It’s been nearly five years since Mojang, the studio behind Minecraft, added RTX support. The move allowed creators, modders, and the like to turn the block worlds they build into visually stunning landscapes. However, in that time, there has seemingly been little forward momentum in terms of officially created visual improvements. Now, though, Mojang has taken things one step further with the newly announced Vibrant Visuals update.
GameSpot recently visited Mojang’s Sweden-based studio to test the new update, and it’s not hyperbole to say Vibrant Visuals is a game-changer for the 14-year-old title. And it’s not just for those with PCs that support ray tracing. When Vibrant Visuals launches for Minecraft Bedrock, it’ll also be available on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and some iOS and Android devices. And for those that play Java Edition, Vibrant Visuals is also in the works for that platform.
It’s a change that’s been in the pipeline for years. As Minecraft executive producer Ingela Garneji explained to a small group of press, “It’s been a bumpy road. We’ve been iterating and learning, failing and then learning fast, and improving things together with the community, actually.”
While the team at Mojang doesn’t doesn’t shy away from graphical “missteps” in the past, as Vibrant Visuals senior product manager Maddie Psenka put it, “We embraced a lot of those learnings. So for this time around, the studio really gave the team space to build in the foundations for the engine that we wanted to deliver on these feature sets. We weren’t getting too ahead of ourselves and promising a lot of things that we couldn’t build until we actually built them and shared them with the rest of the team.”
The end result, as Vibrant Visuals producer Dejan Dimic explained it, is a Minecraft that “will be able to reach a lot of players with this type of visual upgrade and have a positive impact across devices.” But don’t get worried about it changing the way you play the game if you don’t want it to.
Yes, it’s still Minecraft
One of the most important aspects of the Vibrant Visuals update is that, regardless of how good it looks–and it looks great–it still looks like Minecraft. There are a number of existing fan-created RTX texture packs available that take the graphics so far that sometimes it barely resembles the same game.
Mojang opted to instead take the basic look of Minecraft and upgrade it. While it looks incredible, it’s still the unmistakable pixelated paradise fans of the game love to play in. And if you don’t want to play in it, you don’t have to. Vibrant Visuals, much like RTX support, is optional and can be toggled on and off with a single keystroke. So you can still play with the current game textures and shaders, should you choose.
Likewise, if you’d rather keep using your RTX textures pack, you can do just that. Mojang isn’t removing RTX options or the ability to use your own custom texture packs from the game. Instead, Vibrant Visuals is simply a new option to choose from. “The goal is to give players one more option of how they want to play, but not take away any of the other options that they know and love,” Psenka told GameSpot.
The improvements
Outside of new textures for practically everything in the game, there is so much more to marvel at in the Vibrant Visuals update.
One of the biggest changes involves the sun. Whereas traditionally, the sun is mostly a signifier of whether it’s day or night–and helps with directions, should you be lost–the light from that big golden block in the sky now actually casts light on everything it touches. From it reflecting off of bodies of water and shiny blocks, to the shadows it casts, the sun feels like an entirely new building mechanic.
Now, you might keep the direction of the sun in mind when building new structures. After all, sunlight will flood in through windows, cast shadows, and generally make things look far more visually appealing. Take a look at the before-and-after pictures below to see exactly how important the sun is becoming in the overall look of the game.
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Another major change is how shadows are cast in Minecraft. Shadows have played very little role in the base game over the years, but that is about to change. The sun now casts dynamic shadows across everything–including player characters. During our technical preview, I spent way too long simply staring at my shadow moving as I turned my head, took steps, or simply changed my pose. That the shadows are as reactive as they are, look as good as they do, and still adhere to Minecraft standards is an achievement.
It took some time to get to this finished version, though. While the shadows cast in Vibrant Visuals are pixelated, much like the world of Minecraft itself, that wasn’t originally the case.
Vibrant Visuals art director Jasper Boerstra explained to GameSpot, “[The] first iterations of the shadows, it was just like normal shadows. First we had, like, soft shadows, and then we had harder shadows.”
Those resembled more realistic shadows, rounded and not quite in line with Minecraft’s aesthetic. After seeing the way the Vibrant Visuals sunlight system filtered light through trees, though, he says the team was “inspired.”
“What if we could make it pixelated in some way?” he wondered. So they did just that, making the shadows–as well as reflections and light filtering through water–pixelated.
For those who fear shadows will impact light levels and, thus, mob spawning, there’s no need to worry as Mojang assures us that while this is a visual enhancement, it will not impact gameplay.
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Perhaps the most exciting change, though, is the water. It’s never looked better. Its new textures, along with the sunlight, makes it a feast for the eyes. It’s shiny, reflective, and makes everything simply look better. It’s also transformed the underwater experience. Thanks to the new update, being underwater can actually look murky, making it feel more adventurous when you can’t see all that far. And the way the sunlight filters through it looks wonderful. Suddenly, going hunting for ocean monuments sounds like a fun idea once again.
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The bottom line
Vibrant Visuals is an exciting upgrade for Minecraft, but it’s also a promising one for future players. Game aesthetics change as the years go by and while Minecraft’s current textures are still fun for longtime fans, there’s no denying that this update is eye-catching. It’s exactly the sort of upgrade that could appeal to those who haven’t given the game a shot yet. Now it looks far more like a game from the current generation. What’s more, Vibrant Visuals is leaving room for the look of the game to continue evolving.
“We have a modern rendering pipeline now that we can build upon,” Boerstra revealed. “So that also ties into this start of the journey.” Added Psenka, “We definitely expect to see a lot of exciting updates in the future.”
When can you play it
At this point, Mojang has not announced an official release date. You won’t have to wait too long, though. While a beta for Vibrant Visuals is expected very soon, the Bedrock release isn’t far off. “The release is coming in months,” Garneji told GameSpot. “It’s going to be in your hands, like, very, very soon.”