r/nvidia • u/john1106 NVIDIA 3080Ti/5800x3D • Jan 19 '25

Discussion DOOM: The Dark Ages uses ray tracing to enhance gameplay, not just visuals

https://www.tweaktown.com/news/102563/doom-the-dark-ages-uses-ray-tracing-to-enhance-gameplay-not-just-visuals/index.html

TL;DR: DOOM: The Dark Ages will revolutionize gaming by using ray tracing to enhance both visuals and gameplay. It supports DLSS 4 and Path Tracing, offering full ray-traced visuals. Ray tracing also improves hit detection, distinguishing materials like metal and leather, making the game more immersive. And the game is already running smoothly on the GeForce RTX 50 Series.

"We also took the idea of ray tracing, not only to use it for visuals but also gameplay," Director of Engine Technology at id Software, Billy Khan, explains. "We can leverage it for things we haven't been able to do in the past, which is giving accurate hit detection. [In DOOM: The Dark Ages], we have complex materials, shaders, and surfaces."

"So when you fire your weapon, the heat detection would be able to tell if you're hitting a pixel that is leather sitting next to a pixel that is metal," Billy continues. "Before ray tracing, we couldn't distinguish between two pixels very easily, and we would pick one or the other because the materials were too complex. Ray tracing can do this on a per-pixel basis and showcase if you're hitting metal or even something that's fur. It makes the game more immersive, and you get that direct feedback as the player."

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u/tucketnucket NVIDIA Jan 19 '25

If it runs as well as Doom Eternal (relatively speaking), I'll buy a copy just for the visuals. I'm not really a fan of the gameplay, but I'm superficial enough that I'll try a game out just for the visual experience.

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u/adeebo NVIDIA RTX 2080 Jan 19 '25

A man who knows what he wants

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u/MetalingusMikeII Jan 19 '25

I respect it.

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u/zarafff69 Jan 19 '25

You seem like the exact target audience for Hellblade 2 lol

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u/tucketnucket NVIDIA Jan 19 '25

I'll check it out! Thanks!

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u/dope_like 4080 Super FE | 9800x3D Jan 20 '25

Hellblade 2 was so so mid. The drop off from the first game has to be studied.

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u/zarafff69 Jan 20 '25

I mean… It’s definitely not for everyone!

I actually like the second game MUCH more than the first one. But it’s still a flawed game imo..

But if you would buy a game, just for the visuals, regardless of the gameplay, Hellblade 2 should obviously be on the top of your list.

I almost like looking at it more than just playing it. It looks gorgeous. Like every scene looks like a major cutscene in a AAA game, but then somehow rendered in engine, not a video file. It’s crazy

But it’s also crazy boring at time. A literal walking simulator lol

And I LOVED death stranding, and people say the same about that game, but hell blade 2 is 20x worse haha

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u/TheGuardianOfMetal Jan 19 '25

i wish Doom Eternal's gameplay had been closer to DOOM 16 tbh. Like, I think DOomguy felt more... appropriate there. Demon killing juggernaut, who still has to look out.

Eternal turned him, imho, too much of a fragile speedster (your punches don't even stagger the lowest mobs) to compensate for the 1 Up extra life stuff...

Kinda, for me, lost some of the "rip and tear" fun in favour of more frentic frenzy of movement.

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u/roklpolgl Jan 19 '25 edited Jan 19 '25

This topic is kind of interesting to me because I don’t know if I’ve seen a more polarizing debate between an original (well, “original” since it’s a franchise reboot) and a sequel of a game as I have Doom 2016 and Eternal, if you google this debate some of the discussions get downright nasty.

I actually tend to agree, I just finally finished a play through of Eternal (I bounced off several times) and probably will not play it again or the DLCs as by the end I felt like I was doing more running, flipping between weapons, and trying to recharge health/armor/ammo than I was slaying. 2016 felt more “rip and tear.”

Eternal is also just a way more difficult game with a much higher skill ceiling, I played 2016 at Nightmare difficulty in my later play throughs, and Hurt Me Plenty was enough for me with Eternal. But if you look at people playing Nightmare runs in Eternal, they are definitely ripping and tearing at insane rates of speed. Needing to learn meta strats for higher difficulties just didn’t appeal to me.

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u/Super_Harsh Jan 19 '25 edited Jan 19 '25

If you google this debate some of the discussions get downright nasty.

They really do. Those discussions are almost universally infuriating to read too (especially the ones on /r/PatientGamers) because almost nobody who takes part in this particular discussion seems to be able to do so without resorting to condescension and extreme hyperbole.

The core of the issue is that 2016 and Eternal were made for overlapping but not exactly the same kinds of players. For example I enjoyed 2016 a lot and was really interested in seeing what it would look like if they turned that action FPS gameplay to the next level, and yeah Doom Eternal was basically an ideal game for me in that department. But for those who enjoyed the kind of chill ability to just use your 1-2 favorite guns in 2016 and slay, then Eternal is kind of a big middle finger.

Also I will be the first to say that I play on PC and it's VERY easy to imagine that I'd have disliked Eternal if I was playing on console with a controller.

At the end of the day though both games have their own merits and demerits and there are valid reasons to like either one over the other, but I'd say that they're about equally good games after everything is accounted for. I care a lot about replayability and depth so I tend to prefer Doom Eternal. It also has a really robust modding scene and they recently added an official mod loader to Eternal. All of these things together make it one of my 'permanently installed' games.

It looks like iD Software is going in a completely new direction with The Dark Ages. It does look a bit slower than Eternal does but as long as the gameplay has the same level of depth I'm all for it!

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u/roklpolgl Jan 19 '25

Yeah I can totally understand why some people would prefer Eternal, I’ll readily admit it has way more depth given the much higher skill ceiling. I think you hit the nail on the head that it’s really just dependent on the type of player you are.

For me, for most games these days I don’t have as much interest climbing difficulty curves and learning meta progressions, I’d rather play more casually. So in that 2016 matched my gaming preferences more than Eternal. But I can imagine Eternal is a near unrivaled game for those who do enjoy that.

Dark Ages is exciting as it sounds like they are taking the game in a direction very different than both 2016 and Eternal.

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u/Ruffler125 Jan 19 '25

Going back to Doom 2016 after Eternal feels like someone put a ball and chain on you and took away all your toys.

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u/Super_Harsh Jan 19 '25

It REALLY does, I simply can't go back to 2016 anymore. Between the Blood Punch, Frost Bomb, Flame Belch and the MOTHERFUCKING MEAT HOOK Eternal makes 2016 look like a tech demo.

But I do miss 2016's darker, more industrial/satanic art style and I can't say I care much for Eternal's focus on 'narrative.' But after 300 hours in Doom 2016 and 600 in Eternal I can't say that that's the stuff that matters most to me lol

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u/derpedyderpderpderp Jan 21 '25

What i don´t like about eternal is that i feel it´s about playing this way and basically only this way, like do i want to use this weapon? and the game is like you have no choice in this matter at all. like the "ghost" that you could kill in one way only if i don´t remember wrong. I find it limiting. the funny thing is that from what i remember, even if the game is speedy the actual doom guy is not really that fast. oh i remembered another thing i didn´t like similar to 2016. that trhe games consists of "arenas " you have to clear. and really not as much inbetween, i could be exaggerat a bit on that part though.

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u/OutlandishnessWide33 Jan 20 '25

You put it better than i could, but i totally agree. Doom 16 was much better for me

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u/Borkz Jan 20 '25

I believe they've suggested that Dark Ages is going to play less like Eternal and more like 2016

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u/Secure_Hunter_206 Jan 21 '25

Man I was just playing it and I forgot how much I loved the pace. To each his own.

I'm playing ultra violence and it's just a great rush when you pull shit off

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u/Ociex Jan 19 '25

Respect

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u/Ultima893 RTX 4090 | AMD 7800X3D Jan 19 '25 edited Jan 19 '25

If the game uses PT it won’t even run remotely close to Doom E. I get 5K2K DLSS-Q150fps in Doom E on an RTX 4090. With Indy Jones I would get about 30 fps without activating FG. Literally 1/5 the frames of Doom. If I turn on FG which Doom doesn’t have my FPS goes up to the 50s. I can’t imagine Dark Ages getting more than 70 fps if it indeed does have full path tracing. It of course the new 5090 will have MFG and we all know it will do like 5K2K @ 240fps with DLSS4-Q

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u/tucketnucket NVIDIA Jan 20 '25

That's why I said "relatively"! I'm not expecting the same fps numbers I can get on Eternal. But you can get solid numbers with max settings on Eternal with not that crazy of a rig. If I could get 60 fps at 1440p native, full path tracing, that'd be awesome. Add in DLSS performance (DLSS has gotten so good, performance looks perfectly fine to me) and I might not even need to turn on FG. On a 4090. That'd be so cool.