A Grand Theft Auto fan has created what they think Grand Theft Auto: Vice City might look like modernized and with ray-traced lighting. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is now 20 years old, born in an era where 3D graphics were still being figured out. Yet Vice City is still revered as one of, if not the best Grand Theft Auto release of all time. It's no surprise that Grand Theft Auto fans want to see what the Miami-inspired open-world game might look like with the visuals of 2022.
Ray tracing is a technique used for modeling light in 3D graphics. It displays light as if it were rays originating from a source of light, following a path that can be blocked, reflected, or refracted, interacting with objects and the environment dynamically. Ray tracing is understandably very hardware intensive, so very few games utilize it. Those that do often end up having very low frame rates, or trade other visual options to allow for ray tracing.
The fan art from Reddit user TCoder12 used Blender to create a series of images he describes as "GTA Vice City with Raytracing!" He put the images together in a short video for the GTA subreddit, since the subreddit doesn't allow the posting of multiple images. The images showcase several Vice City locations at different times of day, offering an idea of what the city could look like if Rockstar chose to add ray-traced lighting to the classic open-world game.
TCoder12 chooses a more realistic style for ray-traced Vice City. The first image shows a very golden Vice City at sundown, with long shadows and areas deep in the shade. A second image shows the neon lights of Vice City reflected off the ocean at night. The images then shift to daylight, showcasing how the neon looks in sunlight and capturing the shadows of buildings, trees, and other environmental objects.
In some ways, the images are extremely odd. With ray-traced lighting, this doesn't look at all like the visuals of the original Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. But that's just what ray-traced lighting does, especially when used in a very realistic way. The mix of decades-old 3D models and textures with modern lighting may clash, but it's a sight to behold nonetheless.
What's especially interesting about these images is that rumors indicate Vice City could be the setting of Grand Theft Auto 6. Rockstar is unlikely to prioritize ray tracing for the GTA sequel, but it's bound to be visually cutting-edge regardless. This ray-traced art could be a tease for what's to come in Grand Theft Auto 6, whenever Rockstar plans to release its Grand Theft Auto sequel.