This particular release marked a maturity point for screen-space path tracing. It allowed users to bring modern lighting techniques—like realistic bounce light, ambient occlusion, and specular reflections—into older titles that never supported them. Let’s explore the significance, functionality, and impact of the RTGI 0.3.3 shader in 2021. What is ReShade RTGI 0.3.3?
RTGI, or Real-Time Global Illumination, is a cutting-edge technology that simulates the way light interacts with the environment in a 3D scene. Unlike traditional rasterization-based methods, which rely on approximations and hacks to achieve realistic lighting, RTGI uses ray tracing to accurately model the behavior of light as it bounces around the scene. This results in more accurate, more detailed, and more realistic lighting, which is essential for creating immersive and engaging gaming experiences.
Extract the RTGI .zip and drag the contents of the Shaders and Textures folders into the corresponding reshade-shaders/Shaders and reshade-shaders/Textures directories.
They called it RTGI 033 because people love neat names. To the shader devs on the forum it was just another fork in an endless chain: Reshade, ray tracing, promises and smoke. To Kira it was a quiet revolution hidden in a repository readme and a single build log.
: Determines the distance light bounces. Lower values look better for tight interiors; higher values suit outdoor environments.
: Download the latest version (or 4.9.1+ for 2021 compatibility) from ReShade.me. Run the installer, select your game's .exe , and choose the correct API (DirectX 11/12 or Vulkan). Add RTGI Files :
The key variable is RESHADE_DEPTH_IS_REVERSED – many modern games store depth in a reverse (0–1) order. If you do not set this correctly, RTGI will appear to do nothing or produce a pure black screen.
Many preset mods (e.g. for Sekiro , Planet Zoo , X‑Plane 11 ) explicitly mention – they will often include ready‑made .ini files that expect exactly the v0.33 naming convention.
