Cyberpunk 2077 Dev Talks About Upcoming Path Tracing Enhancements, FSR3 Help, and Unreal Engine 5 Change

Following the discharge of Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty and Replace 2.0, CD Projekt RED was in a position to additional elevate the sport’s visuals in comparison with the already superb base sport because of additions like NVIDIA DLSS 3.5 (Ray Reconstruction).

Nonetheless, with the Path Tracing mode nonetheless technically in preview and different tech-related matters price discussing (mainly the promised implementation of AMD FSR 3 and the engine change from RED Engine to Unreal Engine 5), we reached out to the Polish studio for a follow-up interview. You may learn the replies by Jakub Knapik, International Artwork Director at CD Projekt RED, under.

In our earlier interview, you talked about engaged on Opacity Micro-Maps assist for Cyberpunk 2077. Is that also coming with a future replace? What about Displaced Micro-Mesh?

Micro-Mesh is an interesting know-how that may permit us to get a lot better geometry constancy cheaper — but it surely wants a brand new asset pipeline in place to significantly make good points with it. Bearing in mind the truth that our sport is actually large, and it’s already a mature sport with its launch clocking nearly three years, we give attention to the know-how progress accordingly. We attempt to create measurable visible and efficiency good points for the gamers that don’t require large reworks on the content material facet, as that may be an enormous time funding. That’s why Micro-Maps, with little or no further work on the content material facet, had been applied and already launched with Phantom Liberty. It made loads of sense to do this as quickly as doable.

Within the aforementioned Q&A, you mentioned there was nonetheless a lot of room for enchancment on the Path Tracing Know-how Preview. Are you continue to planning so as to add new options or enhancements to the mode?

We’re nonetheless maturing our Path Tracing implementation. We targeted on low-light picture stability and general picture high quality delivered with Path Tracing. We applied a high quality booster for oblique calculations that stabilized the conditions the place there usually was somewhat luminance vitality, and consequently, we had a low quantity of sunshine samples, leading to a “boiling” and blurriness impact. We additionally labored on some particulars of the picture presentation focusing on character rendering. General I feel we managed to deliver the answer to a really steady and visually mature state with the deliberate launch.

The addition of DLSS 3.5 Ray Reconstruction was unanimously praised upon launch. Nonetheless, some fringe circumstances of smearing, halos, and posterization had been found. Are you working with NVIDIA to unravel these points?

As I discussed above, I might say that’s precisely the world the place we targeted totally on: leveling up the standard of our RT: Overdrive mode. I do really feel we’ve got made good progress there and, hopefully, will be capable of share it quickly.

It has been confirmed that Cyberpunk 2077 shall be up to date to assist AMD FidelityFX Tremendous Decision 3. Are you able to share any ETA on when FSR 3 shall be obtainable?

It is a new and really attention-grabbing know-how and I can undoubtedly affirm that we’re engaged on a full FSR3 implementation — however it’s nonetheless an ongoing course of and we really feel we want nonetheless extra time to launch it with the specified final result. I wish to keep away from giving agency estimates on when it is going to occur.

Cyberpunk 2077’s wonderful visuals and efficiency have raised some doubts relating to the introduced engine change to Epic’s Unreal Engine 5. Latest UE5 video games have proven the engine’s rising pains, to not point out that it lacks built-in path tracing. Whereas it’s definitely early, are you able to share some ideas to assuage these fears and ensure whether or not CDPR nonetheless plans to ship future video games with cutting-edge options even after the change to a third-party engine?

I feel one of many basic forces that form our progress at CD PROJEKT RED is ambition; a ardour to make issues our very personal approach and create video games for gamers with higher storytelling and visible high quality with each launch. On the similar time, we proved prior to now that we additionally push the know-how to its limits to attain our objectives. Our groups gained an incredible perspective and data of fixing technical issues that many would take into account as protected to keep away from fixing, and I feel transferring to Unreal Engine adjustments nothing in that regard.

We additionally attempt to construct very shut and powerful relationships with our companions, and that method has allowed us to ship many superb issues prior to now — with our current Path Tracing implementation being a really recent instance of this technique. Once more, nothing adjustments in that regard, both. For certain, Unreal is a special engine with a special steadiness when it comes to the way it’s constructed in comparison with REDengine, and we will certainly put in loads of effort and share loads of ardour with our companions so as to harness Unreal Engine’s best strengths and develop its capabilities so we are able to create the video games we want to make for our gamers. What’s extra, we once more purpose to push technical boundaries whereas doing so; we’ve got not made our ambitions any smaller within the slightest in terms of that.

Thanks to your time.