Quake 1: Ray Traced

The author previously created ray-traced versions of Half-Life and Doom — now it's Quake's turn. The mod is based on the vkQuake engine.

Two modes are available — a more traditional one that preserves the original atmosphere, and an advanced Path Tracing mode:

• In the classic mode, geometry is processed using ray tracing, but the lighting retains the spirit of the original through lightmaps. New effects are also introduced: realistic water reflections, underwater distortions, and improved teleporters that show the destination point.

• Path Tracing mode completely replaces the old lighting system. Light sources — torches, gunshots, lava, and even the sky — now dynamically illuminate the environment, casting shadows and colorful reflections.

For example, the lightning from the Lightning Gun illuminates the surrounding space, while the sky tints levels in characteristic hues. Volumetric effects and glowing surfaces have been added, making scenes significantly deeper and more realistic.

However, the changes aren't always unambiguous: Quake's original dark atmosphere sometimes gives way to a more "sterile" look, and some effects — like overly bright toxic liquids — feel off.

The mod also supports modern upscaling technologies such as DLSS and FSR2, enabling high performance even on older graphics cards. Overall, this is something of an answer to Quake II RTX — the officially updated second entry in the series by id Software. The project can be called an almost full-fledged remaster of Quake, demonstrating what the classic game looks like with the technology of the future.