In a video uploaded to YouTube, user sultim_t has managed to add ray tracing to 1993’s Doom. It should be pointed out that, while the teaser trailer was posted on April Fool’s Day, this is a genuine mod for the game, with the first three episodes being available to download from GitHub. Overall, it shows what the classic FPS looks like when given more realistic light and shadow, with the result being surprisingly colorful, what with the glow of the red lava or green radiation. It gives this three-decade-old release just that little bit of a modern look.
RELATED: John Romero Corrects the Rumor About the Date That Doom Takes Place
This is also not the first time the user has done something like this. A few months back, sultim_t showed footage from an upcoming ray tracing mod for the first Half-Life game. Similar to the Doom one, it shows a before and after of what the game’s lighting used to look like, to what it looks like now with the modern tweak. At the time of writing, the Half-Life mod doesn’t appear to be available just yet, with the modder saying that “these things, they take time.”
Ray tracing is fast becoming a video game standard these days. It’s implemented in a lot of AAA and indie titles, sometimes after the fact. As is evidenced here, it’s also possible to take a much older release and give it that ray tracing facelift which can make the visuals pop to some extent, even if the overall graphics are dated when compared to the industry today.
After so many years, fans are always finding new ways to tinker with the original Doom games. With people looking to get Doom running on all sorts of crazy devices and modders continuing to change up the formula or just add to it, it’s pretty clear that id Software’s groundwork for the modern FPS genre has made a huge impact on gaming in general.
The original Doom was released in December 1993 for multiple platforms and has been ported to many systems over the years.
MORE: 20 Brutal Games Like Doom You Need To Play
Source: GitHub
