Creating Content with Unreal Engine 5
A Brief Explanation and Timeline
Have you ever wondered just what goes into creating a videogame? Not just the story and characters and general design, but how is it physically created? From what we, the consumer, can tell; it takes a very long time and requires the expertise of an entire crew dedicated to one aspect of the game. Of course, those are big budget heavy hitters that we follow through all its iterations and remasters. Today, this process can be done on a smaller scale by a single person in a matter of hours. If you believe it, some mobile games are developed and functional within an hour. The days of having to code every line of what is being shown during game play are nearly gone. There is still a heavy amount of skill, technicality and patience required to truly realize the next masterpiece of the gaming word, and that is where tools such as Unreal Engine 5 come into play.
At this point, we have all likely heard of Epic Games. With huge modern hits like “Fortnite” and “Gears of War”, to name just a couple in their impressive repertoire, Epic is a household name. It’s pretty likely you or someone you know has an Epic Games account. What you may not know is that the person behind Epic Games is also behind Unreal Engine. In the very early 90’s, Tim Sweeney, in typical mad genius fashion, created the first version of the Unreal Engine in his parent’s basement. He created a few games with it, but really found his stride when he developed the code and interface for what would become the first-person shooter called “Unreal”. It was a hit, but developers were more impressed with the creation and application of the engine itself. Though his contemporaries and competitors had their own engines to develop from, the ease of manipulation down to how you wanted the soundtrack to play throughout the game was unmatched.
So, what is a gaming engine? What does that even mean? Simply, it is the software that enables the game play of any video game. It manages the memory and buffering capabilities for whatever you are trying to create and show to people. In the way back days, each game had its own specific engine that managed and operated in that game only. Today, with larger projects and more specific ideas, specific engines do exist, but not every creator needs one to dive in and get their idea across. Though the original Unreal Engine was developed for first-person shooters, it was quickly adopted by a multitude of creators looking to create content for all types of gaming platforms and even film and television. Unreal Engine continued to evolve and has become what it is today.
After the success and promise of the first Engine, Epic quickly got to work on the second iteration. While keeping the level editing, advanced mapping an available 16-bit capabilities, Unreal Engine 2 debuted in 1998 with huge improvements to rendering capabilities and the tool bar available to the user. That tech would eventually go on to run games in your Nintendo 3DS. The tools, rendering and physics continued to improve in the third Engine, giving us gems like “Batman: Arkham City” and “Infinity Blade”. The fourth Engine gets more intense, and we see things like Oculus and “Fortnite”. 2022 saw the unveiling of the super popular Unreal Engine 5. With A.I. handling mapping and levels of detail producing photorealistic 4k resolution images that are unlike anything ever produced with any form of gaming and creation engine, Unreal Engine 5 is truly a marvel. These advancements will only continue, making the future of video games and effects heavy movies a pretty exciting prospect.
The importance of this evolution cannot be stressed enough. The number of huge name games developed by the Unreal Engines are as impressive as the films that have utilized them to bring some truly impressive imagery to the screen. Unreal Engines has helped titles from “Star Wars” and “Planet of the Apes” and even “The Batman”. This improves the quality of the content we get to consume and how quickly we are allowed to consume it, but it also allows independent developers an opportunity to operate with the some of the same tools without hindering the creative process. Inventive and important content is given a place to flourish and to be seen. Logging into Unreal Engine and having a look for yourself is truly the only way to give it the respect it deserves. The amount of content in this setting is nearly unbelievable. With new developers and properties springing up by the hour, it is not hard to see how Unreal Engine has become so popular and widely used.
The best part about using Unreal Engine 5 or any of its predecessors? Creators are allowed access with nothing more than an Epic Games account. Of course, as with any tool of value, a little learning here goes a long way. All the necessary software and information needed to get started with your own project is available from the creators themselves through their website. There are links and articles and official training sites. It is almost unreal. The Engine hosts the tools and other games that have been created and opened for exploration. You can walk through an independently created virtual landscape and witness some story lines that may not be seen on a mass scale. Tools like Unreal Engine 5 are priceless to all creators but even more so to the independent creator.
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