Do I need Global Illumination if I have Ray Tracing?

[Technopiper]

I'm asking because I set Shadows to "low" after using Ray Tracing and don't see a difference, the shadows still look good. I wonder if it is the same for Global Illumination, that I can set it to "low" if I use Ray Tracing? And what about reflection quality?

[Grr. [SG CMD] Majah Lazah]

GI and RT are two completely different things

[Dre Day]

Ray tracing will replace global illumination and shadows on ray tracing low and reflections on medium on above. It won't matter what you set global illumination and shadows to once you turn on ray tracing as they won't affect performance or the game's appearance with ray tracing on. Same for reflections if you use ray tracing medium or high.

[kcnue]

it's better just turning it off, along with all the other fluff, it doesn't make much a difference tbh, like in most games

[pau_vr]

Originally posted by Dre Day:

Ray tracing will replace global illumination and shadows on ray tracing low and reflections on medium on above. It won't matter what you set global illumination and shadows to once you turn on ray tracing as they won't affect performance or the game's appearance with ray tracing on. Same for reflections if you use ray tracing medium or high.

watch out guys.
I just did some tests. Ray tracing set to very high.
Both shadows and global illumination do impact the image. quite a lot actually.
To me it seems that both ray tracing and lumen somehow interact with each other, and I would say that setting shadows, reflections and mainly global illumination to low actually make RT shine.
But, for example, the intro cutscene looks awful. It seems it is recorded only with lumen.
Some scientific tests would be more than appreciated, because the topic is absolutely not clear as of now.
Or some official words from devs.

[redhongkong]

ray tracing on will overwrite all the illumination and shadow setting if i remember correctly

with raytracing on, cinematic or lowest setting on illumination or shadow doesnt change the fps

[Technopiper]

Originally posted by Dre Day:

Ray tracing will replace global illumination and shadows on ray tracing low and reflections on medium on above. It won't matter what you set global illumination and shadows to once you turn on ray tracing as they won't affect performance or the game's appearance with ray tracing on. Same for reflections if you use ray tracing medium or high.

Thanks for the clarification! I've been testing around with the settings and needed confirmation.

[Technopiper]

Originally posted by kcnue:

it's better just turning it off, along with all the other fluff, it doesn't make much a difference tbh, like in most games

I kind of agree with you. RT doesn't make the picture prettier. For me it just make the darker scenes more visible. I'm on a mid-tier PC but with a 1080p display I can manage medium RT at 75 fps. Kind of relieved this game isn't that resource hungry as they say.

[kcnue]

Originally posted by Technopiper:

Originally posted by kcnue:

it's better just turning it off, along with all the other fluff, it doesn't make much a difference tbh, like in most games

I kind of agree with you. RT doesn't make the picture prettier. For me it just make the darker scenes more visible. I'm on a mid-tier PC but with a 1080p display I can manage medium RT at 75 fps. Kind of relieved this game isn't that resource hungry as they say.

oh definitely! it really isn't! i played on medium graphics 30 fps cap! never noticed a problem, hod zero bugs and stutters, and the game looked INCREDIBLE all the way through!

[redhongkong]

theres another way to fix the dark cave problem

turn off RT and illumination on lowest setting will make cave area as bright as daytime

and this solution is better for non 4000 series gpu player

[Technopiper]

Originally posted by redhongkong:

theres another way to fix the dark cave problem

turn off RT and illumination on lowest setting will make cave area as bright as daytime

and this solution is better for non 4000 series gpu player

Will try this out. Hope it isn't too bright.

Edit: You're right it really is bright as daytime. Guess I have to stick with RT...