Assassin’s Creed Origins, released in 2017, was a massive overhaul of the Assassin’s Creed franchise, offering a vast open world, a new combat system, and improved visuals. One of the most significant improvements was the introduction of a more advanced graphics engine, which brought the game’s visuals up to par with other AAA titles of the time. However, with the advent of real-time ray tracing (RT) technology, gamers are left wondering: Does Assassin’s Creed Origins have ray tracing?
The Evolution of Graphics in Assassin’s Creed
To understand the graphics capabilities of Assassin’s Creed Origins, it’s essential to look at the evolution of graphics in the series. The Assassin’s Creed franchise has always been known for its visually stunning environments, characters, and cutscenes. From the early days of Assassin’s Creed II to the more recent Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, the series has consistently pushed the boundaries of graphics technology.
In Assassin’s Creed III, released in 2012, the AnvilNext game engine was introduced, which brought significant improvements to the series’ visuals. The engine enabled the creation of more detailed environments, better lighting, and more realistic character models. This was followed by Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, which further refined the AnvilNext engine, adding more advanced lighting and water effects.
However, it wasn’t until Assassin’s Creed Unity, released in 2014, that the series saw a significant leap in graphics quality. Unity introduced the AnvilNext 2.0 engine, which brought advanced features like physically based rendering, volumetric fog, and improved character models. This new engine allowed for more realistic environments, with detailed architecture, realistic lighting, and better character animations.
The Next-Gen Leap with Assassin’s Creed Origins
Assassin’s Creed Origins marked a significant departure from the previous AnvilNext engine, introducing a brand-new game engine, dubbed the “Scalable Graphics Engine.” This new engine was designed to take advantage of the latest graphics processing units (GPUs) and central processing units (CPUs), allowing for more efficient rendering and improved performance.
The Scalable Graphics Engine brought a range of advanced features, including:
- Improved Lighting: The engine introduced advanced lighting techniques, including volumetric lighting, which added depth and realism to the game’s environments.
- Enhanced Character Models: Characters were redesigned to be more detailed and realistic, with advanced skin shading, hair simulation, and cloth physics.
- Dynamic Weather and Time-of-Day: The engine allowed for more dynamic weather and time-of-day effects, which added to the game’s immersion and realism.
- Advanced Vegetation and Terrain: The engine enabled more detailed vegetation and terrain, with advanced simulations for water, wind, and destructible environments.
However, despite these significant improvements, Assassin’s Creed Origins did not feature real-time ray tracing.
What is Ray Tracing, and Why is it Important?
Ray tracing is a rendering technique that simulates the way light behaves in the real world, by tracing the path of light as it bounces off various objects in a scene. This technique allows for more accurate and realistic lighting, reflections, and shadows, creating a more immersive gaming experience.
Ray tracing is important because it enables more realistic graphics, with:
- More Accurate Lighting: Ray tracing allows for more accurate and detailed lighting, with realistic soft shadows, god rays, and ambient Occlusion.
- Better Reflections: Ray tracing enables more realistic reflections, with accurate mirror-like reflections, and detailed refractions.
- Enhanced Shadows: Ray tracing allows for more detailed and realistic shadows, with accurate shadow mapping and soft shadowing.
However, ray tracing comes at a significant performance cost, requiring powerful hardware to run smoothly.
Why Assassin’s Creed Origins Doesn’t Have Ray Tracing
Assassin’s Creed Origins was released in 2017, a time when real-time ray tracing was still in its infancy. At the time, ray tracing was primarily used in film and video production, and was not yet viable for real-time rendering in video games.
The game’s developers, Ubisoft, focused on optimizing the game for the console hardware available at the time, including the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. While the Scalable Graphics Engine was designed to take advantage of the latest GPU and CPU architectures, it was not capable of handling the intense computational requirements of real-time ray tracing.
Furthermore, the game’s ambitions were focused on delivering a massive open world, with a complex narrative, advanced combat mechanics, and improved visuals. Adding ray tracing to the game’s feature list would have required significant resources and would have likely compromised the game’s performance and stability.
The Future of Ray Tracing in Assassin’s Creed
With the advent of more powerful hardware, including NVIDIA’s RTX series of graphics cards, real-time ray tracing has become more viable in video games. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, released in 2018, did not feature ray tracing, but it did include some advanced features like global illumination and ambient Occlusion.
However, with the release of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla in 2020, the series finally saw the introduction of real-time ray tracing. Valhalla’s engine, dubbed the “AnvilNext 2.1” engine, features advanced ray tracing capabilities, including:
- Real-Time Ray Tracing: Valhalla features real-time ray tracing for more accurate and realistic lighting, reflections, and shadows.
- Ambient Occlusion: The game includes advanced ambient Occlusion, which adds depth and realism to the game’s environments.
- Global Illumination: Valhalla features advanced global illumination, which simulates the way light scatters and bounces off various objects in a scene.
While Assassin’s Creed Origins may not have ray tracing, the series has continued to evolve, and the latest installment, Valhalla, has brought the franchise up to par with the latest graphics technology.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Assassin’s Creed Origins does not feature real-time ray tracing, due to the limitations of the hardware available at the time of its release. However, the game’s Scalable Graphics Engine brought significant improvements to the series’ visuals, and paved the way for future advancements.
The Assassin’s Creed franchise has continued to evolve, with each new installment pushing the boundaries of graphics technology. With the introduction of real-time ray tracing in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, the series has taken a significant leap forward, offering a more immersive and visually stunning gaming experience.
For those looking to experience the best of Assassin’s Creed Origins, it’s essential to play the game on a powerful PC or console, with a high-end graphics card and a fast processor. While the game may not have ray tracing, it still offers an exceptional gaming experience, with stunning visuals, engaging combat, and a rich narrative.
What is Ray Tracing and how does it affect Assassin’s Creed Origins’ Visual Fidelity?
Ray tracing is a rendering technique used to generate photorealistic images by simulating the way light behaves in the real world. In the context of video games, ray tracing allows for more accurate lighting, reflections, and shadows, creating a more immersive and realistic gaming experience. In Assassin’s Creed Origins, ray tracing would significantly enhance the game’s visual fidelity, making it look more lifelike and engaging.
However, it’s essential to note that ray tracing is a computationally intensive technique, requiring powerful hardware to run smoothly. This means that not all players would be able to take advantage of this feature, potentially limiting its adoption. Nonetheless, the inclusion of ray tracing in Assassin’s Creed Origins would be a significant step forward in terms of visual quality, making the game more appealing to players who value graphics and immersion.
Does Assassin’s Creed Origins Support Ray Tracing?
Unfortunately, Assassin’s Creed Origins does not officially support ray tracing. The game was released in 2017, before ray tracing became a mainstream feature in video games. As a result, the game’s engine and graphics capabilities are not optimized for ray tracing.
While it’s possible that modders or enthusiasts might attempt to add ray tracing support to the game through modifications or patches, there is currently no official support for this feature. Players who want to experience ray tracing in Assassin’s Creed Origins would need to rely on community-created content, which may not be as polished or optimized as official support.
What Visual Features Does Assassin’s Creed Origins Have?
Despite the lack of ray tracing, Assassin’s Creed Origins still boasts impressive visuals, thanks to its Dynamic Resolution Scaling (DRS) and Temporal Anti-Aliasing (TAA) features. DRS allows the game to adjust its resolution on the fly, ensuring a smooth framerate while maintaining decent visual quality. TAA, on the other hand, helps reduce aliasing and produce a more detailed, crisp image.
Additionally, Assassin’s Creed Origins features a vibrant color palette, detailed character models, and a meticulously crafted game world. The game’s Ancient Egyptian setting is particularly stunning, with its sandy dunes, lush oases, and intricately designed architecture. While ray tracing would undoubtedly enhance the game’s visuals, Assassin’s Creed Origins still looks great even without it.
How Does Assassin’s Creed Origins Compare to Other Games in terms of Visual Fidelity?
Assassin’s Creed Origins’ visuals hold up well compared to other games in the series, particularly its immediate predecessor, Assassin’s Creed Syndicate. The game’s detailed environments, characters, and lighting effects make it a visually stunning experience.
However, when compared to more modern games that support ray tracing, such as Assassin’s Creed Odyssey or Cyberpunk 2077, Assassin’s Creed Origins’ visuals appear less impressive. The lack of ray tracing and other advanced lighting techniques means that the game’s visuals, while still good, are not as cutting-edge as those found in newer titles.
Can Assassin’s Creed Origins be Modded to Support Ray Tracing?
While it’s theoretically possible for modders to add ray tracing support to Assassin’s Creed Origins, it’s a complex task that would require significant technical expertise and resources. Modders would need to reverse-engineer the game’s engine, upgrade its graphics capabilities, and optimize the code for ray tracing – a daunting task, especially considering the game’s age and complexity.
That being said, the modding community has achieved remarkable feats in the past, so it’s not entirely impossible that someone might attempt to add ray tracing to Assassin’s Creed Origins. However, players should be cautious when installing mods, as they can sometimes cause instability or other issues with the game.
Will Future Assassin’s Creed Games Support Ray Tracing?
Yes, future Assassin’s Creed games are likely to support ray tracing, given the trend towards adoption of this technology in the gaming industry. In fact, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, the game’s successor, already supports ray tracing on PC and Xbox Series X/S consoles.
As the technology continues to improve and become more widely adopted, it’s reasonable to expect that future Assassin’s Creed titles will also incorporate ray tracing and other advanced graphics features. This would not only enhance the visual fidelity of the game but also provide a more immersive and engaging experience for players.
Is Ray Tracing a Must-Have Feature for Assassin’s Creed Games?
While ray tracing is certainly a desirable feature, it’s not necessarily a must-have for Assassin’s Creed games. The series has always focused on delivering engaging stories, deep characters, and responsive gameplay, which are still the primary draws for most players.
That being said, visual fidelity is an important aspect of any AAA game, and ray tracing can significantly enhance the overall gaming experience. If Ubisoft can successfully implement ray tracing in future Assassin’s Creed titles without sacrificing performance or gameplay, it would certainly be a welcome addition. However, it’s not a deal-breaker if the game lacks this feature, especially considering the many other strengths the series has to offer.