The RTGI 0.17.0.2 release, published by Pascal "Marty McFly" Gilcher on October 30, 2020, was a pivotal beta version of his Ray Traced Global Illumination shader for ReShade. This tool allows players to add dynamic, realistic lighting and bounce effects to almost any game without needing specific RTX hardware. Core Requirements for Installation
File Placement: Drag and drop the reshade-shaders folder from the RTGI zip into the game's directory.
Note: Remember that RTGI is a paid shader available via Pascal Gilcher’s Patreon. Purchasing it not only gives you access to this update but supports the continued development of one of the most important tools in the PC modding space.
Getting the Most Out of RTGI 0.17.0.2: A Guide to the Latest Ray-Traced Global Illumination Update
Compatibility: Designed for compatibility with the latest versions of ReShade.
| Category | Score (out of 10) | Notes | |-------------------|-------------------|-------| | Visual Improvement| 7 | Cleaner temporal stability, but same physical limits. | | Performance | 8 | Small but real gains; better frame pacing. | | Stability | 9 | Crash fixes and AMD compatibility are huge. | | Ease of Setup | 6 | Still requires depth buffer fiddling in some games. | | Documentation | 7 | Changelog clear, but no new user guide. | | Value (free update)| 10 | If you own 0.17.x, it’s free. If you don’t, worth $5. |
Changelog (selected entries)
Game Versatility: It was widely tested and used in popular titles like GTA V, Skyrim SE, and Minecraft Java Edition to provide a "next-gen" visual look before official ray tracing updates were common.
Ray Traced Global Illumination (RTGI): Models both diffuse and specular lighting by simulating how light physically interacts with objects in a scene.