this post was submitted on 23 Mar 2025

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Minecraft Gets Major Visual Overhaul With Volumetric Lighting And Enhanced Shadows (www.rockpapershotgun.com)

submitted 5 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) by tonytins@pawb.social to c/games@lemmy.world

42 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Updated: Changed headline.

all 44 comments

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[–] kitnaht@lemmy.world 73 points 5 days ago (2 children)

I might not have much of a horse in this race as someone that only really plays Minecraft once in a blue moon (and normally swiftly puts it down because I'm not that kind of creative and I get too stressed out from survival mode), but honestly, I'm not a fan.

This says it all. This person should simply shut the fuck up and not be a games journalist.

[–] RightHandOfIkaros@lemmy.world 30 points 5 days ago (2 children)

That's like, 95% of games "journalists" these days.

[–] bread@feddit.nl 25 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Journalists in general have lost an unbelievable amount of credibility, and games bloggers are the bottom of the barrel.

[–] gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 4 days ago

I think journalists too often have way too little education and way often than not they have no idea what they're talking about. The quality of news is often low. We need better journalism. I was thinking about exactly that just yesterday, by chance.

[–] p03locke@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 4 days ago

Especially from places like RPS and Kotaku.

[–] lime@feddit.nu 6 points 4 days ago

you don't really need to be an avid player to have an opinion on the visuals.

[–] pennomi@lemmy.world 67 points 5 days ago (3 children)

What a weird passive aggressive headline. A better default is a good thing, and doesn’t stop modders from doing their own thing.

[–] obinice@lemmy.world 18 points 4 days ago

So long as there's an option to retain the normal experience, especially for those on older hardware that can't run fancier stuff. Then it's all good!

[–] Randelung@lemmy.world 5 points 4 days ago

Everything is rage bait nowadays. It's exhausting.

[–] Flagstaff@programming.dev 3 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Wait, what makes it passive-aggressive? I didn't interpret the title to sound as anything other than fully positive.

[–] pennomi@lemmy.world 3 points 4 days ago

“You don’t need (and therefore shouldn’t want) this obviously good thing” has this connotation that the Minecraft team has been wasting their time on pointless features, when in reality first-party support for a feature is nearly always more stable than a mod.

Plus read the article, the author is a vehement hater of Minecraft. What a joke.

[–] DesolateMood@lemm.ee 47 points 4 days ago

Original title for anyone who doesn't want to click on the article:

"Minecraft is getting a visual overhaul you probably don't need because of all those mods you've got installed"

[–] SolidShake@lemmy.world 44 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Ah yes. All those mods on console that you can get.....

[–] v4ld1z@lemmy.zip 3 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Aren't there mods? At least texture packs, right?

[–] callyral@pawb.social 23 points 5 days ago (1 children)

On console you can get texture packs and add-ons... from the marketplace.

On other bedrock platforms (Windows or Mobile) you can install textures and add-ons from your own files. The problem is that Bedrock add-ons are significantly less capable than Java's mods.

[–] TachyonTele@lemm.ee 1 points 5 days ago (3 children)

I still have no idea if bedrock or java is the better version after all these years.

[–] RightHandOfIkaros@lemmy.world 26 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Java, and its not even close.

[–] TachyonTele@lemm.ee 1 points 5 days ago

Cool, thank you!

[–] callyral@pawb.social 14 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Bedrock makes it easier to play with friends, it also has cross-platform support (except for Linux and Mac). Console players can only play on featured servers (unless they use workarounds).

Java is better in most other aspects (I am biased for it though, since it's what I play): you can mod it, play older versions, use custom shaders (with mods), no microtransactions, play on any server you want, (apparently) less game-breaking bugs, etc.

[–] TachyonTele@lemm.ee 3 points 5 days ago (2 children)

Thanks! It's crazy to me they still keep two versions.

[–] MufinMcFlufin@lemmy.world 4 points 4 days ago

Java is the original and Bedrock is the C++ adaptation that came about once Microsoft bought Minecraft. Microsoft couldn't really justify getting rid of Java edition because that's what the entire PC userbase was using at the time, and they've gotten very used to the features it allows for. Namely mods. However they still wanted to unify the casual playerbase and better monetize the game.

On the topic of monetization, Minecraft originally had this nasty little clause (for Microsoft) written in I forget either the ToS, EULA, or what, but it essentially guaranteed all future updates to the game for free. I believe it also made some other guarantees about no MTX, should never have to pay for servers, etc but those I'm less certain about. Around the time MS bought the game there was a lot of talk about how the only way they'd really be able to get out of that guarantee to the millions of players who already owned "Java edition" (just regular Minecraft back then) was to make a Minecraft 2.0 that didn't have that clause. Their approach for that problem appears to have been bedrock edition which they maintain alongside Java edition. Because it's not the version they bought, they can make changes to the legal agreements including charging for things Java Edition users have a guaranteed right to.

Those are the two main reasons I'm aware of for the two editions. I believe the majority of the PC playerbase is currently on Bedrock Edition so although they would have some backlash if they suddenly decided to axe it I think the majority of the playerbase would chug on like normal. Afaik the main reason they don't is because anyone who purchased Minecraft before there was a "Java Edition" would have a legal claim to say Bedrock is clearly the same game under another title, they're not getting future updates as guaranteed, and are entitled to either updates or compensation. And I can't imagine MS is interested in litigiously pissing off millions of players.

[–] callyral@pawb.social 7 points 5 days ago

Yeah, it is incovenient when you play Java and other people you know play Bedrock (or vice-versa). There is a community-made plugin called Geyser that allows Bedrock players to play on Java servers (it can be buggy sometimes but it is the closest we have to Java-Bedrock crossplay).

[–] gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Luanti is the better option IMHO because it's FOSS and therefore more ethical.

[–] TachyonTele@lemm.ee 2 points 4 days ago

Looks pretty cool. Thanks

[–] Rozz@lemmy.sdf.org 40 points 5 days ago (3 children)

Minecraft is the best-selling game of all time, but it's looked pretty much the same for the entirety of its almost 14 year run

Usually games don't change how they look no matter how long they've been out.

[–] fdrc_lm@lemmy.blahaj.zone 28 points 5 days ago

Also people like Minecraft precisely for its comfy basic aesthetic and vibe in general

[–] Walk_blesseD@lemmy.blahaj.zone 9 points 4 days ago

Hasn't it gone through two or three major texture overhauls anyway?

[–] StupidOriginalName@lemmy.world 6 points 5 days ago

Lots of games get remasters. This is an optional visual update, but you don't have to use it.

[–] mr2meows@pawb.social 11 points 4 days ago (1 children)

inb4 java edition becomes unplayable on older systems even with render distance set to lowest

[–] FearMeAndDecay 8 points 4 days ago

Apparently you’ll be able to toggle between the new lighting and the old lighting, so hopefully that isn’t a problem

[–] jaggedrobotpubes@lemmy.world 12 points 4 days ago

Can it handle that? It already runs worse on new beast systems than old versions did on average ones.

[–] desktop_user@lemmy.blahaj.zone 13 points 4 days ago

cool, hopefully they don't fuck up the Java release.

[–] Ephera@lemmy.ml 13 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Huh, half a year after Luanti introduced volumetric lighting. I find it hard to believe that Microsoft execs watch out for what Luanti does, but maybe a whole bunch of Android re-packagings of Luanti suddenly looked a whole lot better than Minecraft and that got through to those execs...? It's a bit of a strange coincidence, at least.

[–] CrazM13@lemmy.world 3 points 4 days ago (2 children)

While I would love that to be the case, I don't think it is that simple. Java edition, at least, has been experimenting with shader-like features in resource packs for a while now. It could be that Luanti convinced them it needs to be built in and not an extra pack, but I think it is at best parallel ideas, or at worst, Luanti taking inspiration from those shader-like packs and trying to do better not even knowing they are doing the same process as Minecraft.

[–] MajorHavoc@programming.dev 3 points 4 days ago

Yeah. Luanti following Minecraft is nothing new. Mineclonia was an early pilot game for the engine.

But there hasn't been much effort on copying Minecraft lately. Mineclonia is done, and it's great.

We've had more mobs, animals, plants, textures, and such than un-modded Minecraft for a long time. (Which is unfair, as Luanti is a mod-first design.) But my point is the core Launti dev team doesn't have to work on any of that.

The most noticeable recent Luanti updates have been to make the configuration screens much nicer, and add I think to add native support for more graphics tricks?

I'm not paying attention to graphics in Luanti. As others have mentioned, that's not why I play it. I actually had a conversation recently about the best way to downgrade Luanti default graphics to match un-modded Minecraft.

That said, the Minecraft team taking notice of Luanti would be new, as far as I know.

[–] Ephera@lemmy.ml 2 points 4 days ago

Oh yeah, I wasn't trying to say that Luanti had an incredibly original thought with volumetric lighting. There's been (pre-resource-pack) volumetric lighting mods for Minecraft probably already a decade ago. I was rather just wondering, when the proof of concept has existed for a whole decade, why do they decide to include it now. It probably would have worked well even on weaker phones three years ago already...

[–] molten@lemmy.world 4 points 4 days ago

This news site is for PC gaming and it always causes a ruckus when people read their articles and don't know it.

[–] icecreamtaco@lemmy.world 4 points 4 days ago (1 children)

What a shitty title. Consoles will be happy to get this

[–] UndercoverUlrikHD@programming.dev 13 points 4 days ago (2 children)

First line in their about us:

Rock Paper Shotgun is about PC gaming.

[–] molten@lemmy.world 9 points 4 days ago

One of the few news sites for PC gaming. The regular readers will probably not be primarily console gamers.

People are trigger happy with the indignation here.

[+] njm1314@lemmy.world 0 points 4 days ago (1 children)

[deleted]

[–] UndercoverUlrikHD@programming.dev 5 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Maybe I'm blind, but I can't see it? The target audience is PC gamers, and even though I rarely browse gaming websites anymore, this type of snark seems to be fairly standard for the last 10+ years.

Minecraft is the best-selling game of all time, but it's looked pretty much the same for the entirety of its almost 14 year run. There's an argument to be made that it's showing its age in places, an argument I won't make because I don't think so myself, but all the same, as revealed during today's Minecraft Live, Mojang announced that the sandbox game is getting a pretty big visual overhaul update called Vibrant Visuals. Now, don't worry, it'll still be all blocks and squares 'n' that, but it will be changing up how lighting looks.

A blog post explains things in a bit more detail, with one of the big things being that there'll now be volumetric lighting. What that translates to is things like sunlight shining more naturally across different surfaces, even shining through windows, and every individual block will cast its own shadow. Mobs and items will glow a bit more too, so it's not just about the overworld lighting.

This update is coming to the Bedrock Edition of the game first, with the post noting that it hopes to bring this "graphics revamp (either fully or partially) to as many devices as possible", though there's not even a release window for it yet. There are plans to bring it to Java Edition too.

I might not have much of a horse in this race as someone that only really plays Minecraft once in a blue moon (and normally swiftly puts it down because I'm not that kind of creative and I get too stressed out from survival mode), but honestly, I'm not a fan. Minecraft is inherently not a natural looking game, and this lighting overhaul just adds a touch to much realism for my tastes. Besides, this kind of lighting already exists in countless mods, so for plenty of people it's not even really needed.

In any case, there were a few other announcements from Minecraft Live too, like the fact you'll soon be able to fly around on friendly versions of ghasts, which I do quite like the look of. There's a live event taking place from March 25 to April 7 too where you get to hang out with Jack Black's version of Steve to defend a village in some mini-games, which'll net you a cape if you're successful. Bit less exciting, but to each their own!