Ray Tracing in Video Games

Synonyms

Interactive ray tracing; Ray casting; Real-time ray tracing; Recursive ray tracing

Definitions

Ray tracing – A rendering technique in 3D computer graphics that calculates the color of pixels by tracing the path that light would take if it were to travel from the eye of the viewer through the virtual 3D scene.

Video game – A video game is an electronic game that a player interacts with the computer using input devices such as a keyboard, mouse, game controller, mobile phone, or virtual reality headset.

Introduction

While ray tracing has been around for quite a while, it has only recently become a popular topic in the gaming community. With the recent introduction of process-effective algorithms, as well as other technologies; both software and hardware, it has become a much more viable option for rendering.

Starting with the basics, what is ray tracing? Put simply, ray tracing is a different form of rendering than what is typically used. Nvidia states that ray tracing...