blending
Volumes of fog in the gradient
Support for HDR monitors
Laser beams that are more powerful
When employing high-detail static models, efficiency is improved.
Material shading model has been improved and made more physically realistic.
On the world and UI textures, new parameters for closest filtering have been added.
A new, more adaptable material definition system has been developed.
Engine start-up and map loading times have been slashed.
IQM models with skeletal animation are supported.
Support for QBSP and BSPX map files, with smooth normals as an option.

“Quake II RTX builds on the work of Christoph Schied and his colleagues at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, who introduced ray tracing to Quake II to produce Q2VKPT (which in turn built upon the Q2PRO code base),” states the game’s Steam description.

“NVIDIA has increased texturing, added new path-traced visual effects, and made hundreds of additional adjustments and enhancements, resulting in an experience that matches today’s games and pushes your RTX hardware to its limits.”

Quake II RTX is a game that can be played on both Windows and Linux computers. Although the game is free to download, Quake aficionados who want to play more than the first three levels will need to purchase a complete copy of the original.

Steam is the source of this information.