Ray tracing comes to the N64 with this impressive mod

A mod is in the works that will bring ray tracing to some classics Nintendo 64 games etc Ocarina of Time and Paper Mario.

Not long ago, self-proclaimed modder software developer Darío released a mod that adds full ray tracing to Super Mario 64. For those unfamiliar with the technology, simply put, it can add very realistic lighting effects to games. Granted, it’s a modern technology that’s becoming more common in the latest generation of consoles, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t look good on older games either.

Now, the same modder Darío is showing off an N64 emulator plugin that appears to add ray tracing to any game on the console.

“I would like to reveal that RT64, the path tracer behind sm64rt, is evolving into an N64 emulator plugin,” Darío wrote on Twitter. “Here’s a small shot I captured from a game that already showed results. Ray traced lighting, object motion blur, widescreen, DLSS, and 60+ FPS.”

From the reels is the classic Ocarina of Time, although the effect is a little subtle due to the very bright lights in Kokiri Forest. If you look at the clips, the most notable case of real-time shadows will be the wooden bridges that weren’t in the original game.

More subtle is the next game shown, Paper Mario, but it’s really nicely shaded, adding a lot of depth to the original game.

Some other games are also shown, such as Kirby 64: Crystal Shardsand Mysterious ninja starring Goemon. Classic Snowboard Game . children’s snowboard Also included, looks especially good with improved lighting.

As Darío pointed out, the mod will also include things like object motion blur, widescreen, DLSS, and 60+ FPS, all of which add up to some good looking games.