Soft Voxels shaders is another ray tracing pack that makes Minecraft look more realistic. Its biggest unique feature is that it never gets too dark, so you won’t have any visibility issues. This is especially valuable in caves and the Nether. The german developer, RRe36, also made sure that performance remains stable. On one hand, that’s great, but on the other hand, this means the pack can’t keep up with other mods that support ray tracing. For example, MollyVX, KappaPT, and SEUS PTGI offer more realism but have a greater impact on FPS. Here, you have to decide for yourself: Do you prefer completely smooth gameplay or visuals that look like Minecraft 2.0?
Soft Voxels also delivers an impressive experience with path tracing and an adjusted sky. But the best part is the lighting effects, which are far superior to vanilla Minecraft without mods. For instance, if you place a lantern, it only illuminates the surrounding area. A soul lantern even adds a bluish tint to its surroundings. Many other shader packs simply make the entire world brighter without considering realistic light sources. This alone shows that RRe36 is an experienced developer who understands what players want, thanks to his other packs like Vanilla Plus and UShader. He’s a veteran in this field and has nearly perfected his craft.
When comparing it to Rethinking Voxels, a few differences immediately stand out, even though the names sound quite similar. In the first pack, the clouds are more blocky, similar to Nostalgia shaders, while in Soft Voxels, they are more subtle and stretch across the entire sky. This means it’s usually a bit cloudy rather than just a clear blue sky. Water surfaces also look significantly better in Soft Voxels because of realistic waves.
Despite its many advantages, there is one drawback: underwater visibility isn’t great. While caves are well-optimized, diving can feel disorienting, making it easy to lose your bearings. So, be careful when exploring underwater. On the other hand, snowy landscapes are much better executed. Snow blocks have a nice shine and look quite realistic.
One important thing to understand is that there are two different versions. The Soft Voxels Lite version is a stripped-down edition designed for players with lower-end hardware. As a result, the free version performs better but is also more minimalist in terms of features. However, if you have a few extra bucks to spare and want the full version, you can get it through a $5.50 monthly subscription on Patreon.
Soft Voxels was published on September 4, 2022 and is compatible with these Minecraft versions: 1.21.5 – 1.21.4 – 1.21.3 – 1.21.2 – 1.21.1 – 1.21 – 1.20.6 – 1.20.5 – 1.20.4 – 1.20.3 – 1.20.2 – 1.20.1 – 1.20 – 1.19.4 – 1.19.3 – 1.19.2 – 1.19.1 – 1.19 – 1.18.2 – 1.18.1 – 1.18 – 1.17.1 – 1.17 – 1.16.5 – 1.16
Video & Screenshots
Comparison
How To Install Soft Voxels Shaders
- Download the Soft Voxels shaders for Minecraft from the file section below. Pick the file that matches your Minecraft edition and version.
- Install Iris.
- Open the Minecraft launcher, and choose the Iris profile you just made.
- Launch Minecraft.
- Go to "Options", then "Video Settings", and select "Shader Packs". Next, click on "Open Shader Pack Folder" to access the shaderpacks folder.
- Move the downloaded ZIP file into this folder (.minecraft\shaderpacks).
- In the game, choose the newly installed pack from the shaders list. If you select a shader pack, its filename will turn yellow.
- Click "Done" or "Apply" and all new features have been loaded.