Reshade Rtgi 0.36.1 ((new)) -

user wants a long, informative article about "Reshade Rtgi 0.36.1". I need to provide a comprehensive overview covering what it is, features, requirements, installation, configuration, comparisons, troubleshooting, performance, and community. To do this, I need to gather information from multiple sources. I will follow the search plan outlined in the hint. search results have provided some initial links. To gather comprehensive information for the article, I need to open several of these results. I will open the Nexus Mods link for version 0.36.1, the Wccftech article about the update, the devlog, the product page, the installation guide, the performance discussion, the troubleshooting pages, and the Reddit threads. search results have provided a good amount of information. I will also need to cover future development and community feedback. I'll search for more details on these aspects. have gathered information from various sources. Now I need to structure the article. The article will cover: an introduction to RTGI 0.36.1, the technical breakthroughs including the new sampling algorithm and HiZ tracing, the supporting ecosystem of MXAO and Launchpad, installation, performance impact, troubleshooting, community showcases, future developments, and a conclusion. I will cite the sources appropriately. RTGI (Ray Traced Global Illumination) shader, created by the developer known as Pascal Gilcher (or Marty McFly), has long been a benchmark for visual fidelity in PC gaming. With the release of version 0.36.1, the modding community is witnessing what is arguably the most significant leap forward for the project. Far more than a standard update, RTGI 0.36.1 introduces a proprietary algorithm that challenges industry standards for real-time lighting. This article provides a detailed breakdown of the new technology, its performance impact, installation process, and its place within the broader RTGI ecosystem.

RTGI 0.36.1: The Breakdown of a Revolutionary Shader 1. A New Algorithm Beyond ReSTIR GI The headline feature of this update is the replacement of the previously attempted sampling algorithm. Gilcher had experimented with Nvidia’s ReSTIR GI (Reservoir-based Spatiotemporal Importance Resampling for Global Illumination), a state-of-the-art technique used in high-end graphics research. However, the developer encountered significant drawbacks with ReSTIR, including persistent chroma noise (a result of reservoir sampling holding light from only a single direction) and "white noise" output that was difficult for denoisers to filter. To solve this, Gilcher designed his own sampling algorithm. According to the developer, this proprietary method vastly outperforms ReSTIR GI in terms of final image quality, avoiding the typical artifacts of spatial resampling while maintaining temporal stability. This results in lighting that feels less like a "filter" and more like a native engine feature, with fewer flickering artifacts and a more natural convergence of light bounces. 2. Pixel-Perfect Reflections with HiZ Tracing Beyond Global Illumination, RTGI 0.36.1 brings a major overhaul to how screen-space reflections are calculated. The shader now implements HiZ (Hierarchical-Z) Min-Max Tracing . This tracing method is highly efficient for skipping empty space, ensuring that reflection rays trace "pixel-perfect" paths in real time. This improvement means that reflective surfaces—water puddles, wet roads, or glossy metals—will exhibit sharper, more accurate environmental mirroring, reducing the blurry or "shimmering" artifacts common in older post-processing reflection techniques. 3. The Ecosystem: MXAO and Launchpad The 0.36.1 update is not isolated to the RTGI effect alone. Gilcher’s suite of supporting shaders received crucial upgrades:

iMMERSE MXAO : Improved performance on lower-end GPUs through 2D tiled processing, and fixed the "low-radius halo" artifact that sometimes appeared around objects under ambient occlusion. iMMERSE Launchpad : This prepass shader (required for motion estimation) got a major rewrite, introducing a gradient descent–based algorithm to handle subpixel shifts. Users can now choose between two optimizers: Newton for lower-quality/performance and SophiaG for high-end visual precision.

Installation and Setup with ReShade 0.36.1 To get RTGI 0.36.1 running, you must first have the base ReShade framework installed. Here is a step-by-step guide based on community and developer standards. Step 1: Install ReShade Visit the official ReShade website to download the latest setup tool. Run the installer, click "Browse," and select your game’s executable (e.g., Cyberpunk2077.exe or SkyrimSE.exe ). Choose the correct rendering API for your game (typically DirectX 10/11/12 or Vulkan). Step 2: Access RTGI 0.36.1 The RTGI 0.36.1 shader is a proprietary add-on. It is generally distributed via the developer's Patreon page (Marty McFly). Once downloaded, you will receive the specific ReShade_GI_Beta_0.36.1 files. Step 3: Copy Shader Files Inside the RTGI folder, you will find two sub-folders: Shaders and Textures . You must copy these folders and merge them into the reshade-shaders directory located in your game's root folder. Step 4: In-Game Activation Launch your game. Press the "Home" key to open the ReShade overlay. Navigate to the "Add-ons" or "Effect" tab and search for the effect titled RTGlobalIllumination.fx . Check the box to enable it. Important : For the shader to function, the game's depth buffer must be accessible. If the screen goes black or nothing changes, you may need to navigate to the Add-ons tab and toggle "Copy depth buffer before clear operations" or set the environment variable RESHADE_DEPTH_INPUT_IS_REVERSED=1 if the game uses a reversed depth buffer. Performance Impact and Optimization While RTGI can run on hardware without dedicated RT cores, it is computationally expensive. Hardware Requirements Reshade Rtgi 0.36.1

Minimum: GTX 1060 or RX 570 (capable, but requires lower quality settings). Recommended: RTX 2060 or higher, or AMD RX 6000 series.

According to community reports, enabling heavy RTGI shaders can cost between 5 to 20+ FPS depending on resolution, scene complexity, and quality settings. Optimization Tips To maximize performance without sacrificing visuals:

Lower Ray Length: Reduces how far rays bounce, lowering computation. Adjust Fade Out Range: Reducing the range can improve performance by limiting the shader's area of effect. Use a Quality Preset: RTGI includes quality presets for both diffuse and specular GI. Use "Low" or "Performance" modes on older GPUs. user wants a long, informative article about "Reshade

Common Troubleshooting Issues Even with a perfect install, issues can arise. Here are common fixes for RTGI 0.36.1:

Flickering or "Static" Image : This often happens with upscalers like DLSS or FSR. Try disabling DLSS/Frame Generation to see if the issue resolves. If it fixes it, you may need to manually adjust the depth buffer settings in ReShade. Shader Freezes/Crashes : If enabling RTGI causes the ReShade overlay to freeze or load infinitely, the depth buffer may be incompatible. Try switching between "Copy Depth Buffer" and "Clear Depth Buffer" in the Add-ons settings. No Effect (Black Screen) : Usually a depth buffer mismatch. Ensure MSAA (Multisample Anti-Aliasing) is disabled in your game's settings, as MSAA often breaks depth buffer access for third-party tools.

Community Showcase and Presets The power of RTGI is best seen through community presets. Many users have adapted 0.36.1 to create specific "looks" for games. I will follow the search plan outlined in the hint

Realistic Visual Far Cry 4 : A preset that uses RTGI to add realistic lighting without destroying the original game's atmosphere. SnowRunner NextGen : A specific mod that explicitly lists "ReShade_GI_Beta_0.36.1" as a requirement to remove the game's native blur and add depth to environmental lighting. The Last of Us Part I : A community patch that injects RTGI 0.36.1 into the PC port to simulate ray tracing where the developer left it out, with specific tweaks to AO (Ambient Occlusion) intensity.

Future Development: What Comes Next? Pascal Gilcher has confirmed his roadmap for the RTGI project. The key takeaway from the 0.36.1 update is that it is a transitional step towards modular lighting . Gilcher plans to split the diffuse and specular components of RTGI into two entirely separate shaders in the future. Currently, managing both within a single pipeline has become difficult as complexity grows. Splitting them will give users granular control over whether they want just the color bleeding of diffuse lighting or the sharp reflections of specular lighting, allowing for unprecedented customization and performance tuning. Conclusion Reshade RTGI 0.36.1 represents the peak of post-process ray tracing. While it may never match the geometric precision of native, hardware-accelerated path tracing (like NVIDIA RTX Remix), it offers an incredible quality-to-performance ratio for the vast library of games that will never receive official ray tracing updates. By combining a superior sampling algorithm, HiZ reflections, and a robust support ecosystem of MXAO and Launchpad, Pascal Gilcher has ensured that RTGI remains the gold standard for graphical modding in 2025 and beyond.