The next iteration of Epics’ game development Unreal Engine 5 is finally available through Epic Games Launcher and GitHub. This should give developers a chance to begin acclimating themselves with its many features before it’s full release somewhere in the 2022 window.
Showcased last year, the engine is designed to make photo realistic visuals and convincing animations easier than ever before. The Nanite allows for the user to create beautiful landscapes with relative ease, while Lumen produces real time lighting for day and night cycles. The animation system is now designed to adapt to surfaces and fill in gaps. With Metasounds system the engine is able to offer distinctive effects.
It also boasts the ability to create more immersive and engaging open worlds than ever before. Teams of any size will be able to use and collaborate with it with an ease not seen before in an engine. According to their website:
A technical demo from the engine was shared earlier today by Jeff Keighley and it is something to behold. With unreal base gameplay footage can achieve a quality that seemed out of reach only a few years ago. To see Unreal Engine 5 running on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X is breathtaking. If you were not yet sold on the next gen this might just be what convinces you.
The tweet itself is here:
Here's an uncut look at the gameplay of the new Valley of the Ancient demo for @unrealengine 5, which enters early access today. Developers can download this project and play it — or modify it! #UnrealEngine pic.twitter.com/qEYDS649O2
— Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) May 26, 2021
The worst part of getting this taste of Unreal is the wait. Gears 6 has already been confirmed to run on the engine, and it stands to reason Epic games will use it as well. Beyond those however we will have to wait and see what the future holds for it. The next potential hit from any unknown developer could be beginning its journey right now.
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