CD Projekt Red has released a new video series in which the studio discusses the nerdy technical details of Cyberpunk 2077. Titled "Behind the Settings", the inaugural episode of the series focuses on the twin lances of DLSS 3, introduced to the game earlier this year, and Ray Tracing: Overdrive Mode, which is coming soon.
If you're technically-inclined or you're interested in how graphics tech works, you'll likely be thrilled by Behind the Settings. The video kicks off with CDPR's Joao Pedro de Mello talking to graphics programmer Cezary Bella and art director Jakub Knapik about DLSS, which stands for "deep learning super-sampling". CDPR breaks down how the tech works, and it's a pretty fascinating explanation if you're unfamiliar with DLSS.
In essence, CDPR says the big difference between DLSS 2 and DLSS 3 is AI frame generation, in which an algorithm smartly generates an image that compromises less on quality while still delivering a high frame rate. It's pretty mind-boggling tech, so make sure to watch the explanation closely to see how it works.
After the DLSS 3 explanation, de Mello moves on to speaking to Giovanni de Francesco, the senior technical lighting artist for CDPR, to talk about the recently-announced Ray Tracing: Overdrive Mode. Again, the explanation delves into what ray tracing is, and how the upcoming path tracing (or full ray tracing) will differ from what's already in the game.
The analogy de Francesco uses to describe the difference between the two is that standard ray tracing is essentially "a bunch of people who don't talk to each other" (here meaning different light sources), while path tracing is "two guys" who just "do it all". One controls light hitting surfaces, and the other controls light bouncing off surfaces. Of course, it's more complex than that, but de Francesco's explanation is helpful for those of us who aren't super au fait with ray tracing tech.
In short, Overdrive Mode is set to make Cyberpunk 2077 look even more beautiful than it already is, but, of course, you're going to need a beefy machine to take full advantage of this new tech. Make sure to take a look at the full video to get a breakdown of what path tracing will bring to Cyberpunk.
