Mojang, the company that created Minecraft, has been supporting RTX for almost five years. The change made it possible for developers, modders, and others to create aesthetically beautiful landscapes in the block worlds they construct. However, it appears that there hasn’t been much progress in terms of formally produced visual enhancements throughout that time. But with the recently revealed Vibrant Visuals upgrade, Mojang has gone one step further.
It’s hardly hyperbole to claim that Vibrant Visuals is a game-changer for the 14-year-old game, and GameSpot recently visited Mojang’s office in Sweden to test the latest update. And it’s not limited to people with ray-tracing-capable PCs. Vibrant Visuals will also be accessible on the PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and certain iOS and Android devices when it launches for Minecraft Bedrock. Additionally, Vibrant Visuals is being developed for Java Edition for individuals who play that game.
New Update on Minecraft
This is a shift that has been planned for years. “It’s been a bumpy road,” Ingela Garneji, executive producer of Minecraft, told a small group of reporters. In fact, we’ve been learning and iterating, failing and then quickly learning, and working with the community to improve things.”
The Mojang team does not shy away from past graphical “mistakes,” but as senior product manager Maddie Psenka of Vibrant Visuals stated, “We embraced a lot of those learnings.” The studio therefore provided the team ample room to lay the groundwork for the engine that we intended to offer on these feature sets this time. Before we developed them and shared them with the rest of the team, we weren’t getting ahead of ourselves and making a lot of promises that we couldn’t fulfill.”
According to Dejan Dimic, producer of Vibrant Visuals, the end result is a version of Minecraft that “will be able to reach a lot of players with this type of visual upgrade and have a positive impact across devices.” If you don’t want it to, however, don’t worry about it altering how you play the game.
Yes, it’s still Minecraft
The fact that the Vibrant Visuals update still looks like Minecraft despite its excellent appearance is among its most significant features. Numerous fan-made RTX texture packs are currently available, often taking the graphics to the point where they hardly resemble the original game.
Instead, Mojang decided to improve Minecraft’s basic design. Even if it looks amazing, the game’s pixelated paradise is still what players love most about it. Additionally, you are under no obligation to participate if you choose not to. Similar to RTX support, vibrant visuals are optional and may be turned on and off with a single keystroke. Therefore, if you’d like, you can continue to play using the existing game textures and shaders.
Similarly, you can continue to use your RTX textures bundle if you choose. Using your own custom texture packs and RTX settings are not being removed from the game by Mojang. Rather, Vibrant Visuals is just a fresh alternative. “The goal is to give players one more option of how they want to play, but not take away any of the other options that they know and love,” Psenka stated to GameSpot.
The improvements
The Vibrant Visuals update offers much more to be amazed by than just new graphics for almost every object in the game.
The sun is one of the most significant changes. In contrast to its original function of indicating day or night and providing guidance in the event of a loss, the sun’s light now illuminates whatever it comes into contact with. The sun seems like a completely new construction mechanic because of its shadows and reflections off of shiny blocks and bodies of water.
Now, when constructing new structures, you may consider the sun’s orientation. Sunlight will, after all, pour in through windows, create shadows, and generally improve the aesthetic attractiveness of the scene. See how crucial the sun is becoming to the game’s overall appearance by comparing the before and after images below.
The bottom line
In addition to being an exciting update for Minecraft, Vibrant Visuals has promise for gamers in the future. Even while longtime players still enjoy the textures in Minecraft, this upgrade is unquestionably visually appealing. Game aesthetics evolve over time. It’s the kind of update that might entice people who haven’t played the game yet. It now resembles a game from the current generation much more. Furthermore, Vibrant Visuals is allowing the game’s appearance to continue changing.
Boerstra disclosed, “We can now build upon our modern rendering pipeline.” “So that also ties into this start of the journey.” According to Psenka, “We definitely expect to see a lot of exciting updates in the future.”
Conclusion
An official release date has not yet been disclosed by Mojang. However, you won’t have to wait long. The Bedrock release is quickly approaching, but a beta for Vibrant Visuals is anticipated shortly. According to Garneji, “the release is coming in months,” they informed GameSpot. “It’s going to be in your hands, like, very, very soon.”
