Final week at Gamescom, NVIDIA introduced the winners of the NVIDIA and ModDB RTX Remix Mod Contesta $50,000 competitors celebrating community-made initiatives that reimagine basic video games with trendy constancy.
The entries confirmed how far online game modding has come, with particular person modders and small groups pulling off overhauls of comparable high quality to these created by whole studios.
On the coronary heart of those initiatives was NVIDIA RTX Remixa platform that lets creators seize belongings from basic titles and rebuild them with trendy lighting, geometry and supplies. Paired with generative AI instruments like PBRFusion and ComfyUI, modders can now upscale or generate 1000’s of textures and automate repetitive duties to allow them to deal with their artistry.
Plus, with NVIDIA RTX GPUs accelerating these AI-driven workflows, formidable remasters that after took years can now come collectively in months.
There are at present 237 RTX Remix initiatives in improvement, constructing on over 100 completed mods and a pair of million downloads throughout fan favorites like Half-Life 2, Want for Pace: Underground, Portal and God ex.
Remodeling Classics With Generative AI
The RTX Remix Mod Contest topped Merry Pencil Studios’ Painkiller RTX Remix with a number of awards, nevertheless it wasn’t the one mod value celebrating.
Right here’s a better take a look at the profitable submission, together with different standout initiatives that showcase how RTX Remix and AI-powered instruments are redefining what’s attainable with modding on PCs.
‘Painkiller’ RTX Remix: Winner in Greatest Total, Greatest Use of RTX and Most Full Classes
The mod group Merry Pencil Studios rebuilt greater than 35 ranges of the gothic shooter Painkiller utilizing AI-assisted workflows and handcrafted artistry. The group batch-processed 1000’s of low-resolution textures and generated high-resolution bodily based mostly rendering (PBR) supplies that mechanically obtained imported into RTX Remix.
The group’s AI mannequin of selection was PBRFusiona mannequin skilled by the RTX Remix group that may upscale textures by 4x and generate high-quality regular, roughness and peak maps.
This workflow offered a constant basis for the sport’s advanced environments, liberating up time for inventive polish. From there, the group used instruments like Blender and InstaMAT to craft belongings like lanterns and different gothic particulars that outline the sport’s ambiance.
“Generative AI has fully expanded what feels attainable in modding. Past texture upscaling, we’re now seeing it generate 3D fashions, refine advanced multi-material surfaces and help with coding duties like constructing workflow instruments, writing documentation and catching errors.” — Merry Pencil Studios
“PBRFusion and different AI instruments made it attainable for a small group to transform a whole sport into PBR. It set the baseline look, whereas we centered our handbook efforts on the belongings gamers discover most.” — Merry Pencil Studios
With RTX Remix, gothic church buildings now glow with volumetric gentle pouring by means of stained glass, marble statues scatter coloured gentle and fight scenes erupt with particle results that solid real looking shadows. NVIDIA GeForce RTX GPUs powered the workflow from begin to end, with real-time path tracing and Nvidia DLSS know-how guaranteeing easy iteration whereas modifying even on huge scenes.
“The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 GPU was a dream for our workflow: velocity, fluidity, the whole lot felt seamless. DLSS Body Era doubled and even tripled body charges, making the sport look unbelievable on high-refresh shows.” — Merry Pencil Studios
What makes the Painkiller RTX Remix notable is its scope, that includes over 35 remastered ranges. This quantity of labor couldn’t have been accomplished in such a short while with out RTX Remix and the generative AI instruments the group used.
By combining generative AI automation with cautious craftsmanship, Merry Pencil Studios delivered a mission that feels each formidable and polished.
‘Unreal’ RTX Remix: An Bold AI Texture Rebuild
“I wouldn’t have been capable of create PBR textures with out AI. I might have possibly created emissive maps and peak maps, however I wouldn’t have been capable of do the roughness or regular maps myself.” — mstewart401
UnrealRTX demonstrates the dimensions of generative AI’s affect in modding. Modder mstewart401 got down to rebuild practically each texture throughout 14 ranges of the 1998 basic — a job that might have taken years by hand.
With RTX Remix’s built-in AI texture instruments, plus experimental strategies like producing animations from AI video instruments and hand-editing gentle maps, entire environments had been reimagined with new element and ambiance.
The outcomes are putting: glowing crystals pulse with emissive gentle, alien landscapes shimmer with trendy supplies and the sport’s otherworldly maps really feel richer and extra alive. By leaning on AI for the majority of the feel work, mstewart401 might deal with inventive sprucing — delivering an overhaul that feels formidable even by skilled requirements.
“If somebody like me could make a mod like this, anybody can. I solely get an hour right here and an hour there, however with generative AI and RTX, I’ve been capable of push ‘Unreal’ additional than I ever thought attainable.” — mstewart401
‘Want for Pace: Underground’ RTX Remix: Mixing AI and 3D Artistry
Within the Want for Pace: Underground RTX Remixmodder Alessandro893 used AI and 3D artistry to remaster each race course within the sport with new textures, supplies and lighting.
“In racing video games, generative AI opens up new potentialities for creating real looking and immersive environments. In a racing sport like ‘Want for Pace: Underground,’ the visible atmosphere is essential for participant immersion, nevertheless it additionally must really feel responsive and different.” — Alessandro893
Utilizing ComfyUI, Alessandro893 generated greater than 500 new textures, then refined them in Adobe Photoshop for consistency and realism. As well as, the modder constructed over 30 new high-poly automobile and atmosphere fashions in Blender, upgrading older belongings with smoother, extra lifelike element.
“Generative AI was primarily used for texture technology. The unique look was preserved by utilizing the unique textures as enter for AI. It’s inconceivable to create such numerous textures in such a brief time frame alone with out AI.” — Alessandro893
With RTX GPUs driving AI texture conversion, path-traced reflections and DLSS acceleration, the group might reimagine racing environments with quicker iteration and better constancy than ever. However because the modder emphasised, AI didn’t exchange artistry. It created room for it.
The overhaul is most putting on the Chinatown monitor, which was rebuilt with new buildings, vegetation and absolutely path-traced lighting that makes neon reflections pop towards moist pavement.
By leaning on AI to deal with the repetitive work of texture technology, the modder might deal with inventive refinements — giving Olympic Metropolis a contemporary, cinematic twist whereas preserving its nostalgic really feel.
‘Portal 2’ RTX Remix: An Progressive AI-Powered Workflow
“AI opened up new alternatives and drastically accelerated my workflow, permitting me to deal with extra formidable inventive duties.” – Skuryyskirts
SkurtyySkirts, the mud behind Portal 2 RTX Remixused a singular workflow — tapping a giant language mannequin to construct a customized plug-in known as Substance2Remix, bridging Adobe Substance Painter on to RTX Remix.
This circulation allowed the modder to drag in an asset, apply AI-assisted supplies, hand-paint particulars and push it straight again into the sport, multi function speedy loop. What would usually take days of exporting and importing was accomplished in minutes.
“As soon as I noticed the potential of Remix’s REST software programming interface, I spotted I might create a extra built-in workflow between instruments like Substance Painter and RTX Remix. I didn’t wish to cope with a handbook, tedious export-import course of for my handmade textures, so I developed a easy plug-and-play plug-in. This fully shifted the position of AI from a easy upscaling instrument to a core element of my inventive pipeline, enabling me to deal with creating detailed, high-quality textures by hand.” – Skuryyskirts
Early on, the mission leaned on AI upscalers like PBRFusionhowever over time the workflow advanced into a mixture of AI and handbook artistry. The result’s a sharper, extra atmospheric sport atmosphere — enhanced additional by RTX Remix’s volumetrics and fog techniques, which make the decaying take a look at chambers really feel extra alive.
By creating a brand new pipeline, the mission opens the door for different modders to experiment with quicker, AI-powered workflows of their very own.
Press Begin: Remaster With RTX Remix
To get began creating RTX Remix mods, obtain NVIDIA RTX Remix from the house display of the NVIDIA App and take a look at our tutorials and documentation. PBRFusion on Hugging Face additionally provides a plug-and-play setup with ComfyUI, letting modders batch-process textures into high-quality, PBR maps in just some clicks.
Take a look at the entire mods submitted to the RTX Remix Modding Contest, in addition to 100 extra Remix mods, obtainable to obtain from Moddb. Learn the RTX Remix article to be taught extra in regards to the contest and winners. For a sneak peek at RTX Remix initiatives beneath energetic improvement, be part of the group over on the RTX Remix Showcase Discord server — it’s a fantastic place to get a serving to hand.
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