Unreal Engine
| Unreal Engine
|
|
|---|---|
|
|
| Basic data
|
|
| developer |
 Epic Games
|
| Publishing year | 1998 |
| Current version | 4.25 (May 5, 2020) |
| operating system | Windows , Linux , SteamOS , macOS , PlayStation ( 2 , 3 , 4 and 5 ), Xbox ( 360 , One and Series X ) Android , Dreamcast , iOS , Nintendo Switch , webOS , tvOS , WebGL , HTML5 , WebAssembly , Google Native Client , Windows Mixed Reality |
| programming language | C ++ |
| category | Game engine |
| License | EULA |
| German speaking | No |
| www.unrealengine.com | |
The Unreal Engine is a game engine from Epic Games that is used in the development of console and computer games. Since it was first published in 1998, the game engine has been used in numerous games and ported to various operating systems and game consoles .
Overview
The framework of the Unreal Engine consists among other things of the graphics engine , the script language UnrealScript and other auxiliary programs such as the level editor UnrealEd . The first version of the Unreal Engine came out in 1998 together with the first-person shooter Unreal . The game also served as a graphics demo for the engine. The Unreal Engine was used in various other games, including with newly written components. Examples are Deus Ex or Rune . In 1999 Unreal Tournament was developed with the Unreal Engine 1.5 . The first game with the second generation of the engine appeared on July 4, 2002 with the free first-person shooter America's Army , towards the end of 2002 Unreal Tournament 2003 and Unreal II: The Awakening appeared . The successor Unreal Tournament 2004 uses the Unreal Engine 2.5 .
The third generation of the engine from 2006 provides complex shader effects, surfaces with offset mapping and the ability to reload parts of the game world simultaneously and without interruption. This surpasses the capabilities of the Doom 3 engine, which was released in 2004.
price
Unreal Engine has been available free of charge - also commercially - up to a turnover of $ 3000 since March 2nd, 2015. Thereafter, a share of 5% of the gross income generated with a product within a quarter must be paid to Epic Games.
Versions
The Unreal Engine has a modular structure. Epic rewrites various parts of the engine, but it remains the same engine. For this reason, there are no specific version numbers, only numbered builds that contain or do not contain certain functions. The published framework packages are always titled by Epic itself with Unreal Engine N , where N always stands for the generation or version of the engine.
First generation
Unreal Engine
The first version of the Unreal Engine , also called Unreal Engine 1 because of its successors , was released in 1998 together with Unreal . However, Legend Entertainment and MicroProse had already acquired the license beforehand. The Unreal Engine 1.0 was developed for high-end PCs from 1998. 226f was the final patch for Unreal .
Unreal Engine 1.5
The Unreal Engine 1.5 was designed for high-end PCs from 1999 to 2001, and for the first time also for the Dreamcast and PlayStation 2 . The code was split off , the version number jumped to the number 300 and developed from there to version 436. The code core was completely rewritten, possibly to integrate the UnrealEd 2 . Until recently, the UTPG project developed version 451, which brings some changes, features and more stability for developers (the UED) and server operators.
Second generation
Unreal Engine 2
The Unreal Engine 2 was developed for high-end PCs from 2002 to 2003, the Xbox , the PlayStation 2 and the Nintendo GameCube . The version number of the second generation of the engine started at 500, licenses started at 600 and the first publication, America's Army was numbered 927. When Epic Games released Unreal Tournament in 2003 , the version numbers jumped to 2000 and higher. Again, large parts of the code were rewritten and a new version of UnrealEd was integrated.
Unreal Engine 2.5
The Unreal Engine 2.5 was developed for high-end PCs from 2004–2005. It represents an improved version with an optimized rendering engine of the Unreal Engine 2.0 . The Unreal Engine 2.5 offered support for 64-bit Windows and 64-bit Linux operating systems for the first time.
Unreal Engine 2X
The Unreal Engine 2X is a version 2.5 fork and was specially developed for the Xbox. It is highly optimized for the Xbox hardware shader pipeline, memory management, the GUI system, and Xbox Live support.
Third generation
Unreal Engine 3
The game environment Unreal Engine 3 is the direct successor to Unreal Engine 2 . The new game environment is characterized by a technology that should be “up to date” in 2006 and 2007. It was first released in November 2006 with the game RoboBlitz . A few days later the port for the Xbox 360 with Gears of War followed . The engine is also used in Unreal Tournament 3 , the successor to Unreal Tournament 2004 . In addition to the versions for the computer (Mac, Windows) and the Xbox, there is also a port for the PlayStation 3 . According to wiiinsider.de, Mark Rein, Vice President at Epic Games, announced that the engine could not be used on the Nintendo Wii . For the Wii U there are currently two titles that use the engine; Darksiders 2 and Devil's Third . The framework is to be gradually expanded and improved by 2012. A Linux version was planned, but was never released. In 2010 the first games for the iPhone based on Unreal Engine 3 appeared .
The gaming environment is based on the DirectX -9 shader model 3 and provides support for DirectX 11 .
Unreal Development Kit
Since November 5, 2009, Unreal Engine 3 has been available for free download from the official website in the form of the Unreal Development Kit for non-commercial use. Further versions for the development of console games were planned, but were not published. In the course of these changes, the costs for a commercial use of Unreal Engine 3 have also been greatly reduced.
Fourth generation
Unreal Engine 4
After the presentation of the Unreal Engine 3 , Marketing Director Mark Rein announced, when asked by a journalist, that work on the fourth generation of the engine had been in progress since around mid-2003. However, major developments did not begin until 2008. Square Enix was one of the first developers to secure an Unreal Engine 4 license in October 2012. The first version of Unreal Engine 4 was released on March 19, 2014. The current version is 4.25. New versions appear approximately two to three months apart. The Unreal Engine 4 was available with a subscription for $ 19 / month and a 5% profit tax (with earnings above € 3000 per quarter). Since September 2014, access to the engine has been free for schools and universities. Since March 2, 2015, the engine can be used free of charge - also commercially - up to a turnover of $ 3000. The source code is equally open to all developers. If the product generates over $ 3,000, Epic Games requires a five percent share of gross sales.
The Unreal Engine 4 also supports Linux and macOS.
Fifth generation
Unreal Engine 5
The Unreal Engine 5 was presented on May 13, 2020. The tech demo "Lumen in the Land of Nanite", which is running on the PlayStation 5 , shows two new core technologies. "Nanite" should allow developers to import 3D models with a high polygon density directly into the engine without baking and normal mapping . The "Lumen" lighting technology should enable global illumination in real time and allow complex light simulations with light reflections and refractions.
Games based on the Unreal Engine (selection)
In the following tables, the titles of the Unreal series are highlighted in bold because they were published at the same time as the engines. Epic Games used this in the past to demonstrate the capabilities of the engines.
Unreal Engine 1
| title | publication | developer |
|---|---|---|
| Star Trek: The Next Generation - Klingon Honor Guard | Feb 9, 1998 | MicroProse |
| Unreal | May 25, 1998 | Digital Extremes , Epic Megagames |
| Nerf Arena Blast | Oct 31, 1999 | Visionary Media |
| The Wheel of Time | Nov 11, 1999 | Legend Entertainment |
| Unreal Tournament | Nov 23, 1999 | Digital Extremes , Epic Games |
| Deus Ex | June 23, 2000 | Ion Storm |
| Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: The Fallen | Oct. 27, 2000 | The Collective |
| rune | Oct 31, 2000 | Human Head Studios |
| Clive Barker's Undying | Feb 21, 2001 | DreamWorks Interactive |
| Tactical Ops | Apr 23, 2002 | Kamehan Studios |
Unreal Engine 2 / 2.5 / 2X
Unreal Engine 3 / 3.5
Unreal Engine 4
Unreal Engine 5
| title | publication | developer |
|---|---|---|
| Fortnite | 2021 | Epic Games |
| Pro Evolution Soccer 2022 | 2021 | Konami |
| Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 | TBA | Ninja Theory |
See also
Web links
- Official website at unrealengine.com (English)
- The Unreal Developer Network at docs.unrealengine.com (English)
- List of games on the Unreal Engine based (English) on the English Wikipedia
Individual evidence
- ↑ Current version changelog: docs.unrealengine.com - Release Notes
- ↑ Unreal Engine 2 on the manufacturer's website ( Memento from December 7, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Unreal Engine 2.5 on the manufacturer's website ( Memento from November 23, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Unreal Engine 2X on the manufacturer's website ( Memento from December 8, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Epic "Oh no! No Unreal Engine 3 on the Wii! ” ( Memento of the original from September 26, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on rebell.at
- ↑ a b Unreal Engine Versions / 4 ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on wiki.beyondunreal.com (English)
- ↑ Request a Linux version in the mailing list on icculus.org
- ↑ a b Unreal Engine 4 in development - Article at Golem.de , from June 10, 2005.
- ↑ Game graphics: "The market is ready for DirectX 11" - Article at Golem.de , from March 2nd, 2011.
- ↑ WinFuture: Unreal Engine 3 can now be used free of charge , Sebastian Gruber, November 6, 2009 ; Retrieved December 7, 2016 .
- ↑ Epic Games releases Unreal Engine 3 for free use . Golem.de, November 6, 2009.
- ↑ Epic Games Announces the Unreal Development Kit, Powered by Unreal Engine 3 ( Memento from November 16, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Tony Barthelmann: Square Enix also grabs the Unreal Engine 4. In: jpgames.de , October 24, 2012.
- ↑ Unreal Engine 4 Goes Free for Academic Use September 4, 2014
- ↑ Unreal Engine with source code now for free (March 2nd, 2015)
- ↑ Unreal Engine 4 and Linux May 19, 2014
- ↑ Unreal Engine 5 presented! First tech demo shows fantastic graphics from NextGen engine (May 13, 2020)
