Grand Theft Auto games have long been a favored subject of graphics modders. As a highly popular franchise in a fairly realistic setting, that's also quite receptive to tinkering, GTA titles are as good a showcase of modding skills as they come. Now, a skilled modder has transplanted GTA 4's map into the engine of GTA 5 and tuned it up with the best mods out there.
To achieve the results seen in the video showcasing this cocktail of mods, Digital Dreams utilized some modern technology as well. A Ray Tracing Reshade mod has been applied to the game, elevating it above all those already stunning ENB and other graphics mods.
Ray Tracing has been something of a buzzphrase in GPU marketing with the recent nVidia and AMD architectures. This technology essentially allows for much more realistic lighting, reflection and shadow effects, clearing one of the major hurdles as the industry barrels on towards photorealism. This is the first mod to add Ray Tracing to GTA 5.
The Ray Tracing mod is paired with the Awesomekills Graphics mod — available separately here — which is one of the most popular comprehensive graphical overhauls for the game which collects all kinds of visual overhauls affecting just about every aspect of the graphics.
The fact that the modder decided to use one of the many, many GTA 4 conversions out there was just a personal choice. If you want to enjoy Los Santos with Ray Tracing and a graphics overhaul, there is nothing to stop you. The video features a number of other mods too — accurate car models, real advertisements and a hidden UI — all for the sake of maximum realism.
With Ray Tracing and powerful hardware being staples of the upcoming console generation, which is just around the corner despite possible delays due to the current pandemic, this mod may be a glimpse at what future GTA games will look like by default.
