Star Wars: Battlefront made a big noise when a gameplay trailer was launched, which is now over six years ago. Star Wars has a storied history in videogames, of course, and Battlefront looked like a faithful recreation of the universe that has drawn in so many fans since the first movie came out in 1977.

Developed by DICE with help from Criterion Games, the EA-published game was fairly well-received when it launched, but it was criticised for lacking content in both single-player and multiplayer. The visual style and graphical capabilities were lauded, however. But this was 2015.

Six years later, with consoles capable of 4K and even ray-tracing, and PCs fitted with monster graphics cards, a game like Battlefront might show its age. But no matter, a modder has come to the rescue! A modder known as Massihancer is developing a graphics mod for Star Wars: Battlefront that adds ray tracing, global illumination, and a host of other improvements, and all in in 4K and even 8K resolution.

Massihancer - real name Giulio Guglielmi - has uploaded a YouTube video showing off his work and it does look pretty spectacular, with rock and ground surfaces displaying impressive levels of detail, while the lighting and colours have shifted to a more cinematic look.

In an email sent to TheGamer, Massihancer said he had dedicated a lot of his spare time to the mod. It certainly is a big effort as the modder created a dedicated tonemap, dynamic depth-of-field shader, and added filmic colour grading. In addition, there are photo-realistic post-processing effects, reflections, and the aforementioned global illumination. You can view his YouTube video in 4K resolution (if you have a 4K-capable monitor) below to see his work in its full highly detailed glory.

The video looks especially impressive during gameplay with dramatic lighting, filmic colours, and effects helping to emulate the experience of playing a Star Wars movie. The original game already gave that impression, of course, for the many Star Wars fans who played it, but the new mod certainly ramps up the atmosphere.

The Star Wars Battlefront Ray Tracing Mod is a work-in-progress, as described under Massihancer's YouTube upload, but those interested might want to check back with to see when the mod becomes available to download for PC versions of the game.



Posted: Nov 10, 2021 9:46 am
Related Forum: PC Gaming Forum

Source: https://www.thegamer.com/new-mod-adds-8k-resolution-to-star-wars-battlefront/