Epic Games reveals the newest version of the game engine, Unreal Engine 5, which includes the next-gen technology enhancing the creative side for the next-gen platforms. Developing will be much easier and exciting based on the video provided by Epic Games, in which an in-game demo of software running on PS5 is showcased.
Lightning in games hasn’t been realistic as much, including the render of 3D models, including environments that involve billions of polygons. Well, all of that becomes a reality thanks to Unreal Engine 5. Thanks to the new Nanite and Lumen technology, Unreal Engine 5 provides escort to a deeply immersed entertainment.
Lumen, a global illumination system, contributes to much more realistic lighting in games, while Nanite extracts the best rendering techniques for a realistic view, limitless geometry. Below you can find the official description of both technologies, provided by Epic Games:
- Nanite virtualized micropolygon geometry frees artists to create as much geometric detail as the eye can see. Nanite virtualized geometry means that film-quality source art comprising hundreds of millions or billions of polygons can be imported directly into Unreal Engine—anything from ZBrush sculpts to photogrammetry scans to CAD data—and it just works. Nanite geometry is streamed and scaled in real time so there are no more polygon count budgets, polygon memory budgets, or draw count budgets; there is no need to bake details to normal maps or manually author LODs; and there is no loss in quality.
- Lumen is a fully dynamic global Illumination solution that immediately reacts to scene and light changes. The system renders diffuse interreflection with infinite bounces and indirect specular reflections in huge, detailed environments, at scales ranging from kilometers to millimeters. Artists and designers can create more dynamic scenes using Lumen, for example, changing the sun angle for time of day, turning on a flashlight, or blowing a hole in the ceiling, and indirect lighting will adapt accordingly. Lumen erases the need to wait for lightmap bakes to finish and to author light map UVs—a huge time savings when an artist can move a light inside the Unreal Editor and lighting looks the same as when the game is run on console.
Unreal Engine 5 is supposed to be a huge asset for creating next-gen games, and we’re looking forward to what else Epic Games can do. Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 5 is expected to fully release in 2021.
