Old Lara Croft in a new light: Ray tracing makes Tomb Raider shine in a special way
She scrambles. She climbs. She digs. And she”s been doing it for 27 years. That”s how long it”s been since the 1996 release of the original Tomb Raider game.
In the meantime, original developer Core Design was burned out by publisher Eidos and the series was retreaded three times once unsuccessfully with The Angel of Darkness (2003), twice successfully with Legend (2006) and Tomb Raider (2013).
And she”s still scrambling.
Recently in a YouTube video, in that much looks like it did in the original Tomb Raider from the 90s – with one crucial difference: the light-and-shadow effects are more reminiscent of a modern game.
But see for yourself how Ms. Croft takes cover from poison arrows in Peru:
What can you see in the video?
Base of the scenes from the video is Open Lara, a version of the classic game that can also be played in the browser. Why the lighting effects in it look many times better than in the old Tomb Raider? Because additional (RTX Remix) has been used for it.
RTX Remix is a modding platform from Nvidia, thanks to which old classic games can shine in new splendor with ray tracing (or path tracing), among other things. This includes Need for Speed Underground 2 from 2004, for example:
So now, when light sources and shadows cast according to the current state of game graphics embellish the very first adventure of the most famous archaeologist in video game history, it”s a mixture of old and new.
After all, the cube-shaped level layout and pixel mush textures so typical of the classic Tomb Raider games clash with contemporary lighting effects. Nevertheless, the whole thing is an eye-catcher in our eyes, not only for retro fans.
Tomb Raider 1996 was also once a graphics wonder
What we tend to forget today: Tomb Raider Anno 1996 was once a real eye-catcher. That”s because the third-person perspective action-adventure game supported 3dfx Glide at the time.
We remember: 3dfx Glide was a graphics interface from the company 3dfx, which reached its peak during the late 1990s. Other, classic games with support for 3fx Glide were for example Quake, Unreal, Diablo 2 or MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries.
So, nice showpieces, but one downer remains: Dominus Aurate, the YouTuber behind the video, has not yet released a playable version of the eye-candy Tomb Raider in combination with RTX Remix for everyone.
But considering how bulky the controls were back then (and still are in Open Lara), it”s a little easier to get over. Or you can switch to the remake in the form of the Anniversary Edition of Tomb Raider.
Can”t get enough of modern graphics technology in classics? Then check out the video above of Half-Life 1 from 1998 with and without ray tracing.
What do you think about modders polishing up games from the hall of fame graphically? Do you like to watch and play them, or do you prefer to enjoy classics in their original state? Feel free to write us your opinion in the comments.
