NVIDIA has announced a competition showcasing 23 user-created mods, developed using the NVIDIA RTX Remix platform, designed to revitalize classic video games. This initiative highlights the capabilities of RTX Remix, a modding platform for RTX AI PCs that enables modders to remaster older titles by integrating full raytracing, enhancing textures, adjusting lighting, repositioning environmental objects, and incorporating DLSS 4 for improved image quality and performance. Since its release in March of this year, RTX Remix has seen the establishment of over 350 active projects and the release of more than 100 mods.

The competition features a diverse selection of classic games, including titles from popular franchises such as BioShock, Portal 2, Need for Speed, Star Wars, and Call of Duty. A total prize pool of $50,000 is available, distributed across four distinct categories. The winners are slated to be announced at gamescom on August 18. The categories for the competition are: Community Choice RTX Mod, Most Complete RTX Mod, Best Use of RTX in a Mod, and Best Overall RTX Mod.

The Community Choice RTX Mod category, with a prize of $10,000, was determined by public fan voting, which has already concluded. The winner for this category will be revealed on August 18. The Most Complete RTX Mod category also offers a $10,000 prize and recognizes the most fully playable remaster that maintains high quality throughout its entirety. The Best Use of RTX category, also with a $10,000 prize, is dedicated to mods that demonstrate the most impressive visual improvements through the effective use of RTX effects such as atmospheric fog, smoke, shadows, and dynamic lighting. The most prestigious category, Best Overall RTX Mod, carries a $20,000 prize and is awarded to the mod that best combines impressive visuals with an excellent playable experience, representing the most comprehensive and high-quality package. It is important to note that the categories are not mutually exclusive, meaning a single mod has the potential to secure wins in multiple categories.

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A detailed overview of the 23 competing entries provides insight into the breadth and depth of the enhancements achieved through RTX Remix:

  • Call of Duty 2 RTX Remix of Carenten by tadpole3159: This mod undertakes a complete remake of the Carenten map from Call of Duty 2. The creator, tadpole3159, meticulously redid virtually every asset and surface, employing photogrammetry to incorporate photo-scanned real World War 2 combat clothing and kits into the game. The mod also introduces dynamic lighting changes that respond to the sun’s movement and allows players to control six different weather conditions mid-match with a simple button press.
  • Star Wars Republic Commando RTX by automata.: This is a hybrid mod for Star Wars: Republic Commando that leverages RTX Remix for its path-traced renderer while simultaneously modding the underlying game to expand RTX Remix’s utility. Blaster bolts are transformed into shadow-casting lights, commandos and their armaments are rebuilt with 4K physical-based rendering (PBR) textures, and lighting is redone to align the game’s visuals more closely with the broader Star Wars universe aesthetic.
  • Skurtyy’s Portal 2 RTX PBR Pack by skurtyyskirts: This mod for 2011’s Portal 2 focuses on dramatic lighting improvements, utilizing RTX Remix’s volumetric system. Dilapidated test chambers are enhanced with customizable fog effects, floating dust particles, and precisely controlled lighting. Sunbeams now penetrate broken ceilings without diminishing other light sources.
  • Fallout: New Vegas RTX by skurtyyskirts: A comprehensive graphical overhaul of 2010’s Fallout: New Vegas, this mod integrates full raytracing, PBR materials, and enhanced assets while carefully preserving the game’s original aesthetic. From the desert sun to the neon-lit New Vegas Strip and the interiors of abandoned Vaults, everything is redone to provide accurate shadows, reflections, and global illumination. Weapons, armor, and terminals have been remastered, and new high-fidelity details like irradiated water puddles are added.
  • Need for Speed: Underground RTX by alessandro893: One of two entries for the Need for Speed: Underground series, this mod offers a transformative reimagining of the original game. Significant work includes a complete rework of China Town and the Lock Up sprint race track, the addition of 500 new textures, 30 new high-poly 3D models, 26 original meshes, new vegetation, and terrain smoothing.
  • Manhunt Remixed by gabdeg: This mod remasters all 20 levels of 2003’s Manhunt, incorporating fully path-traced lighting and high-resolution environmental and character textures. Due to incompatibility with path-tracing, all original lights were removed and manually replaced. Emissive graphic effects and reflections are also added to elements like windows, monitors, and signs.
  • Need for Speed: Underground 2 Remix by UncleBurrito and team: A substantial overhaul of 2004’s Need for Speed: Underground 2, this mod features entirely handmade assets by its creator. This includes new vehicle models, extensive texture replacements, remade traffic signals and street signs, numerous lighting changes, and a completely remade skybox.
  • Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines – RTX Remaster by Safemilk: This mod represents Part 1 of an ambitious plan for a full, asset-by-asset remodel of 2004’s Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines. Every element, down to carpets and snack labels, is being re-created, alongside sweeping changes to lighting and reflective surfaces.
  • Painkiller RTX Remix by Binq_Adams and team: This mod retextures, relights, and rebuilds significant portions of 2004’s Painkiller from the ground up, while maintaining its original gothic horror aesthetic. Lighting effects are dramatically improved, surface textures are significantly more detailed, and 2D environmental objects are replaced with detailed 3D models.
  • Black Mesa Remixed – POC – Inbound by xoxor4d and team: A mod for 2020’s Black Mesa, which itself originated as a fan-made remake of Half-Life. This entry features dramatic improvements to lighting and textures, particularly noticeable during the inbound tram ride. It also includes over 40 materials built from scratch and 100 materials derived from the original colormap.
  • Codename Atlantis RTX by xoxor4d: This mod introduces a new minigame to Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, alongside custom-made weapons and interactable objects. A standout custom weapon features a realistically looking eye, and the new minigame challenges players to find 20 “Suzannes” (named after the Blender “mascot”) before time runs out, as water slowly rises. The new water effects can slow the player and decrease gravity depending on the water level.
  • Max Payne: Remix by Noodle: The current version of this mod is the initial phase of a broader plan to fully modernize 2001’s Max Payne. Currently, Roscoe Street Station has been remodeled with hand-crafted PBR materials, and hand-placed RTX lighting has been applied to most of the game. Future plans include expanding PBR materials throughout the rest of the game, improving models and assets, and addressing bugs.
  • SCP Containment Breach RTX Remaster by Inward 3D and team: A visual remaster of the 2012 indie horror game SCP – Containment Breach, this mod adds raytraced lighting, shadows, and PBR materials. Rooms are relit, textures are AI upscaled and remastered, and character models are improved.
  • BioShock RTX by skurtyyskirts and team: A ground-up restoration of the 2007 classic BioShock, developed by two individuals, this mod introduces full real-time path tracing and a complete PBR asset revamp. Additionally, it addresses engine issues that previously affected the original game, resulting in smoother performance alongside enhanced visuals.
  • Morro RTX by 3DNomad: This mod updates 2002’s Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind by improving light sources in locations such as the Imperial prison ship, Seyda Neen, and Balmora. It also incorporates PBR materials based on the original textures and updates the geometry of over 300 models.
  • DuoPrincess Remixed by Etokapa and team: This mod, for the niche 2003 title Duo Princess, remixes the textures, lighting, and meshes of every level. Every 3D texture is upscaled and retouched, and the lighting is completely redone. Original lights are replaced, new lights are added, and new emission maps and dust particles are introduced.
  • Return to Castle Wolfenstein QHD by LuciansDiner: This mod enhances 2001’s Return to Castle Wolfenstein by improving weapon models, lighting, and textures. High-resolution texture replacements leverage displacement provided by parallax occlusion mapping, while emissive lighting is added to torches, light bulbs, and stage lights.
  • UnrealRTX by mstewart401: This mod modernizes the 1998 classic Unreal with improved lighting, PBR materials, and environmental models. It adds full raytraced global illumination, dynamic shadows, volumetric lighting, and emissive effects. Vegetation is replaced, and grass is added to outdoor areas to enhance fidelity, with surfaces now responding dynamically to light.
  • Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast RTX REMIX by ArjaanAuinger: Listed as a tech demo for Jedi Knight II, this mod features one playable level that has been relit, with upscaled textures and a combination of generated and hand-crafted PBR materials. The lightsaber has also been improved and now emits light.
  • I-Ninja Remixed by g.i.george333: This mod provides a visual update for the platformer I-Ninja, aiming to enhance the visuals while retaining the original stylized look. It includes a total of 2,000 new textures, a combination of newly created ones and upscaled originals. Volumetric fog and dust particles are added, and surfaces are updated with increased geometric detail.
  • Sonic Adventure RTX Legacy Version by Ver11: An update to Sonic Adventure DX: Director’s Cut, this mod introduces brand-new lighting, remastered PBR materials, new water effects, and grass to nearly all levels.
  • Colin McRae Rally 3 RTX Remix Mod by budgiegamesindie: This mod primarily focuses on UK Special Stage 1 and the Ford Focus car in 2002’s Colin McRae Rally 3. Retopology is applied to the car’s windows, wheels, and hood, and its textures are upscaled using AI. The stage features new lighting, a new skybox, volumetric fog, and higher-quality trees.
  • Star Wars: Republic Commando RTX by Chaos007: Distinct from the other Star Wars: Republic Commando mod, this entry is an early demo build encompassing the intro cinematic, prologue, and the first level of the Geonosis campaign. It introduces full raytraced lighting, enhanced textures, upgraded models, new structures, particle improvements, and UI enhancements.