Crimson Desert: Ray Reconstruction & Regeneration Are Game Changers for PC Visuals

The PC version of Crimson Desert is demonstrating a significant leap in visual fidelity thanks to the integration of machine learning (ML) powered denoising technologies from both Nvidia and AMD. While ray tracing forms the foundation of the game’s aesthetic, it’s the application of Nvidia’s DLSS 4 ray reconstruction and AMD’s FSR Redstone ray regeneration that are truly transforming the experience, often to a degree that feels akin to toggling ray tracing on or off. This isn’t simply about refining existing effects; it’s about unlocking a higher level of lighting quality previously unattainable without substantial performance compromises.

The Core Challenge: Ray Tracing and Performance

Crimson Desert utilizes intensive ray tracing for indirect lighting across most platforms, a design choice that heavily influences the game’s overall look. Still, achieving performant ray tracing requires optimization, and those optimizations inevitably involve trade-offs. The game employs a surfel-based ray-traced global illumination (RTGI) system that operates at a remarkably low ray count – just 1/16 rays per pixel. Reflections are rendered at quarter resolution, further aided by a computationally efficient denoiser. This reduction in ray count is key to maintaining playable frame rates across a range of hardware, but it comes at the cost of visual clarity and detail. As Digital Foundry notes, the game’s aesthetic is heavily driven by ray tracing, but the implementation necessitates compromise.

Here’s where the ML denoisers from Nvidia and AMD step in. They don’t just clean up the noise inherent in low-ray-count ray tracing; they dramatically enhance the overall lighting quality. With the standard denoiser, lighting can appear flat and lack direction, resulting in geometry that doesn’t cast proper contact shadows and foliage that appears unlit. Switching to either DLSS 4 or FSR Redstone fundamentally alters this, restoring a sense of depth and realism.

How ML Denoising Transforms the Visuals

The impact of these technologies is particularly noticeable in shadow quality. With the standard denoiser, shadows can be diffuse and indistinct. AMD’s FSR Redstone and Nvidia’s DLSS ray reconstruction introduce tight, well-defined shadows under overhangs and pipes, grounding objects within the environment. The improvements extend beyond shadows, enhancing localized lighting and reflections throughout the scene. Water reflections, which can appear ghosted and laggy with the standard denoiser due to low ray counts, become more stable and responsive with ML denoising. Emissive light sources produce higher-quality local illumination.

The effect is so profound that it essentially unlocks an “ultra” lighting setting that’s exclusive to PCs equipped with these ML denoising capabilities. However, this visual upgrade isn’t free. Enabling these features introduces a performance cost. On a system equipped with an Nvidia RTX 5080, enabling ray reconstruction results in a 14 percent frame rate drop at 4K performance mode. The performance impact is even more significant on AMD hardware; an RX 9070 XT experiences a 24 percent frame rate hit when paired with FSR 4 upscaling and the standard denoiser. Players will need to carefully balance visual quality and performance to find the optimal settings for their hardware. TechRadar highlights this trade-off, emphasizing the need for careful configuration.

Nuances and Ongoing Refinement

While both AMD and Nvidia’s solutions offer transformative improvements, they aren’t without their quirks. AMD’s ray regeneration currently doesn’t integrate upscaling with denoising, leading to a noticeably sub-native look in some instances. Nvidia’s ray reconstruction, while generally cleaner, has exhibited bugs in pre-launch builds, including issues with displacement maps and occasional disappearing rain effects. Pearl Abyss, the game’s developer, is reportedly aware of these issues and working on fixes. Digital Foundry details these observations in their analysis.

Beyond denoising, the pre-launch build also exhibited some other visual artifacts, including flickering shadow maps and noticeable pop-in, even on the highest cinematic preset. These issues may be specific to the pre-release code and could be addressed in the final version of the game.

Implications for Future Game Development

The case of Crimson Desert underscores the growing importance of denoising in ray-traced games. The dramatic improvements offered by ML-based denoisers demonstrate their potential to unlock high-end lighting options that would otherwise be too computationally expensive. This suggests that ML will play an increasingly crucial role in the games of tomorrow, enabling developers to achieve greater visual fidelity without sacrificing performance. The game’s implementation highlights how crucial effective denoising is to making ray tracing viable across a wider range of hardware.

It’s also worth noting that Crimson Desert will not feature cross-save functionality, and a day-one patch is confirmed. Notebookcheck reports on these details, providing additional context for players anticipating the game’s release.

Looking ahead, Pearl Abyss will likely focus on refining the implementation of both DLSS and FSR, addressing the identified bugs and optimizing performance. The success of these technologies in Crimson Desert could pave the way for wider adoption in future games, further blurring the lines between PC and console graphics fidelity.