The updated engine has a number of improvements for developers – such as improved performance and an upgraded user interface – but the most significant changes come from a handful of technologies designed for more photorealistic graphics. These include Lumen, “a fully dynamic global lighting solution” for truer lighting, and Nanite, which Epic says “allows you to create games and experiences with vast amounts of geometric detail.” There are also more practical tools, such as the ability to split parts of an open world to make it easier for teams to work in areas independently. Overall, these tools are expected to facilitate the creation of large-scale high-fidelity games. CD Projekt Red has already confirmed that it is using the tool to build the next Witcher. While this is the first time the engine has been widely available to game developers, some major UE5 projects have already been released to the public through Epic itself. Last December, Fortnite moved to Unreal 5 and at the same time, Epic released The Matrix Awakens, an impressive tech demo that combined the similarities between Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss with a large open world inhabited by characters. Developer Metahuman. . “It’s great to be able to experiment with user experience flows long before anyone else,” Epic CTO Kim Libreri told The Verge. “So, in fact, it’s very valuable to our customers because it means they don’t have to go through it. We do not end up putting super unexpected workflows in front of all users. “It’s great in that respect, especially with something as big as the Matrix demo and as big as Fortnite.” Lyra.Image: Epic Games As part of today’s release of UE5, Epic is also making a sample of The Matrix Awakens city – without the Hollywood stars – available to game developers to take advantage of. “I think we will see some great things,” says Libreri. Epic is also releasing a sample multiplayer shooter called Lyra, built into UE5, which is very similar to the Unreal Tournament and is something the developer says could be a “practical learning resource” for game developers. In addition to games, engines like Unreal have also become increasingly popular for other applications, most notably movies and TV. Mandalorian, for example, used Unreal for its virtual sets. With tools like UE5 and a new generation of gaming hardware, Libreri believes we will see more of this kind of crossover between media. In the past, he says, the creators made “movie quality elements” that would then have to be scaled down to be used in a game. Now these lines are starting to blur, opening up all sorts of possibilities. “It really means that beyond the boundaries of the media, whether you’re making a movie, a TV show or even a corporate app, you don’t really have to think that much to make that choice,” he explains. “Obviously, if you are going to ship on lower quality platforms, you still have to think about how many triangles there are in the scene. But in the new generation of hardware, it is definitely a change of game. It is quite possible that a scene created for a streaming show on Netflix or Disney – where they basically used higher resolution data – there is a chance now that things will show up in a game or, as we move into the future, appear in some experience. interconnection “.
