RTX Remix path-traced particle update is available now, here's how it looks in Half-Life 2

First announced at Gamescom 2025, NVIDIA's RTX Remix update, which adds impressive path-traced particles, is now available for modders everywhere. The advanced particle system in RTX Remix enables modders to add dynamic fire, smoke, and other effects with full path-traced lighting to numerous classic PC games.

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Now, as real-time path-tracing is incredibly hardware-intensive and requires DLSS technologies like Super Resolution, Ray Reconstruction, and Frame Generation to deliver its fantastic visuals, NVIDIA notes that this new advanced particle system doesn't significantly impact performance.

"RTX Remix particles are GPU-driven, meaning you can add tens of thousands of them without significantly reducing performance," NVIDIA writes in the announcement. "They are path-traced, meaning they cast accurate shadows, and are reflected in the world, a rarity in games. Additionally, they feature a realistic physics simulation, complete with proper collisions with the environment."

To showcase the impact this new particle system has on classic games, remastered, remade, and enhanced with RTX Remix, NVIDIA has provided the following demonstration videos. The first two are from the impressive Half-Life 2 RTX mod project that is still currently in development. In the first video, we see the Antlion Guard enemy from the game become a particle emitter with 100,000 shadowed, physically correct particles.

The second video from Half-Life 2 RTX showcases the new advanced particle system being used to create photo-realistic fire, smoke, and ember effects.

The final video is from NVIDIA's own Portal RTX mod, which showcases three different versions of light-emitting particles to highlight its versatility. In fact, RTX Remix modders can enable and customize particle effects in-game while they play, which is impressive.