Final week at Gamescom, NVIDIA introduced the winners of the NVIDIA and ModDB RTX Remix Mod Contest, a $50,000 competitors celebrating community-made initiatives that reimagine traditional video games with fashionable 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 total studios.
On the coronary heart of those initiatives was NVIDIA RTX Remix, a platform that lets creators seize belongings from traditional titles and rebuild them with fashionable 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 give attention to their artistry.
Plus, with NVIDIA RTX GPUs accelerating these AI-driven workflows, bold remasters that when took years can now come collectively in months.
There are at the moment 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, however it wasn’t the one mod price 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 potential with modding on PCs.
‘Painkiller’ RTX Remix: Winner in Finest Total, Finest Use of RTX and Most Full Classes
The mod crew Merry Pencil Studios rebuilt greater than 35 ranges of the gothic shooter Painkiller utilizing AI-assisted workflows and handcrafted artistry. The crew batch-processed 1000’s of low-resolution textures and generated high-resolution bodily primarily based rendering (PBR) supplies that routinely bought imported into RTX Remix.
The crew’s AI mannequin of alternative was PBRFusion, a mannequin educated by the RTX Remix neighborhood that may upscale textures by 4x and generate high-quality regular, roughness and top maps.
This workflow supplied a constant basis for the sport’s advanced environments, releasing up time for artistic polish. From there, the crew used instruments like Blender and InstaMAT to craft belongings like lanterns and different gothic particulars that outline the sport’s environment.
“Generative AI has fully expanded what feels potential 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 potential for a small crew to transform a complete recreation into PBR. It set the baseline look, whereas we centered our guide efforts on the belongings gamers discover most.” — Merry Pencil Studios
With RTX Remix, gothic church buildings now glow with volumetric mild pouring by way of stained glass, marble statues scatter coloured mild and fight scenes erupt with particle results that solid reasonable shadows. NVIDIA GeForce RTX GPUs powered the workflow from begin to end, with real-time path tracing and NVIDIA DLSS expertise guaranteeing easy iteration whereas enhancing even on large 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 unimaginable 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 crew used.
By combining generative AI automation with cautious craftsmanship, Merry Pencil Studios delivered a challenge that feels each bold and polished.
‘Unreal’ RTX Remix: An Formidable AI Texture Rebuild
“I wouldn’t have been in a position to create PBR textures with out AI. I may have possibly created emissive maps and top maps, however I wouldn’t have been in a position to do the roughness or regular maps myself.” — mstewart401
UnrealRTX demonstrates the size of generative AI’s impression in modding. Modder mstewart401 got down to rebuild almost each texture throughout 14 ranges of the 1998 traditional — 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 mild maps, complete environments have been reimagined with new element and environment.
The outcomes are placing: glowing crystals pulse with emissive mild, alien landscapes shimmer with fashionable 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 may give attention to artistic sprucing — delivering an overhaul that feels bold 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 in a position to push ‘Unreal’ additional than I ever thought potential.” — mstewart401
‘Want for Pace: Underground’ RTX Remix: Mixing AI and 3D Artistry
Within the Want for Pace: Underground RTX Remix, modder Alessandro893 used AI and 3D artistry to remaster each race course within the recreation with new textures, supplies and lighting.
“In racing video games, generative AI opens up new prospects for creating reasonable and immersive environments. In a racing recreation like ‘Want for Pace: Underground,’ the visible setting is essential for participant immersion, however 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 setting fashions in Blender, upgrading older belongings with smoother, extra lifelike element.
“Generative AI was primarily used for texture technology. The unique look was preserved through the use of the unique textures as enter for AI. It’s inconceivable to create such a lot of 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 crew may 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 placing on the Chinatown monitor, which was rebuilt with new buildings, vegetation and totally 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 may give attention to artistic 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 give attention to extra bold artistic duties.” – Skuryyskirts
SkurtyySkirts, the mud behind Portal 2 RTX Remix, used a novel workflow — tapping a big language mannequin to construct a customized plug-in known as Substance2Remix, bridging Adobe Substance Painter on to RTX Remix.
This circulate allowed the modder to drag in an asset, apply AI-assisted supplies, hand-paint particulars and push it straight again into the sport, multi functional speedy loop. What would usually take days of exporting and importing was executed in minutes.
“As soon as I noticed the potential of Remix’s REST utility programming interface, I noticed I may create a extra built-in workflow between instruments like Substance Painter and RTX Remix. I didn’t wish to cope with a guide, tedious export-import course of for my handmade textures, so I developed a easy plug-and-play plug-in. This fully shifted the function of AI from a easy upscaling software to a core part of my artistic pipeline, enabling me to give attention to creating detailed, high-quality textures by hand.” – Skuryyskirts
Early on, the challenge leaned on AI upscalers like PBRFusion, however over time the workflow advanced into a mixture of AI and guide artistry. The result’s a sharper, extra atmospheric recreation setting — enhanced additional by RTX Remix’s volumetrics and fog methods, which make the decaying check chambers really feel extra alive.
By creating a brand new pipeline, the challenge 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 only a few clicks.
Take a look at the entire mods submitted to the RTX Remix Modding Contest, in addition to 100 extra Remix mods, accessible to obtain from ModDB. Learn the RTX Remix article to study extra in regards to the contest and winners. For a sneak peek at RTX Remix initiatives beneath energetic improvement, be part of the neighborhood over on the RTX Remix Showcase Discord server — it’s an ideal place to get a serving to hand.
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