Version 0.33 is a specific milestone release that gained popularity for its balance of stability, features, and performance. By the time of the 0.33 release, the shader was already known for making older or less detailed games look incredibly modern by adding depth and richness through global illumination.
However, it is ray tracing—just mathematical rather than hardware-based.
Unlike a basic photo filter, RTGI 0.33 gives you deep control over the lighting physics. Users can adjust the "Number of Rays" (quality vs. performance), ray length, and intensity of specular and diffuse light.
RTGI 0.33 is a "Screen Space" ray tracing shader. Unlike native hardware-accelerated ray tracing, which calculates light rays interacting with every triangle in a 3D scene, RTGI uses the game’s and color information to "ray march" across the screen.
: Uses the screen's depth information to calculate light occlusion, providing a much higher level of detail than standard screen-space ambient occlusion (SSAO). Installation & Setup Requirements Reshade Ray Tracing shader RTGI 0.33
It is crucial to manage expectations regarding performance. RTGI is computationally expensive because it runs on the GPU's generic compute shaders, rather than dedicated RT cores.
For RTGI to work, a game must allow ReShade to access its .
Controls how much data from previous frames is kept to smooth out the image. If you notice a trail of shadow following your character when you run, lower this setting to reduce ghosting. Performance Optimization Tips
Standard ReShade effects like curves or color balance only affect the output color. RTGI affects the perception of light. While SSAO (Screen-Space Ambient Occlusion) adds basic dark creases in corners, RTGI adds bounced light. If a character stands next to a red wall, the shader can simulate the red light bleeding onto the character’s white shirt, creating a physically accurate look. Version 0
Go to the preprocessor definitions and look for RTGI_RENDER_SCALE . Setting this to 0.5 or 0.7 renders the ray tracing at a lower resolution while keeping your game crisp. Version 0.33's denoiser will upscale the lighting seamlessly.
The RTGI shader is a premium mod. You can legally acquire version 0.33 by subscribing to Pascal Gilcher's Patreon page.
Determines how thick the shader considers objects to be. If you see strange black halos around your character, increase this value.
To understand the hype, you must first understand the acronyms. stands for Ray Traced Global Illumination . In real-world terms, this is the light that bounces off a red wall and tints the white floor pink, or the soft shadow under a table that isn't directly lit by the sun. Unlike a basic photo filter, RTGI 0
: Models how light realistically bounces off surfaces to illuminate shadows and add subtle color bleeding from the environment. Depth-Based Ray Tracing
Run the installer and select the target game’s executable (.exe) file.
: Toggle between 0 and 1 (common in Unreal Engine games).
ReShade RTGI 0.33 bridges the gap between classic gaming and modern rendering technology. It breathes new life into legendary titles like The Witcher 3 (DX11 mode), Skyrim , Batman: Arkham Knight , and Dark Souls by layering them with physically accurate lighting, shadowing, and color bouncing. By following this guide, you can transform your gaming library with cutting-edge visual fidelity while keeping your frame rates smooth and stable. If you want to customize your setup further, let me know: What are you trying to mod? What Graphics Card (GPU) are you currently running?