Artist Mr Zyanide is working on a native ray tracing mod for both Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy & Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, and the results are pretty impressive.

　　Zyanide's aim is to convert both titles to real-time ray tracing using Q2RTX's path tracer. So yeah, this isn't just your usual ReShade RTGI shader, but a mod that implements native ray tracing using path tracing. "I've always considered ray tracing the pinnacle of graphics and now that it can be done in real-time I wanted to learn all about this new tech", the artist explains on his blog back in May of 2021. "Some months prior to the release of RTX cards I found out that Jedi Outcast's code had been open sourced and since I like the game I decided to combine both things."

　　On Twitter, the artist has now released a new two-minute-long video showing off Jedi Knight Academy with improved reflections, and various other improvements. It should be noted that this video merely showcases the tech behind the mod, and as such, some reflections aren't final just yet (the floor for instance).

　　After some moths, here are the updates. I've been working on improving reflections (pretty stable with over a 1000 lights in the area), stabilizing the denoiser when using ReSTIR GI, fixing motion vectors for models. There still plenty of work to do but it's getting there. pic.twitter.com/4zqnLR24oV

　　— Mr Zyanide (@MZyanide) January 3, 2023

　　A release date for this native ray tracing mod has yet to be revealed, and we'll update you as soon as more information on this ambitious project comes in.

　　Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast and Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy were released in 2002 and 2003 respectively. We've included a part of the original 2003 press release of Jedi Academy below:

　　Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy begins shortly after the conclusion of events in Star Wars: Jedi Outcast. Players create a Jedi apprentice character and join the Jedi Academy on Yavin 4 to learn the ways of the Force under the tutelage of Luke Skywalker and Kyle Katarn. While the young apprentice embarks on various missions to hone their skills and abilities, a mysterious group is discovered creating havoc throughout the galaxy. Until order is restored, the fate of the Jedi Academy - and the future of the Star Wars galaxy itself - hangs precariously in the balance.

　　While players will be able to accomplish more by using the lightsaber in Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy, they also will have a variety of weapons - new and old - at their disposal including a blaster, blaster rifle, Wookiee bowcaster, Imperial repeater, and a Destructive Electro-Magnetic Pulse gun.