Minecraft Ray Tracing has been announced in their latest beta and if things go fine, we could see it coming permanently in the game. But, what does that exactly mean? We’ll cover that here. Ray Tracing is the latest rendering technique that is transforming the world of gaming for better. Using it, you can level up the visuals incredibly.
In this post, I will tell you everything about Minecraft Ray Tracing along with the method to access it on Windows 10 and Xbox One. So, you can experience the game in a way you never did before.
What is Minecraft Ray Tracing?
Minecraft is a massively popular sandbox game that never really focused on visuals and graphics. The huge popularity of the game is credited to the addictive and intriguing gameplay it offers. But, with the advancement in technology, Minecraft is now starting to focus on graphics with the help of ‘Ray Tracing’ technology. Ray Tracing is a rendering technique for computer graphics. It helps in generating an image by tracing the path of light as pixels in an image plane. While also stimulating the effects of its encounters with virtual objects.
When you think about Minecraft, you’ll have some blocks and simple graphics appear in your mind. But, when you think about Minecraft with Ray Tracing, the picture will be very different. There will be more realistic lightings, shadows, and reflects. The graphics would really evolve with the ray-tracing support that Minecraft is introducing.
When was Minecraft Ray Tracing Launched?
Minecraft started teasing the introduction of Ray Tracing along with NVIDIA on August 19, 2019, when they released a reveal trailer. The trailer focused on NVIDIA’s RTX graphics card supporting ray tracing in Minecraft. The graphics appeared literally stunning in that. The Minecraft community then started waiting for the launch eagerly. On April 16, 2020, Minecraft officially launched a public beta offering support for RTX ray-tracing through the Xbox Insider Hub on Windows 10.
The conditions to access this was as follows:
- You have to be involved in the Xbox Insider Program.
- Availability of NVIDIA RTX 2060 or better GPU.
- Fast Internet Connection.
Once you had these, you can try the Minecraft ray tracing experience to play the game with whole new visuals. Even if you don’t meet the hardware requirements, you can still test the game.
What is Special About Minecraft Ray Tracing?
Minecraft always lacked in terms of graphics and textures, in my opinion. With the introduction of ray-tracing support, the only shortcoming of Minecraft is gone. This new technique is very special as it makes the game a visual wonder. You can realize it just at first glance when you load up one of the six environments in NVIDIA’s Ray Tracing Worlds pack that are designed by master builders.
- With Ray Tracing Off
- With Ray Tracing On
- Ray Tracing Off
- Ray Tracing On
When I tried it, I first booted up Aquatic Adventure and the visuals made me awestruck. There were water reflections, bright waves, and the crystal blocks seemed so transparent that they felt real. It seemed as if I’m playing the game in HDR. There were new depths and textures in everything that was appearing on the screen.
How to Access Minecraft Ray Tracing on Windows 10 & Xbox One?
Minecraft Ray Tracing with RTX is still in the beta mode. So, you have to become a Minecraft beta tester in order to access it. If you want to sign-up for the Minecraft with RTX Windows 10 beta, you have to meet all the requirements before enrolling. You can read all the requirements from here. Also, you will need the digital version of the game. There is no support for the beta for disc owners.
Here are the Minimum System Requirements you will need
You cannot run Minecraft RTX Beta on a potato PC. You will need good specs to play it efficiently. Here are the minimum systems requirements that you will need to run it. If you try running the game with specs below these, you may experience crashing, lagging, and unnecessary freezing.
- CPU: Intel Core i5, or equivalent, or better
- RAM: 8GB, or more
- GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060, or better
- Storage: 2GB (Game, plus all worlds and resource packs)
- Operating System: Windows 10 (64-Bit)
Once you have met these, continue with the steps mentioned below.
[Steps to Follow]
Once you are ready, follow the simple steps mentioned below to access Minecraft with ray tracing on Windows 10 or Xbox One.
- Step-1: Firstly, go to the Store app on your Windows 10 PC or Xbox One.
- Step-2: In the Store, search for the Xbox Insider Hub app.
- Step-3: When you find it, download and install the application on your system.
- Step-4: Now launch the Xbox Insider Hub app.
- Step-5: Next, navigate to Insider content.
- Step-6: Next, go to Minecraft Beta.
- Step-7: In the next screen, click on the Join button.
- Step-8: Finally, start playing and have fun with the stunning graphics.
That’s it.
Highlights You’ll Notice in Minecraft Ray Tracing
Here are the key highlights that your eyes will catch when you start playing Minecraft with RTX ray tracing support.
- Realistic hard and soft shadows appearing everywhere.
- Global illumination lighting the world realistically.
- Light filling interiors through windows and gaps in the terrain.
- Illuminating blocks and other light sources cast pixel-perfect lighting.
- Reflections appearing on all reflective surfaces and blocks.
- Light is reflecting, refracting, and scattering through water, ice, stained glass, and other transparencies.
- Atmospheric effects such as fog, God rays, sunshine, etc appearing more natural.
All this completely changes how Minecraft looks. If you notice some other changes in the visuals of the game, don’t forget to share it with us in the comments.
Final Words
Minecraft Ray Tracing is the latest technique that is going to evolve the Minecraft worlds for better. The only considerable limitation that Minecraft had was the basic graphics and textures, the introduction of ray-tracing with NVIDIA’s RTX is going to get rid of that. You can now play the game with stunning graphics and reflections. That’s how. you join the beta program and access Minecraft with ray tracing support.
That’s all for this post. I hope you find it helpful. If you need help regarding anything mentioned above, feel free to visit the comments section. I’ll be glad to help you further. Have fun players!