'Rise of the Tomb Raider' uses Async for stunning volumetric lighting on Xbox One

By Lorraine Caballero, Christian Post Contributor Tuesday, August 18, 2015

"Rise of the Tomb Raider" is using Async Compute to render stunning lighting to the game, Eidos Montreal revealed recently.

While the graphics in Rise of the Tomb Raider prove to be very impressive and realistic, the game takes its level a notch higher with the use of Async Compute in bringing forth an awesome volumetric lighting to its environment. Eidos Montreal revealed this secret during the SIGGRAPH 2015 presentation, according to Gaming Bolt.

Aside from its secret to the volumetric lighting in Rise of the Tomb Raider, Eidos Montreal also revealed other techniques they use to render pretty amazing effects in the game. The company uses a resolution-agnostic voxel method to capture the best light and shadow setting, the report details.

The use of the said method produces effects that appear to be more realistic compared to the usual graphics seen in video games.

The developer also employed its own in-house SSAO technique called Broad Temporal Ambient Obscurance (BTAO), which is based on Scalable Ambient Obscurance (SAO). This technique is far better compared to Horizon-Based Ambient Occlusion (HBAO), which is considered the industry's norm, in terms of performance and efficiency, Gear Nuke reports.

Rise of the Tomb Raider will also use the Sample Distribution Shadow Maps (SDSM) algorithm to produce an enhanced shadow quality. This algorithm renders shadows that automatically adjust itself to the setting and location of the camera, the report explains.

The developer shared more details about the advanced rendering techniques they used to enhance the game's appearance. The firm also talked about the problems they encountered while still developing the game, and how their failures eventually led to success.

To let fans get a glimpse of Rise of the Tomb Raider, Microsoft Xbox and Games.com released a gameplay video for the new Lara Croft game, Canadian Reviewer relays.

Rise of the Tomb Raider, which is the follow-up game to the Tomb Raider reboot in 2013, will be officially released on Nov. 10.