Defined PBR - A Complete Stylistic Revision

All of my recent work on both BetterRTX has been working towards creating an experience close to the experience provided by the original Minecraft RTX demos way back in Gamescom 2019, and even the original Xbox Series X demo that was revealed so long ago. My previous Defined PBR post was focused on publishing the results of the PBR texture rework, and this post will serve to finally publish the other half: the fog revision and BetterRTX update!

I've been working with another PBR texture pack creator in the community to design a new BetterRTX preset that attempts to be a faithful to the original Minecraft RTX demo on the Series X as possible, since it clearly exhibited a completed art style that was unfortunately never released. I believe we have just about nailed our visuals, but I'm eager to here feedback from you all!

This update also brings new features and improvements to BetterRTX along with the art style changes. First of all, one of the most immediately noticeable things you'll find in the above screenshots is the render distance of the clouds! I've increased it way past the original cutoff distance, leading to a much better visual experience throughout the overworld. Additionally, the transition between sunlight and moonlight during sunset/sunrise has been improved too! The sunlight will now fade out, letting the moonlight fade in just after. Although there are no more noticeably instant transitions between the two light sources, keep in mind that this unfortunately cannot fix the issues with the irradiance cache reset (it does mitigate the issue though!).

There have been a range of improvements to the water configuration, and a new feature is available to creators: resource pack-driven end lighting configuration! Previously BetterRTX used hard-coded values, but now reads directly from those in the resource pack fog config. Already this makes the mod compatible with many addons and resource packs that use specific end fog values, matching their intended visuals. You'll soon be able to find the new preset in the installer, labelled BetterRTX: Experimental 1.3, but for now I've included a file you can simply drag and drop onto the installer to install!

I'm excited to hear what everyone thinks of the changes (especially to the default fog values)! I'll be releasing the additional resource pack tweaks sometime later after they are sufficiently updated, so consider this a preview into what will become the default BetterRTX + Defined PBR experience!

Once again, thank you all for supporting me throughout development, it has been invaluable!