A fan-favorite Resident Evil mod for the remake series has been updated with new path tracing features. The Resident Evil remake series, consisting of RE2, 3 and 4, initially provided players with ray-traced lighting, but modders have pushed the visuals beyond Capcom’s original remastering of the survival-horror series’ classic titles. PC players can expect dramatic transformations of their favourite RE environments, such as Raccoon City and the Spanish countryside.
The Resident Evil remakes rely on the RE Engine’s built-in rendering, which features ray tracing effects. This technique simulates how light interacts with objects as it bounces off surfaces, is blocked by shadows, and refracts through transparent surfaces. In essence, ray tracing attempts to accurately reproduce light and illumination to convey photorealism. On the other hand, path tracing improves on this by calculating light behavior to depict real-world physics and interactions with surfaces and light sources, as seen in the Cyberpunk 2077 visual overhaul, for example.
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RTX technology is all about real-time lighting, and its interaction with the environment. Some games have used it to great effect, and others haven’t.
Resident Evil Remake Path Tracing Mod Experiments With Lighting
Although the Resident Evil remakes’ next-gen graphic fidelity is among the best in modern gaming, modder ‘praydog’ has been consistently updating his REframework mod to improve the visuals in the Resident Evil 2, 3, and 4 remakes. The latest update experiments with full path tracing to render lighting and shadows that the vanilla version does not natively support. Gamers with high-end PC rigs and powerful GPUs will benefit from the mod’s full capabilities and can expect to see richer reflections from surfaces like puddles, finer lighting gradients, and detailed shadows. Furthermore, the Resident Evil remake path tracing mod now supports NVIDIA DLSS 4.5 for owners of mid- to high-end RTX graphics cards to achieve playable frame rates.
As it is a mod, it isn’t guaranteed to operate smoothly at all times and some players can encounter mixed results and occasional technical glitches. YouTuber MxBenchmarkPC shared gameplay footage from all three Resident Evil remakes to showcase the full capabilities of path tracing on a high-end gaming system. As seen in their video, Resident Evil 2 benefits from the path tracing update with stunning lighting interactions in the Raccoon City Police Department, giving a taste of what players can expect when Leon returns to Raccoon City in Resident Evil Requiem. RE3 and 4 don’t always offer the same quality though, as players have picked up on missing shadows and peculiar white specks across certain scenes in RE4.
Rearrange the covers into the correct US release order.
Rearrange the covers into the correct US release order.
Easy (5)Medium (7)Hard (10)
REFramework is an experimental mod that is still under development, meaning gamers can likely expect any graphical issues to be resolved by praydog in future updates. Capcom’s remakes already offer premium cinematic quality, but the addition of path tracing reveals the potential of the RE Engine’s rendering. Although these techniques are demanding on systems and complex lighting comes with significant performance costs, the Resident Evil remake path tracing mod offers a glimpse into future gaming standards. Mods like this could pressure developers to consider official support for advanced rendering techniques, similar to NVIDIA RTX features in PC games, as the industry continues to push graphical and computational limits to the next standard.
While REFramework is not expected to replace Capcom’s artistic direction, it proves that even some of the best-looking modern PC titles have room for visual improvement. PC gamers who are looking for a taste of visual quality, like the upcoming Resident Evil Requiem‘s NVIDIA-powered 4K path tracing support, can be satisfied with the results of this mod in the meantime. The modding scene never ceases to work on improvements to beloved older titles, and projects like REFramework serve as impressive technical feats and a vision of what gamers can expect as standard in future AAA franchises like Resident Evil.
