| Category | Score (out of 10) | Notes | |-------------------|-------------------|-------| | Visual Improvement| 7 | Cleaner temporal stability, but same physical limits. | | Performance | 8 | Small but real gains; better frame pacing. | | Stability | 9 | Crash fixes and AMD compatibility are huge. | | Ease of Setup | 6 | Still requires depth buffer fiddling in some games. | | Documentation | 7 | Changelog clear, but no new user guide. | | Value (free update)| 10 | If you own 0.17.x, it’s free. If you don’t, worth $5. |
RTGI is a post-processing shader that brings path-traced lighting to almost any game that allows depth buffer access through Reshade. Unlike standard game lighting, which often relies on pre-baked shadows or simple ambient occlusion, RTGI calculates how light bounces off surfaces in real-time. This results in natural color bleeding, realistic shadows in corners, and a sense of "grounding" for objects that traditional rendering methods often miss. Key Improvements in 0.17.0.2 rtgi 0.17.0.2 release
Since its early days as a patreon-only prototype, Pascal Gilcher’s (often simply called "the Ray Tracing shader") has held a unique place in PC gaming. It’s not path tracing , nor is it hardware-accelerated like NVIDIA’s RTX. Instead, it’s a clever, screen-space, depth- and normal-buffer-driven ray marching solution that injects a form of realistic light bounces into almost any DirectX 9–12 or Vulkan game. The result? Flat, last-gen lighting gains soft ambient occlusion, color bleeding, and a tangible sense of volume. | Category | Score (out of 10) |
This version is often paired with ReShade 4.9 or similar versions from that period to ensure stability. | | Ease of Setup | 6 |
, this release focused on refining the "next-gen" ray tracing experience for PC games. Based on the common structure of his release notes, a typical post for this version includes: Download Link : A direct link to the ReShade GI Beta 0.17.0.2.zip file for Patreon members. Performance Improvements
Place the .fx and .fxh files into your game's reshade-shaders/Shaders folder.
Why the release mattered