Minecraft's new Vibrant Visuals update will transform the look of the game

"How do you upgrade the look of Minecraft without messing up 15 years of design?" That's Minecraft developer Mojang introducing the game's long-awaited visual overhaul that will arrive as part of a 'Vibrant Visuals' update to the iconic game. The new "graphical set of enhancements" includes directional lighting, volumetric fog, sub-based shadows, and reflections.

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Minecraft's new Vibrant Visuals update will dramatically improve the lighting effects in the game, image credit: Mojang.

Minecraft is not a game about delivering realistic or intricately detailed visuals; the primitive nature of the game's look is directly tied to its mechanics and sandbox-style survival gameplay. The good news is that even though the Vibrant Visuals update will introduce dramatically more complex graphics effects to the game, the differences don't seem to detract from what makes Minecraft look like Minecraft.

Chief Creative Officer Jens Bergensten calls it "a new look that still stays true to our creative principles. " Mojang confirms that Vibrant Visuals will be backward compatible with old worlds and will run locally so that players can play together with or without the graphical enhancements enabled. It's purely cosmetic.

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"Water is one of my favorite improvements," said Game Art Director Jasper Boerstra. "It looks absolutely amazing." The update also extends to Minecraft's in-game characters and items. Mojang describes them as having "more of a glow," with torches casting light more realistically and radiantly.

Vibrant Visuals will first be released in beta form on Minecraft: Bedrock Edition devices before rolling out to Minecraft: Java Edition. Mojang notes that the update has undergone extensive iteration and testing and that the groundwork for it included rewriting the game's rendering code. It's also worth noting that this is very different from Minecraft RTX, which was Mojang and NVIDIA's ray-tracing update to the game that brought full ray-tracing or path tracing to the title. It's also different from the canceled Super Duper Graphics Pack, which was going to overhaul the game's visuals. Vibrant Visuals strikes the right balance between noticeably enhanced lighting while retaining the game's original look and feel.

It looks very cool; check out these shots of Minecraft's upcoming Vibrant Visuals update.

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