Many gamers have spent hundreds or even thousands of hours in their favorite game. One player has now taken it to the extreme on Steam, amassing over 10,000 hours in GTA 5, but instead of playing, he develops mods.
Who is it about? The modder Jamal “Razed Mods” specializes in GTA 5. He creates graphic mods for the now 12-year-old game, bringing it to life in new ways. Since GTA 5 was released on PC in April 2015, the player has been improving textures, graphics, and vehicles and replacing them with photorealistic counterparts.
For this, he has now accumulated 10,000 hours of playtime, but he estimates that 80% of this is due to his modding work, while 2,000 hours are actual gameplay. Since the release of GTA 5 on PC, just under 90,000 hours have passed. For the modder, this means that since the PC release of GTA 5, he has spent 12% of his time on the project.
If GTA 6 looks as good as in the trailer, it probably won’t need graphic mods:
12% of Lifetime for a Beautiful GTA
What is the goal? Razed Mods is working to transform GTA 5 into a photorealistic world. For this, he uses advanced techniques and programs to create lighting, shadows, colors, and textures that still look like the original.
His work is particularly challenging because the modder does not want to lose the details that Rockstar Games has hidden in each individual object. He always pays attention that nothing gets lost through his changes:
The preservation of the intricacies in this work is extremely important when considering the overall picture […] Games like Grand Theft Auto 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2 are full of subtle details that many players initially overlook, but it is these little details that shape the atmosphere and make the world feel more alive and realistic.
Jamal’s “Razed Mods” in an interview with PCGamer
Here you can watch a trailer for his GTA 5:
What did the Enhanced Edition change? Long before GTA 5 received native ray tracing support with the Enhanced Edition, Razed did his best with the existing lighting and shadow mechanics, creating a “fake ray tracing”.
However, the new version of GTA 5 made his work much easier. He no longer has to trick, but can use real ray tracing for his improved graphics.
“I had a lot of fun playing around with the lighting and trying out some of the new technologies in GTA 5 Enhanced for NaturalVision Enhanced. There were always things I wanted to do in older versions of NaturalVision that just didn’t work properly until now. I really like how the exposure and light adaptation turned out, and I also had a lot of fun working on volumetric cloud reflections with our lead shader developer for NaturalVision Evolved.”
The Plan for GTA 6
How does the modder view GTA 6? For the modder, it’s clear, GTA 6 won’t need graphic mods for now, as the game world is simply too beautiful. Instead, the modder is thinking of another major project:
I would love for someone to take the Vice City part of the map and completely overhaul it to create a Miami of the 1980s. It would require a massive overhaul of the landscape, but the end result could be something incredible. I bet many players would love it, especially on an 80s-themed roleplay server.
Jamal’s “Razed Mods” in an interview with PCGamer
Whether he himself will start it remains undisclosed in the interview.
With the transition from GTA 5 to GTA 6, an era ends for many. Some seem reluctant to leave the current installment, especially not after this discovery: “That’s it, I’m canceling my pre-order” – Fans discover a detail in the GTA 6 trailer that makes it “completely unplayable”
