Minecraft RTX for Windows 10 is coming soon, NVIDIA announced today with a shiny new blog post where they also revealed how they have been working to further improve the implementation compared to previous showcases.

　　To take full advantage of Minecraft RTX’s path traced renderer, we’ve added a physically based materials pipeline that enables the creation of block textures with real-world properties. These can be reflective textures or full mirrors, that work with path tracing to reflect surrounding detail. Or they could be emissive textures that emit light of varying colors and intensities. Or upgraded versions of Minecraft’s default textures, only now with normal maps for added depth and detail, making each texture and material more realistic and immersive.

　　NVIDIA shared two detailed digital talks, one for developers who want to take a look at how the path tracer renderer was crafted and another for Minecraft creators looking to create PBR textures. Those who are interested in converting their existing Java world to Minecraft RTX can take a look at this guide, too.

　　We also got to look at the first three custom ray traced worlds, built specifically to showcase what can be achieved with Minecraft RTX. Check them out in the comparisons below.

　　Of Temples and Totems RTX by Razzleberries - An adventure world focusing players on exploring and completing challenges in mysterious temples. Each temple showcases per-pixel emissivity and real-time shadows, and leverages global illumination to create an immersive experience for players.

　　Imagination Island RTX by BlockWorks - A fully explorable theme park, filled with Easter eggs, that hosts four distinct lands, each dedicated to an element of real-time ray tracing. In this scene we see the visitor center of the park, highlighted by god rays cast in real-time through the windows, shining down onto the floor.

　　Crystal Palace RTX by GeminiTay - A survival map with a whimsical fantasy theme that features a masterfully built castle. Ray-traced shadows and beautiful atmospherics create realism in this world built on a 1:1 scale.