As such, the community surrounding the game is extremely dedicated to it, with many fans creating their own projects to add twists and changes to the original title. Now, one developer who has been adding intricate ray-tracing effects to Super Mario 64 has released an updated build of the project, and some technical experts take the time to break down the newest build.
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The developer of the ray-tracing project, titled SM64RT, goes by the name Dario. Dario has been putting a ton of work into the project, remodeling characters, adding lighting elements where none existed before, and completely overhauling the lighting engine. Dario has been working on this Super Mario 64 ray-tracing project for some time now and the project is coming along very nicely. Now, the folks over at the Digital Foundry YouTube channel have taken the time to break down the intricacies and finer points of the work that Dario put into this mod so far.
For those who haven’t heard of Digital Foundry, they break down the more technical elements of video games such as lighting effects, framerates, and overall game optimization. The video starts off with a side-by-side comparison of another Super Mario 64 HD fan mod called SM64EX and the difference is pretty staggering. Additionally, the current build of SM64RT utilizes textures and models from a resource called Render96, which allows the models from Super Mario 64 to resemble the original promotional material for the game. With the two combined, the game looks completely stunning.
The Digital Foundry crew takes viewers on a tour through a handful of levels and environments, breaking down the technical aspects of the mod. For most of the in-game lighting effects such as torches and fire, Dario had to manually go in and add lighting sources to the objects. Needless to say, it took Dario quite a while to implement all of those dedicated lighting effects where none existed before. Compared to HD versions of Super Mario 64, such as the one present in Super Mario 3D All-Stars, this mod almost looks like an entirely new game.
The full video is a little over 30 minutes long, but its well worth a watch. It’s always impressive to see just how far fan projects are willing to go to create new content for fan-favorite games, and this SM64RT mod looks to be going the extra mile and then some. Though knowing Nintendo’s track record of issuing copyright claims to fan projects, the company could sadly strike down this project at any time. Hopefully, Dario is able to avoid that outcome and continue to work on this mod even further.
Super Mario 64 is available on Nintendo 64, Wii, and Wii U.
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