Alexander Sannikov, previously a Senior Programmer at Grinding Gear Games, the studio behind Path of Exile games, has celebrated his new position as Lead Engine Programmer by showcasing a stunning crystal with a unique effect. As the developer explained, it’s a two-pass shader consisting of an inner and outer layer featuring a simple screenspace refraction.
A tutorial on this setup would definitely be great, but in the meantime, we highly recommend checking out Radiance Cascades, Alexander’s novel method for calculating Global Illumination in Path of Exile 2:
You can learn more about Path of Exile 2 techniques in Alexander’s presentation on rendering from his talk at ExileCon 2023:
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