The mod got wide attention after NVIDIA's Jacob Freeman shared a demo clip on X. His post credited the modder as "gabdeg." That spelling spread to several outlets, but the GitHub repository belongs to gebdag, so that's the name to look for.
What the mod actually does
This isn't a texture pack with an RTX sticker on it. The core of the project is a custom renderer that makes GTA 2's drawing calls work with NVIDIA's Remix runtime. The repository shows how it's split up: gta2dx9.dll is the renderer, gta2dx9_vid.dll is a video device shim, and a src/ folder holds the map, style, mesh, camera and D3D9 renderer code used by the DLL.
That matters because of what Remix supports. NVIDIA describes RTX Remix as a platform for remastering DirectX 8 and 9 games that use fixed-function pipelines. The original GTA 2 predates that target. Aroged points out that Remix is built for DirectX 8 and 9 games while GTA 2 uses DirectX 6. Writing a Direct3D 9 renderer is what makes the connection possible. Plenty of classic games are only "Remix-compatible" in theory. This one needed new plumbing first.
According to the v0.7.1 release notes, the feature list includes:
- Full RTX Remix compatible rendering of the game
- Translation of the games lights plus generating of lights from game events such as explosions, fires, gunfire
- Dynamic time of day (Remix Plus only)
- Emissive maps for some of the game's textures, shipped as a Remix mod
- Full 16:9 support, so cars and pedestrians no longer pop in and out at the sides of the screen
- 60fps possible via FG
- An F4 in-game settings panel for adjusting lighting and time of day
VideoCardz says some textures now use emissive maps, so objects and light sources can glow instead of relying entirely on GTA 2's original rendering. The outlet adds that the difference is most obvious at night, when vehicle lights and fires light up the streets around them. That's a description of the screenshots, not a measured comparison.
In short: a new D3D9 renderer turns the game's own lights and events (explosions, fires, gunfire) into light sources for the path tracer. It also adds glow maps to some textures and fixes widescreen.
Recent fixes
The project is moving quickly. Version 0.7.0 added lights to car fires including a flicker effect, extended pickup emissives to all pickups so they are visible even in dark scenes, and fixed cars hopping when above another sprite such as acceleration smoke. It also stopped skid marks, blood trails and blood from floating. Blood is on by default and can be turned off in gta2dx9.ini. The next release, v0.7.1, fixed an issue where the intro movie would crash the game on startup.
The widescreen fix is arguably the most practical change here, path tracing or not. Anyone who has played the game at 16:9 knows the annoyance of traffic appearing out of nowhere at the screen edges.
Which Remix runtime to use
This is where most people will trip up. The mod works with more than one runtime build, but they don't all behave the same way. The release notes recommend Remix Plus 1.5.1, file Remix_Plus_v1.5.1_x86_games_release.zip. They also warn that NVIDIA's RTX Remix and Remix Plus 1.4 also work, with limits: NVIDIA's has no day/night cycle, and on any version other than Remix Plus 1.5.1 the menus and HUD may not display correctly.
Remix Plus isn't NVIDIA's official runtime. DSOGaming describes it loosely as custom community runtime forks or atmospheric add-on packs, and neither the project page nor NVIDIA's documentation spells out much more.
Keep in mind that RTX Remix is not included in the download, so you have to get the runtime separately.
| Runtime | Path tracing | Day/night cycle | Menus/HUD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Remix Plus 1.5.1 (recommended) | Yes | Yes | Displays correctly |
| Remix Plus 1.4 | Yes | Not specified | May not display correctly |
| NVIDIA's official RTX Remix | Yes | No | May not display correctly |
The table summarizes the project's release notes. Blank or "not specified" cells mean the notes don't say.
How to install it
The mod needs an existing copy of the game. According to the project, you need GTA2 v9.6 (freeware) and the x86 build of RTX Remix. The README also lists Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit. The freeware part helps: the PC version of GTA 2 has been officially available for free since December 2004.
Here's the install process as the project describes it:
- Install GTA 2 v9.6, the freeware release the mod was built and tested against.
- Download the RTX Remix runtime for x86 games. Remix Plus 1.5.1 is recommended if you want the day/night cycle and a HUD that displays correctly.
- Download a GTA2 RTX Remix release and follow gta2dx9_README.txt inside it.
- Per the README: unzip into the GTA2 folder, run install.reg and start gta2.exe.
- In the game, press F4 to open the settings panel for lighting and time of day.
If something goes wrong:
- Menus or HUD look broken: you're probably not on Remix Plus 1.5.1. The release notes say other runtime versions can cause exactly this.
- No day/night cycle: NVIDIA's official runtime doesn't support it. Only Remix Plus does.
- Crash on startup at the intro movie: v0.7.1 fixed this, so make sure you're on the latest release.
- About install.reg: it writes registry entries. It's a normal part of this project's install, but as always, only run .reg files from the source you actually meant to download from.
GPU requirements
VideoCardz reports that Remix requires at least Windows 10 and any GeForce RTX GPU, with a GeForce RTX 4070 or faster recommended for the best experience. The mod's own README doesn't name a GPU tier. Treat the RTX 4070 figure as the outlet's guidance, not the developer's spec.
The same caution applies to the 60 FPS claim. The project says 60 fps is "possible" with frame generation. It doesn't give a resolution, a test GPU, or a guaranteed frame rate. Some coverage made it sound like a sure thing. Path tracing a whole city, even one seen from a helicopter's-eye view, is still expensive. Expect results to vary a lot depending on your card.
For developers
The project is also a readable example of how to fit an old renderer into Remix. It's available on GitHub under an MIT license. Building it needs Visual Studio with the C++ x86 toolset. The package.bat script builds both DLLs and assembles a release, or the two DLLs can also be built on their own with dll\build.bat and vid\build.bat.
The main catch: the RTX Remix API headers in dll\deps\bridge_api must match the Remix runtime the game uses. A mismatch between those headers and your runtime version is the first thing to check if a custom build misbehaves.
Why a top-down game benefits
It's fair to ask what path tracing does for a game you view from above. The answer is mostly light at street level. Muzzle flashes, burning cars and headlights now light up the ground and walls around them, instead of the flat, pre-baked look of the original sprites. The emissive maps give neon and light sources a real glow. None of this changes the gameplay. It changes how the city feels at night.
GTA 2 also joins a growing list of Remix projects. DSOGaming notes that path tracing mods are already available for Doom, Doom 2, Quake, GTA 4, and Serious Sam, alongside demos for other classics.
Some perspective helps, though. This is a community project, not an official Rockstar or NVIDIA remaster, and it's still pre-1.0. The emissive maps cover only some textures, not the whole game. And the best experience depends on a community runtime fork rather than NVIDIA's own build. Anyone expecting a polished remaster will be disappointed.
Bottom line: if you have an RTX card and a soft spot for 1999-era crime, this is a free weekend project. The game costs nothing, the mod costs nothing, and the only thing likely to hurt is your GPU temperature.