Hey, everyone! Today we're releasing v1.4.0, featuring added support for final Vulkan Ray Tracing API, and enabling dynamic selection between the pre-existing NVIDIA VKRay and the new Khronos extension backends. [b]New Features:[/b] [list] [*] Added support for final Vulkan Ray Tracing API. The game can now run on any GPU supporting `VK_KHR_ray_tracing_pipeline` extension [*] Added temporal upscaling, or TAAU, for improved image quality at lower resolution scales. [/list] [b]Fixed Issues:[/b] [list] [*] Fixed a crash that happened when there are no available sound devices. [*] Fixed a few issues with the tone mapper and the profiler for AMD GPU compatibility. [*] Fixed a server crash: https://github.com/NVIDIA/Q2RTX/issues/86 [*] Fixed black materials and some light leaks: https://github.com/NVIDIA/Q2RTX/issues/55 [*] Fixed missing railgun lights in photo mode: https://github.com/NVIDIA/Q2RTX/issues/75 [*] Fixed missing sun light on geometry with invalid clusters. [*] Fixed the CFLAGS for MinSizeRel and RelWithDebInfo builds to generate correct debug symbols. [*] Fixed the game stuttering on Linux: https://github.com/NVIDIA/Q2RTX/issues/62 [*] Fixed the issue with all models being missing or corrupted on some maps during network play. [*] Fixed the nearest filter when DRS was enabled and then disabled. [*] Fixed building the game with GCC10 on Linux: https://github.com/NVIDIA/Q2RTX/issues/80 [/list] [b]Denoiser Improvements:[/b] [list] [*] Implemented a new gradient estimation algorithm that makes the image more stable in reflections and refractions. [*] Implemented sampling across checkerboard fields in the temporal filter to reduce blurring. [*] Improved motion vectors for multiple refraction, in particular when thick glass is enabled. [*] Improved the temporal filter to avoid smearing on surfaces that appear at small glancing angles, e.g. on the floor when going up the stairs. [*] Improved the temporal filter to make lighting more stable on high-detail surfaces. [/list] [b]Misc Improvements:[/b] [list] [*] Added git branch name to the game version info. [*] Improved the console log to get more information in case of game crashes. [*] Increased precision of printed FPS when running timedemos. [*] Reduced the amount of stutter that happened when new geometry is loaded, like on weapon pickup. [*] Replaced the Vulkan headers stored in the repository with a submodule pointing to https://github.com/KhronosGroup/Vulkan-Headers [*] Static resolution scale can now be set to as low as 25%. [*] Vulkan validation layer can now be enabled through the `vk_validation` cvar. [*] Updated SDL2 version to changeset 13784. [/list]