As of late 2024 and early 2025, version 0.36.1 remains a community favorite. While newer versions have been released (including paid "Legit" versions with denoisers), 0.36.1 strikes a perfect balance between performance, compatibility, and visual fidelity.
While you can inject it into almost anything, some games are spiritual homes for this shader.
RTGI is a depth‑based shader for ReShade that simulates indirect lighting—light bouncing off surfaces to color neighboring objects. Unlike true ray tracing (which requires native engine integration and BVH structures), RTGI works in screen space:
The result is dramatically improved ambient occlusion, color bleeding (e.g., a red wall subtly tinting a white floor), and softer, more natural shadow fill.
Unlike standard screen-space effects (like standard SSAO or SSGI) which can only calculate lighting based on what is currently visible on your monitor, RTGI uses DirectX Raytracing (DXR) to calculate how light bounces off surfaces in a 3D space.
Version 0.36.1 is a highly polished release that focuses on stability, accurate light bounce behavior, and reduced visual artifacting. It calculates reflections, ambient occlusion, and indirect lighting in real-time, allowing light from a campfire to realistically bounce off nearby walls, or neon signs to bleed vibrant colors onto wet pavement.
Once installed, the default settings are often too heavy or too subtle. Here is a proven configuration for realistic results without killing your frame rate.
Pure ray marching in screen space creates a "noisy" (grainy) image because only a few rays can be cast per pixel to maintain playable frame rates. Version 0.36.1 relies heavily on Temporal Accumulation. The shader compares the current frame with previous frames, reprojecting history buffers to align with the current camera view. This allows the shader to accumulate rays over time, effectively creating hundreds of samples per pixel over several frames, resulting in a smooth, converged image.
ReShade RTGI 0.36.1 represents a significant milestone in accessible graphics technology. It democratizes ray tracing, allowing users with GTX 900 or 1000 series cards (or equivalent AMD hardware) to experience realistic global illumination without purchasing expensive, RT-core enabled hardware.
While it cannot match the physical accuracy of hardware-accelerated path tracing (which traces rays in full world space), version 0.36.1 offers a highly convincing approximation. It stands as a testament to the power of efficient algorithm design and the flexibility of the ReShade post-processing pipeline, pushing the visual fidelity of older game engines closer to modern standards.
Note regarding versioning: Pascal Gilcher’s RTGI is a Patreon-supported project. Version numbers are often distributed directly to supporters. As such, specific binary differences between 0.36.1 and close neighbors (like 0.36.0) are often minor hotfixes regarding stability or denoiser tweaks, though the core feature set described above remains consistent with the 0.36 architecture. Reshade Rtgi 0.36.1
ReShade RTGI 0.36.1 by Marty Stratton (Pascal Gilcher) is widely considered the gold standard for adding "next-gen" lighting to older or non-raytraced games. It uses Screen Space Ray Traced Global Illumination to simulate how light bounces off surfaces, drastically altering a game's atmosphere. Core Features & Strengths
Realistic Light Bouncing: Unlike standard "flat" lighting, RTGI allows colors from one surface to "bleed" onto another (e.g., sunlight hitting a red carpet will cast a soft red glow on nearby white walls).
Hardware Agnostic: Unlike native RTX, this shader works on almost any GPU, including older non-RTX NVIDIA cards and AMD hardware, because it relies on the game’s depth buffer rather than dedicated ray-tracing cores.
Stable Depth-Based Shading: Version 0.36.1 is noted for its relative stability and fine-grained controls, allowing users to balance quality against performance more effectively than earlier iterations.
Unmatched Compatibility: It can be injected into almost any 3D game that supports ReShade and provides depth buffer access. Performance & Limitations ReShade RTGI | Ray Traced Global Illumination
ReShade RTGI (Ray-Traced Global Illumination) is a post-process injector
developed by Pascal Gilcher (Marty McFly) that simulates hardware-level ray tracing on a screen-space level. Below is a structured technical overview ("paper") for version 0.36.1 and its general implementation principles. 1. Executive Summary RTGI 0.36.1 is an advanced shader for the platform that provides physically-based lighting
and global illumination to almost any 3D game. Unlike native implementations, it operates as a post-process effect by analyzing the game's depth buffer and frame color to simulate light bounces. 2. Core Methodology: Screen-Space Ray Tracing Depth-Based Simulation
: The shader uses the game's depth map to determine the physical distance of objects. Diffuse Global Illumination
: It calculates how light from a source (like the sun) reflects off surfaces to illuminate nearby shadowed areas. Ambient Occlusion As of late 2024 and early 2025, version 0
: It enhances shadows in crevices where light is naturally blocked, providing greater depth to the scene. Motion Vectors
: Introduced in earlier 0.3x versions, these help maintain temporal stability, reducing flickering or "ghosting" when the camera moves. 3. Implementation Requirements To function properly, RTGI requires: How To ReShade RTGI - Install and Adjust
The RTGI 0.36.1 update for ReShade, developed by Pascal Gilcher (Marty McFly), focuses on significant architectural improvements to his "Ray Traced Global Illumination" shader. This version serves as a bridge toward the modern iMMERSE Pro suite, refining how the shader handles light bounces and screen-space data to approximate high-end ray tracing on almost any GPU. Overview of ReShade RTGI
RTGI (Ray Traced Global Illumination) is a post-processing shader that adds dynamic, realistic lighting to games by simulating how light bounches off surfaces. Unlike native RTX, it uses Screen Space Ray Tracing. It relies on the game’s "depth buffer" to understand the 3D layout of a scene and calculate indirect lighting and ambient occlusion. Key Features in Version 0.36.1
While specific patch notes for 0.36.1 are often exclusive to the developer's Patreon, this era of development introduced several critical enhancements:
Unlocking Cinematic Visuals: A Deep Dive into ReShade RTGI 0.36.1
The world of PC gaming has witnessed a significant transformation over the years, with developers continually pushing the boundaries of what's possible in terms of graphics and visual fidelity. One of the key figures in this revolution has been Boris Vorontsov, a developer known for his work on ReShade, a popular post-processing injector that enhances the visual quality of games. A standout feature in ReShade is RTGI (Real-Time Global Illumination), a technology that brings cinematic-quality lighting to games. The latest iteration, ReShade RTGI 0.36.1, has garnered considerable attention for its remarkable performance and visual enhancements. In this article, we'll explore the capabilities of ReShade RTGI 0.36.1, how it works, and its impact on the gaming experience.
What is ReShade RTGI?
ReShade is a tool that allows users to enhance the graphics of their favorite games with advanced post-processing effects. It works by injecting shaders into the game rendering pipeline, enabling a wide range of effects from simple tweaks like brightness and contrast adjustments to complex global illumination and ambient occlusion. RTGI, specifically, is a feature within ReShade designed to simulate global illumination in real-time.
Global Illumination (GI) is a critical component of achieving realistic lighting in 3D environments. It refers to the way light scatters and bounces off various surfaces, indirectly illuminating other parts of the scene. Traditional GI solutions are often computationally expensive and were typically precomputed or approximated in games. However, with RTGI, real-time global illumination becomes achievable, bringing a new level of realism to gaming visuals. The result is dramatically improved ambient occlusion, color
Introducing ReShade RTGI 0.36.1
The 0.36.1 version of ReShade RTGI comes as a significant update, boasting several improvements over its predecessors. This version focuses on providing more accurate lighting, reducing artifacts, and enhancing performance. Key features and improvements include:
The Impact on Gaming Experience
The introduction of ReShade RTGI 0.36.1 into the gaming experience can be nothing short of transformative. Here are a few ways it elevates gameplay:
Installation and Usage
Installing ReShade RTGI 0.36.1 involves a few straightforward steps:
Conclusion
ReShade RTGI 0.36.1 stands as a testament to the advancements in real-time graphics processing. By making high-quality, cinematic visuals more accessible, gamers and developers alike can enjoy an elevated gaming experience. Whether you're a gamer looking to enhance your favorite titles or a developer interested in the technology behind these effects, ReShade RTGI 0.36.1 offers a compelling look into the future of real-time graphics.
As gaming hardware continues to evolve and software innovations like ReShade RTGI become more prevalent, we can expect gaming visuals to become increasingly sophisticated. For now, ReShade RTGI 0.36.1 sets a new standard for what's possible in terms of real-time global illumination, making it an exciting time for the gaming community.
In the world of real-time post-processing shaders, few names carry as much weight as Pascal "Marty McFly" Gilcher and his RTGI shader. While newer versions have moved to a paid early-access model on Patreon, version 0.36.1 remains a landmark release—the final free, fully public version before the project pivoted. For many gamers and virtual photographers, this build represents the peak of what’s achievable with screen-space ray tracing in older or stylized games.