Crytek Reveals CryEngine 5.5 Preview Details

Crytek announced the newest update to CryEngine, promising many new long-requested features for the publicly available game engine. Alongside performance and UI upgrades, version 5.5 promises a new beginner’s course for those just starting out, overhauls to the lighting, terrain, and entity systems; improvements to how the engine handles source/version control, a new plugin system that allows CryEngine games to work better with platforms such as Steamworks and PSN and a migration guide intended to draw experienced Unity developers to Crytek’s engine.

All of these upgrades come from the modifications to the engine that Crytek’s main division in Frankfurt have been working on for their new game Hunt: Showdown, which released on Steam’s Early Access in February. The CryEngine 5.5 Preview Build is available now directly from the Crytek launcher.

CryEngine 5.5 highlights

• Getting Started Course: Our new beginner’s course shows users with no experience in game development how to create a full game in CryEngine in just 10 chapters.

• SVOGI Improvements: SVOGI can now run on consoles. We have enabled developers to cache SVOGI on the disk and calculate GI completely offline. This means users can make the most realistic scenes yet.

• Terrain System Improvements: New features and enhancements vastly improve the terrain system, including the ability to weight and blend multiple materials, more detailed height maps, and more.

• Updated Entity Components: New and legacy components are integrated in the new entity system, including rain and water ripple entities. A new VR Camera and interaction component makes getting up and running with VR even easier.

• C# Upgrades: We have expanded how users can create C# assets directly inside the Asset Browser, with Visual Studio instances, debugging through the IDE, and more.

• Game Platform Plugins: A brand-new Game Platform plugin allows for easy access to common distribution platforms and data transfer protocols. This includes Steamworks and PSN API functions like matchmaking, leaderboards, and achievements.

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