Last week, we brought you word that Elden Ring had received a massive update in the form of Patch 1.07, which, amongst other things, buffed magic, rebalanced PVP damage, and introduced a swathe of quality-of-life improvements and bug fixes. It looks like it may have also set the stage for additional maps to come to the game, along with the potential to implement ray tracing features in the future.
Data miner extraordinaire Lance McDonald delved deep into the update's files and found some intriguing menu string references, and was even able to implement ray tracing, albeit in a haphazard sort of way.
Elden Ring is a gorgeous game but was plagued by performance issues back at launch, and while these have mostly been ironed out, even on PS5, the implementation of ray tracing would have to come with a significant cost in terms of frame rate. FromSoftware confirmed that ray tracing would be coming to the game back around launch, so this probably shouldn't be too much of a surprise.
Perhaps more exciting, though, is the reference to two new additional maps, as pointed out by data miner Sekiro Dubi, who credits user Magical Shion with the initial find.
Since its launch and subsequent meteoric success, speculation regarding possible Elden Ring DLC has been rampant. It would make sense to follow up with additional content, but what form that might take remains to be seen.
It has been suggested that the unused arenas that litter The Lands Between could serve as some kind of gladiatorial PVP combat mode, but considering those maps already exist in-game, these two new maps appear to be something else entirely, with one, m20, having the same numbering as the game's Legacy Dungeons, implying a larger scale offering.
Would you like to see additional DLC implemented in Elden Ring? What form would you like to see it take? Become Elden Lord in the comments section below.
[source twitter.com, via eurogamer.net]
Comments 15
More elden ring can only be a good thing. I would definatly plump for any expansion packs..
It’s an interesting one for me because while yes, more Elden Ring sounds great, I’m not sure about how it would actually be implemented. The game triumphs in the way it encourages exploration across the whole incredibly large map, and so a smaller DLC area like we’ve seen with every other Souls game wouldn’t hit the same way. The alternative is adding additional areas to the existing map which would be accessed via some sort of new quest line. I think this would be a better idea, although it would have to be totally seamless given how tight the world design is. Perhaps they can create new areas underground in the sections of the map which don’t have an underground counterpart?
@nessisonett i agree..i'm not sure how they would implement any expansion but i was thinking about the underground areas being opened up as thats a lot of space untapped down there..maybe one of those portals that take you to some other worldly place like in the artorias of the abyss dlc in dark souls?
Space, the final frontier.
Ray Tracing is pointless in this as it will kill the framerate, it can barely hold 60fps as it is.
@WallyWest i suppose being used in the 30fps (sorry for swearing) quality mode?
A ray tracing patch was something they promise since launch. It would nice to finally get it.
If they were to add ray tracing it would almost certainly be a 30 FPS mode for a game of this scope, I like my souls games to have a smooth frame rate to help with reacting to enemies but having the option wouldn't be a bad idea.
I’ll take some Elden Ring DLC, though it’s been so long since I’ve become Elden Lord now that I’m concerned I may be in a weird place where I’ll need to revisit a tutorial for how to play well. I did “git gud,” but by now, I did “git rusty.”
Seeing as in the screens it still falls back to SSR this is likely to be RT shadows, which would make a huge impact to in-game visuals. Shadows were one of the more wonky aspects of ER's look.
Putting more strain on that framerate won't be pretty though...
@nessisonett Agreed, the whole underground area still has some space or maybe just a teleport to a distant land etc.
I’m probably the only person on the planet who hasn’t played Elden Ring. I’ll get to it eventually.
@8bit4Life the shame 🤣
I'd settle for a locked 60fps on PS5...
I'm only interested in the DLC if it's new story campaign.
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