Shimmering reflections on water. Light glinting off objects as they move. Shadows of different depth cast by multiple light sources, all of them shifting in real time.
Until now, the world of video games has lacked this kind of naturalistic lighting. Effects have to be programmed in, meaning that they usually remain static and do not constantly adjust with the movement in a scene. The result is an inevitable flatness that detracts from the feeling of realism.
A computer graphics revolution that is just reaching video games could be about to change that. Known as ray tracing, the technique has been common for a decade in animated movies, where complex scenes are rendered in large server farms.