Announced at GDC 2026, NVIDIA has officially shipped the Advanced Particle VFX Update for the RTX Remix modding tool.
The core idea is to bring modern game engine prowess backwards to DirectX 8 and DirectX 9-based games, specifically for particles, as they can be generated and be fully path-traced, allowing things like smoke, fire, or sparks to be part of the lighting system. Now they can be cast with shadows, show up in reflections, and respond naturally to the scene’s lighting.
The update also pushed physics-based simulation that works with the above to allow particles to react to gravity, collide with surfaces, and behave more dynamically overall. So instead of looping animations, you get sparks bouncing off walls, or smoke drifting and dispersing based on the environment.
For animations, modders can control properties like color, size, transparency, and velocity over time using a curve-based workflow. This makes it easier to build effects that evolve – like fire fading out, or energy effects ramping up and dissipating naturally.
NVIDIA has already shown this running in demos like Quake III Arena, along with updates tied to projects like Portal 2 and compatibility work for Need for Speed Carbon.
Meanwhile, 6 names have been announced for the latest round of DLSS-powered toggles and improvements:
- PRAGMATA: Path tracing; DLSS 4 Multi Frame Generation; DLSS Ray Reconstruction; NVIDIA Reflex
- ‘83: DLSS 4 Multi Frame Generation; DLSS 4 Super Resolution; DLSS 4.5 Super Resolution; DLSS 4.5 Dynamic Multi Frame Generation 6X Mode
- NTE (Neverness to Everness): DLSS Super Resolution; DLSS Ray Reconstruction; DLSS Multi Frame Generation; Path tracing
- Atomic Heart (Blood on Crystal DLC): DLSS; DLSS 4.5 Super Resolution; DLSS 4.5 Dynamic Multi Frame Generation 6X Mode; NVIDIA Reflex; Ray tracing
- Sudden Strike 5: DLSS Super Resolution; DLAA
- Marvel Rivals (Season 7.5): DLSS 4 Multi Frame Generation; DLSS Super Resolution; NVIDIA Reflex
