Minecraft is receiving a significant visual overhaul with the Vibrant Visuals update

[Daniel Sims]

Something to look forward to: Official versions of Minecraft have looked largely the same throughout its 15-year history. However, an upcoming update aims to deliver the iconic sandbox game's first significant graphical upgrade – while still preserving its retro aesthetic. Additionally, developer Mojang recently explained why it won't switch to a freemium model in the foreseeable future.

Mojang has unveiled plans to substantially enhance Minecraft's graphics. While the game will retain its signature blocky style, a new optional mode will introduce dynamic lighting and shadows.

Dubbed Vibrant Visuals, the upgrade will feature directional lighting and volumetric fog. Every block will cast a dynamic shadow based on light source direction, and players will see reflections on water and metallic surfaces.

One of the most noticeable improvements will likely be the appearance of the sun. Instead of simply appearing as a giant block in the sky, it will now emit volumetric light across the world during the day, casting dynamic shadows and reflections around players.

Semi-transparent objects like grass and leaves will display a subtle glow due to subsurface scattering, while glass will react dynamically as light passes through it.

Vibrant Visuals is purely cosmetic and won't affect gameplay. Players can join the same worlds regardless of whether the mode is enabled. The new graphics are also fully backward compatible with existing Minecraft worlds, allowing players to revisit their creations in the upgraded style without losing progress.

The Bedrock Edition will receive the upgrade first, though Mojang has not yet specified which platforms will support it. A limited number of devices will gain access to an early beta soon, and all Java Editions will receive the update sometime after the full Bedrock release.

Early screenshots suggest that Vibrant Visuals won't go as far as Minecraft RTX – a path tracing mode Mojang released for PC in 2020 – but the new overhaul will likely be compatible with a much wider range of devices.

During the recent Minecraft Live event, Mojang also reaffirmed its commitment to the game's current pricing structure. While a game as popular as Minecraft could generate massive revenue with a free-to-play model and microtransactions, Mojang told IGN that traditional one-time purchases better suit the game's design and help keep it accessible to a wider audience.

Minecraft: Bedrock Edition is available on Game Pass and various other platforms for $29.99, while the Deluxe Edition, which includes the Java Edition, is priced at $39.99. A free trial version is also available.

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Minecraft is receiving a significant visual overhaul with the Vibrant Visuals update

 

[ScottSoapbox]

Cue the people that will say they hate RT and can’t see a difference.

 

[yRaz]

Cue the people that will say they hate RT and can’t see a difference.

They aren't using RT for these visual effects, it's all being done in raster. Minecraft with raytracing already exists and has for about 5 years. So I'd argue that you just admitted to not being able to see the difference between RT and Raster.

 

[ScottSoapbox]

They aren't using RT for these visual effects, it's all being done in raster. Minecraft with raytracing already exists and has for about 5 years. So I'd argue that you just admitted to not being able to see the difference between RT and Raster.

Where does it say it isn’t using RT? The effect would be much easier to implement across infinite worlds with light RT. A few rays and 1 big light source would not be crippling to modern devices.

 

[yRaz]

Where does it say it isn’t using RT? The effect would be much easier to implement across infinite worlds with light RT. A few rays and 1 big light source would not be crippling to modern devices.

This update mainly targets mobile as PC has had raytracing for years already so introducing raytracing again would be redundant. mobile platforms, the most played form of Minecraft, does not have RT hardware.

Dynamic lighting is a raster term, volumetric fog is a raster term.

So no, it doesn't outright say that it is not a raytracing upgrade, but it isn't a raytracing mod.

FFS, Minecraft was one of the first if not the first Raytracing game. nVidia showed off RT with the 2080ti using Minecraft.

 

[Kirby1]

This update mainly targets mobile as PC has had raytracing for years already so introducing raytracing again would be redundant. mobile platforms, the most played form of Minecraft, does not have RT hardware.

Dynamic lighting is a raster term, volumetric fog is a raster term.

So no, it doesn't outright say that it is not a raytracing upgrade, but it isn't a raytracing mod.

FFS, Minecraft was one of the first if not the first Raytracing game. nVidia showed off RT with the 2080ti using Minecraft.

Just for clarity, PC version does not have RT beyond tech demos.

On the PC version there is a few demo levels you can download that support RT, but these are tech demos. They can't be edited, and RT cannot be enabled for normal gameplay.

That said, the RT in Minecraft isn't very good. The game could seriously benefit from some basic enhancements to the rasterized lighting, and that seems to be what this update is about.

 

[letsgoiowa]

This actually looks awesome! It looks just how I remembered it from playing it as a kid.

 

[RaXelliX]

Where does it say it isn’t using RT? The effect would be much easier to implement across infinite worlds with light RT. A few rays and 1 big light source would not be crippling to modern devices.

You assume...

Meanwhile the developer has to maintain two separate branches of development.
The "RT saves development time" is a myth that refuses to die.

Unless a game is built from ground up with full Path Tracing and zero raster there is always extra development time required to implement, test and ship both versions.

 

[yRaz]

Just for clarity, PC version does not have RT beyond tech demos.

On the PC version there is a few demo levels you can download that support RT, but these are tech demos. They can't be edited, and RT cannot be enabled for normal gameplay.

That said, the RT in Minecraft isn't very good. The game could seriously benefit from some basic enhancements to the rasterized lighting, and that seems to be what this update is about.

There are RT Minecraft servers

 

[Kirby1]

There are RT Minecraft servers

Maybe modded, but unmodded those servers are just the tech demo levels. They are online servers, but you still can't do anything except look around.

 

[yRaz]

Maybe modded, but unmodded those servers are just the tech demo levels. They are online servers, but you still can't do anything except look around.

Do you play Minecraft?

 

[Kirby1]

Do you play Minecraft?

I used to, and when the RTX stuff came out; I thought, as you still do, that it was something that could be used in normal gameplay and I tried to play it, but that is not the case.

Real-time ray tracing for Windows pushes Minecraft’s graphical boundaries even more! Enabled by Minecraft’s Render Dragon graphics engine, ray tracing brings realistic lighting capabilities, such as global illumination and per pixel lighting, plus support for advanced textures to your world. Ray tracing is available for DirectX capable devices, such as GeForce RTX GPU and select AMD GPUs. Experience it in selected Marketplace worlds, available for free download!

Source: https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/updates/ray-tracing

I tried the marketplace worlds that have RT, and it works, you just can't do anything there. Why do you think there is essentially no content for Minecraft RTX? If you search for "Minecraft RTX" on youtube, you will either get modded gameplay content or old tech demo video. No gameplay of regular vanilla Minecraft RTX because it does not exist in a playable form.

 

[ScottSoapbox]

This update mainly targets mobile as PC has had raytracing for years already so introducing raytracing again would be redundant. mobile platforms, the most played form of Minecraft, does not have RT hardware.

Dynamic lighting is a raster term, volumetric fog is a raster term.

So no, it doesn't outright say that it is not a raytracing upgrade, but it isn't a raytracing mod.

FFS, Minecraft was one of the first if not the first Raytracing game. nVidia showed off RT with the 2080ti using Minecraft.

"RTX" Minecraft was a tech demo with RT cranked to 11.

Since then, RT has gone mainstream with directX support, software RT, and mobile HW adding (limited) RT prowess.

It's much easier to fake lighting with raster shadow maps, etc., for static worlds. Minecraft is all about "infinite" procedural worlds, so using RT for the sun and very simple shadows pointing the right direction makes way more sense. And it would not be something semi-modern hardware—even mobile chips or integrated graphics—couldn't handle.

 

[yRaz]

Since then, RT has gone mainstream with directX support, software RT, and mobile HW adding (limited) RT prowess.

It's much easier to fake lighting with raster shadow maps, etc., for static worlds. Minecraft is all about "infinite" procedural worlds, so using RT for the sun and very simple shadows pointing the right direction makes way more sense. And it would not be something semi-modern hardware—even mobile chips or integrated graphics—couldn't handle.

Look, when it comes out, I'm just going to quote your post with a link. And if I'm wrong, I hope you quote my post to prove me wrong. Thing is, RT(because nVidia) requires HARDWARE RAYTRACING. Considering the literal billions of people who play MC on tablets or phones don't have access to that, eh, well, so what.

If I'm wrong that this is raster, I fully expect you to hold me accountable. If I fail in my assumption that this is raster, I will hold you accountable.

Deal?

 

[Kirby1]

This new update is not RT. No changes or updates to the RT (tech demo) version of Minecraft are coming. This is not the first time they have updated the raster lighting effects, it may not be the last.

You do not need to speculate because it already says on their website that this is not RT and has nothing to do with "Minecraft RTX" in any capacity.

 

[ScottSoapbox]

Look, when it comes out, I'm just going to quote your post with a link. And if I'm wrong, I hope you quote my post to prove me wrong. Thing is, RT(because nVidia) requires HARDWARE RAYTRACING. Considering the literal billions of people who play MC on tablets or phones don't have access to that, eh, well, so what.

If I'm wrong that this is raster, I fully expect you to hold me accountable. If I fail in my assumption that this is raster, I will hold you accountable.

Deal?

Looks like I misunderstood the definition of ray tracing. Apparently, you aren't "tracing" rays until the first bounce. That is, light rays from A to B are considered raster, but if you want the light to bounce to C (and possibly D E F) that is ray tracing. This is not to be confused (as I was) with shadow maps and the like, which are also raster lighting. These latter are the raster tricks used to fake the light bounces of ray tracing. I was under the impression that raster lighting was all fake, but the first ray (A to B) in raster is real.

Knowing that, the "vibrant visuals" in Minecraft are clearly "raster direct lighting" (I.e., rays without bounces) as all the shadows are hard. (I was arguing that shadow maps of dynamic lights for such procedural worlds would be unworkable, which is true, but not all of raster lighting).

At least the definition of raster lighting vs ray tracing is clear. Unlike path tracing, which is just better ray tracing (more rays and bounces).

On the other points: 1) There is software RT. It is just limited without dedicated HW. And 2) there is HW RT in recent mobile devices. Apple's M chips and A18 have it. Mostly because some of the popular mobile games have (limited) ray tracing.