GARGEAN, a developer from the r/Kenshi community, has released Kenshi RTX Remix, a mod that adds path tracing through NVIDIA RTX Remix. The Reddit post picked up more than fifteen hundred upvotes in two days. The mod runs on top of a standard Kenshi installation, with no launcher required. I collect all my Kenshi news and guides in a dedicated section of the site.
What Kenshi RTX Remix does to the graphics, and how it works
Kenshi RTX Remix intercepts DirectX 11 calls through NVIDIA RTX Remix and replaces the standard rendering with path tracing. According to GARGEAN, the implementation uses path tracing almost throughout, including primary visibility, going beyond most commercial ray-traced games, which use a hybrid approach with rasterisation.
The visible result is physically accurate lighting. Sunlight enters buildings only through actual openings, and shadows are cast by the scene rather than drawn over it. Interiors without light sources become properly dark: that lantern from the Hive settlements suddenly stops feeling like an optional accessory.
- Mod version: v807
- Recommended graphics card: GeForce RTX 4070 or better
- AMD and Intel Arc have not been tested; compatibility is not guaranteed.
- It's best to disable shadows in Kenshi's settings: with path tracing, they only waste resources.
- The first launch is slow because shaders are being compiled; later launches are faster.
- DLSS is supported and helps when the graphics card is the bottleneck.
- The mod has been tested with RE_Kenshi, UWE and several other mods without problems.
🔥 What this means for players: technically, Kenshi RTX Remix is one of the most substantial mods I've seen for the game. One thing needs to be clear upfront: the mod puts a very heavy load on the CPU, with single-core performance being the bottleneck. In my view, the practical entry point is a GeForce RTX 4070 paired with a fast, modern processor; otherwise, no amount of upscaling will rescue it.
Performance figures and installation
- GeForce RTX 3060 + Ryzen 5 5500 (shadows disabled, draw distance reduced): 15 FPS.
- GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super + Ryzen 9 9800X3D, 3440×1440, DLSS Balanced: 30–35 FPS.
- GeForce RTX 4080 Super + Ryzen 7 7800X3D, 1080p, DLSS Balanced: around 40 FPS.
- GeForce RTX 5080 + Ryzen 9 9800X3D: around 30 FPS.
Those numbers aren't exactly spectacular, but Kenshi isn't a game of split-second reactions. At 25–30 FPS, it's perfectly possible to play comfortably.
To install the mod:
- Copy the Kenshi folder to a convenient location.
- Download the archive from GitHub.
- Extract its contents into the game folder and launch as usual.
Open the settings through Alt+X > Developer Settings Menu > Game Setup > Step 2: Parameter Tuning.
Be careful with mod compatibility. WASD combat plugin causes black character textures, as several users have confirmed. Mods with custom races and faces also frequently conflict, because their UV layouts don't match the standard ones. If performance matters more to you than path-traced lighting, MeitouClient takes a different approach by rebuilding the engine, though its alpha still lacks important systems.
Kenshi RTX Remix on AMD, and what future versions might bring
Compatibility with AMD and Intel Arc cards is not confirmed: GARGEAN has worked only with NVIDIA hardware. As for Linux, the creator suggested that RTX Remix runtime might support it, but hasn't tested it himself. That remains an open question.
For context, GARGEAN himself noted that even Kenshi 2 on Unreal Engine 5 will use Lumen-based hybrid rendering rather than full path tracing. In purely technical rendering terms, the modded first Kenshi with RTX Remix goes further, although Kenshi 2 will be incomparably richer in geometry, detail density and material quality.
The creator said he's considering bringing back an option to temporarily disable path tracing in future versions, allowing players to switch between path tracing and standard rendering for things like screenshots.
