Gaming

Ray Tracing Learns to Reuse, Modders Gain a Clearer Label, and a Forest Engine Shows Old Hardware New Tricks

By Crypt0 · Nov 4, 2026

Performance turned into a reuse story this week, and three very different projects made the same point from three angles. Microsoft and AMD showed ray tracing structures built from reusable clusters. An independent developer showed dense forest geometry through clustered detail and voxel lighting on a six year old graphics card. Nexus Mods showed creator work labeled clearly so players can reuse it with permission intact. Add a fresh NVIDIA driver with neural rendering, and the week reads as a single theme, builders getting more from work already done.

Microsoft DirectX Raytracing update sits at the center of that theme. The DirectX 12 Agility SDK 1.722 Preview, released October 28, introduces Clustered Geometry, Partitioned Top Level Acceleration Structures, and GPU driven acceleration structure builds, a package Microsoft calls the most significant DirectX Raytracing update since 2018. Clustered Geometry splits meshes into small reusable clusters of up to 256 triangles and 256 vertices each, so engines can assemble existing clusters for streaming and level of detail work. Microsoft sample on an AMD Radeon RX 9070 moved from 1.2 frames per second to 79 frames per second, with acceleration structure memory falling from 7519 MiB to 774 MiB, a reduction near 89.7 percent.

Independent testing on November 4 broadly corroborated the Microsoft sample while adding the context players need. Graphics enthusiast Osvaldo Pinali Doederlein ran the public D3D12RaytracingClusteredGeometry sample on an AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT at 1600 by 920 with a fixed camera, using AMD preview driver 26.20.12.01, after AMD confirmed support on November 3 for RDNA 4 graphics cards. His test moved from 1.7 frames per second to 91 frames per second, with acceleration structure memory falling from 7518 MB to 771 MB. The same testing showed the limits clearly, with the default geometry configuration running about twice as fast in place of the headline multiple, a 4K run moving from 1.6 frames per second to 28 frames per second, and ray dispatch performance occasionally regressing by as much as 40 percent in some checks. The demanding configuration carried about 91 million triangles, and real games carry many additional workloads plus engine level changes before any sample gain reaches a shipping title. Microsoft states the standardized APIs need existing ray tracing support rather than new hardware.

A custom forest engine from developer Toni Macaroni made the reuse theme visual. The demonstration averaged about 130 frames per second at 1440p on an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, using clustered levels of detail, Nanite like virtual geometry, and voxel based distant vegetation. Lighting combined screen space techniques with voxel based global illumination, using voxel lighting in place of hardware accelerated ray tracing. The engine spent about seven months in development, and the figures are developer reported, with precise settings awaiting independent checks. A rendering demonstration differs from a complete game, where animation, physics, and additional processor workloads shape final performance, and the demonstration still proves careful geometry handling can stretch older hardware further than a specification sheet suggests.

Nexus Mods gave creators the clearest ownership update of the week. The site announced on November 3 that new uploads must declare artificial intelligence use, with three labels, AI Generated Content for mods whose core work came from AI tools, AI Media for AI thumbnails, videos, or descriptions, and AI Assisted Content for human led mods where AI played a supporting part. Mods marked AI Assisted must carry a public explanation stating which tools were used and which files, assets, or code came from them, with updates required when later versions add AI parts. Existing mods carry a 60 day grace period ending January 2, 2027, after which untagged listings go to the Trust and Safety team, with staff notices, account restrictions, or removal for authors who ignore those notices. Permission settings for AI training and for forks or parallel versions default to Ask Me on every hosted file, old mods included, so assets stay out of AI training and out of forks except with author written permission, and Nexus pledges hosted mods stay out of AI training and out of licensing to trainers. Players gain filters for AI generated content on game pages and the homepage, with search controls planned, plus tighter Recently Added rules against bulk uploads.

NVIDIA closed the loop for players with Game Ready Driver 621.14, released November 4. The driver adds optimizations for World of Warcraft Forever and support for a DOOM expansion new Slaughter Mode, plus DLSS 5 with 3D Guided Neural Rendering for Hogwarts Legacy and War Thunder. Hogwarts Legacy adds the feature on November 5, a day after the driver arrives through the NVIDIA app, with Neural Rendering support covering RTX 50 Series desktop and laptop cards, RTX Spark computers, and GeForce NOW Ultimate sessions on an RTX 5080 class server. The driver also fixes video playback freezing on some RTX 50 Series and RTX Spark systems after the earlier 621.01 driver.

For players and builders, the week offers a practical checklist. Expect DirectX Clustered Geometry gains to arrive through engine updates and driver support, treat headline sample multiples as a ceiling for a purpose built scene, read Nexus labels before downloading and respect Ask Me permissions before reusing a mod, and check driver notes before enabling Neural Rendering. Older cards gain longer useful lives, creators gain clearer credit and control, and engines gain tools that reuse geometry in place of rebuilding it.

Sources

• WCCFTech DirectX report
• WCCFTech forest engine report
• Tech Prolonged Nexus Mods report
• PBX Science NVIDIA driver report

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