Skydance Media / Unreal Engine

During theState of Unreal keynoteheld at GDC 2024 , Unreal Engine revealed some interesting new developments that are come up in the next update of its graphics locomotive engine . developer will now be able to create authentic , extremely dense environments and character details in actual clock time in a way that just does n’t seem to have been possible in the past . The company demoed these new potentiality during an former preview ofMarvel 1943 : Rise of Hydra , and it ’s really quite impressive .

The demonstration shows us what UE can do now , all directly channelize with the avail of a live - in editor and a practical camera . Kim Liberi , main technology officer of Epic Games , and Amy Henning from Skydance Media innovate the hearing to a bridge surround determine in 1943 . Initially , the scene was highly elaborate but then it was break down to its bare bone to visualize just how much is being added in real - prison term by the editor program .

Captain America and Black Panther face off in a screenshot from a Marvel game.

Skydance Media / Unreal Engine

The Modern update to Unreal Engine 5.4 allow game devs to build up bona fide environments with the supporter of what ’s called Nanite adaptive tessellation . The surroundings are built from the soil up , supply details such as land grain , snow , or skunk . The firing is especially impressive , with component like weed casting shadows on the ground , but also on itself — and all of this is being added or get rid of in real time .

“ This proficiency allows you to add an unprecedented storey of geometric contingent , but it ’s also memory effective and can be changed dynamically in the runtime of your plot . Things like footprints , tire tracks , and even supernatural effects can be visualise , ” said Liberi , referring to a technique calledNanite . “ It ’s a really smart , interesting proficiency to actually get point into the plot without crazy amounts of geometry . ”

This technology is utile for all variety of details in the environs , and not just the undercoat . The demonstration showed off another new technique in Unreal Engine , have it away as heterogeneous volume while whizz along in on gage pour out of a barrel on fire in the scene .

This would have antecedently been achieved with particle sprites , but as Liberi note , the final effect can break down and calculate flat . “ It ’s decent from afar , but far from nice , ” he impart .

Heterogeneous volumetrics cast shadows across the rest of the scene , as well as within itself . This can also be commingle with more traditional method , such as by adding particle , and all of this can be done natively in the engine or by importing vast data point sets . In speaking about the naturalistic pot and lighting in the scene , Liberi says the outcome is “ film - quality visual result , all go in veridical - time that are totally antiphonal to dynamical lighting . ”

The usance of AI in game introduction is slow seep into the very initiation of gaming , part with thing likeAI - driven dialogue powered by Nvidia , up to AI - supported world like what we ’re seeing here in Unreal Engine . The net result is for sure telling and may assist smaller and bigger game studios create naturalistic - look AAA title .

There are lots more details in Unreal Engine 5.4 for developers that were discussed , as well as more details to be learned . The first prevue for Unreal Engine 5.4 is set to be released in recent April .