Epic Games has now launched its amazing graphics engine Unreal Engine 5. The company it allows you download it totally free, a very attractive point if we take into account the power and complexity that this tool offers. On the other hand, although we have already been able to see some demonstrations where UE5 demonstrates great capabilities, there are some sections that have not been given the relevance they deserve. For this reason, today we show you the five key features that make Unreal Engine 5 an awesome tool.
It has recently been confirmed that the next title of tomb Raider will be developed with Unreal Engine 5. Also, we have other games like the new The Witcher and Gears of War 5 They have also promised to take advantage of the benefits of said graphics engine. Although at first it might seem that these upcoming releases have chosen this tool for its graphic capabilities, the truth is that UE5 hides much more behind a pretty face.
Unreal Engine 5 promises to change the landscape of video games from its foundations. We are facing a true generational leap, which to a large extent has also been possible thanks to the hardware that we find in current-generation consoles and computers.
Temporary Super Resolution, the great promise of performance
One of the first features that promise to revolutionize the world of video games is Temporary Super Resolution (TSR). It is a proposal that defines the performance of Unreal Engine 5, and that it has the same importance as other lighting and shading technologies. With TSR, games can use supersampling tools that allow for higher resolutions, even when the title is in a minor. For example, getting 4K resolution when the base is 1080p.
TSR has already been shown in action in titles such as The Matrix: Awakenyes Due to the graphic load of the game, this tool was essential to allow its execution. Of course, TSR is a fairly familiar tool, and we have already seen similar proposals such as Nvidia’s DLSS, and AMD’s FSR.
Nevertheless, TSR is a completely independent technology from Nvidia and AMD. For this reason, it is a solution that can be implemented on any computer or console compatible with Unreal Engine 5. Yes, the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X will be able to process Temporary Super Resolution. Developers will be able to configure TSR natively in their games without any problem.
Of course, this translates into better image fidelity, especially for PC gamers. In this way, you will be able to explore all the graphic options of a video game without sacrificing too much visual quality; and on many occasions, earning twice the performance.
Lumen, the novelty in lighting
Lumen is part of the technologies whose purpose is to allow developers to make more realistic scenarios. Not only in their visual aspect, but also in the way the physics behave within them. Thus, Lumen is a global lighting system and fully dynamic. The latter means that Unreal Engine 5 will be able to generate diffuse interreflections (light reflections produced by objects) with infinite bounces.
Also, according to Epic Games, Lumen performance will be the same regardless of stage scale. So lighting will behave the same in a virtual room with the light on, or in an open world where the main light source is a sun, for example. It is worth mentioning that this technology will prevent developers from resorting to light maps, which brought lighting to life in many games in the past.
If you are a person familiar with the latest technical developments in video games, surely Lumen reminded you of the Ray Tracing from Nvidia. Although their objective does not vary much, the process by which they carry it out is different. Epic itself points out that Lumen, unlike Ray Tracing, does not require “expensive computational calculations”. In other words, Lumen is not tied solely to the capabilities of the hardware.
Nanite, raising the level of detail
Nanite is the geometry technology that artists involved in video game development always dreamed of. Why? Basically, its goal is to allow the creation of models with a high level of detail. That’s because it can display up to billions of polygons if required by an object, character, or stage.
“Nanite is Unreal Engine 5’s new virtualized geometry system that uses a new internal mesh format and rendering technology to render pixel-scale detail and a large number of objects.”
It is very possible that we will see the use of Nanite applied beyond video games, which certainly depend on the technical capabilities of the hardware to display a greater number of polygons in real time. However, when we talk about film productions that do not require real-time processes, is where this Unreal Engine 5 technology can show its greatest potential.
Virtual Shadow Map
This technique, known in Spanish as virtual shadow maps, works together with Nanite. And it is that if you intend to show an object with a great level of detail, shadows play a fundamental role in achieving that quality. For this reason, Virtual Shadow Map is a method for increase shadow resolution, thus managing to adjust them to the details of the geometry. The idea is that virtual shadow maps do not abuse technical resources. In the video below you can see it in action on the thousands of leaves whose shadow is shown on the surface:
A new step in artificial intelligence
Although almost all the changes so far have affected performance and visual quality, it is not the only thing that comes with Unreal Engine 5. The new Mass AI is a system that will allow developers to fill your open worlds with dynamic characters and different.
We could already see a sample of Mass AI in The Matrix: Awakens. According to the technical director of Epic Games, Jeff Farris, this system was used to simulate 35,000 members of a crowd, 18,000 moving vehicles and 40,000 parked vehicles in the demo. Also, this feature can simulate all of this no matter where the player is on the map.
Of course this translates into much more dynamic open worlds from what we know so far. With characters that really feel alive within their own universes.