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Fox Sports’ new virtual studio runs on Unreal Engine
It's no secret that Epic Games has enabled a number of gaming studios to create more-realistic visuals with its Unreal game engine. Since its debut in 1998, powering the first-person shooter Unreal, the technology has evolved to power hundreds of games, from Fortnite to Street Fighter V, and with that process, the virtual has become increasingly more realistic. Now in its fourth iteration, Unreal Engine is no longer exclusively being used for gaming, as other industries have taken notice of the possibilities. Unreal Engine 4 has become a key element for film and television in recent years, and Fox Sports is using it to power its new, completely virtual studio set. "Virtual sets have been around for quite some time, and we've done our fair share of using them," Zac Fields said. "But it's always been a struggle to give that sense of photo realism." Fields oversees Fox Sports' Graphic Technology and Integration department, which includes the addition of new gear during a studio build. He said the team started thinking about the idea of a virtual set about two years ago. Around 15 months ago, the network started getting staff familiar with the software and began tests. Then last winter, the broadcaster did a virtual show. Fields described this as a "full run-through" of a show on the virtual set that was built in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Enjoy the 1998 'Metal Gear Solid' in Unreal Engine 4
Shadow Moses is a labor of love from some serious Metal Gear Solid fans who want to play Konami's pivotal 1998 game in updated, Unreal Engine 4 graphics. So far, it's looking so good. The creators don't have permission from Konami to actually release the remake, though they're aware that conversation will have to take place, eventually. "Konami owns the MGS copyright and therefore sooner or later we will need their full permission," creator Airam Hernandez writes on YouTube and Facebook. "We have therefore chosen to openly share this project from the beginning so that we can deal with any issues that may arise as they come. We believe this is better than putting years of work into a project only to get it shut down. Please, respect this decision."
N64's 'GoldenEye 007' goes modern with Unreal Engine 4
Ah, yes. GoldenEye 007. One of the classic Nintendo 64 titles and a memorable first-person shooter is certainly a game that I spent a lot of time with. Now we have a glimpse of what the game could look like if it was made with the tools available to developers today. YouTube user Jude Wilson recreated a portion of the Facility Map using Unreal Engine 4, offering a bit of nostalgia for those of us who are familiar with the title. Wilson isn't the first to do this, as Mario and Sonic have already been given the UE4 treatment. It's an interesting take, but don't take our word for it, go through the level yourself via the video down below.
The Stomping Land is switching to Unreal Engine 4
Dino-delay or evolutionary upgrade? The situation might be both for The Stomping Land, which has been on the down low while its developer works to bring it to a new game engine after the old engine lost studio support. "It has been quiet in The Stomping Land community but that is certainly not the case behind the scenes!" Developer Alex "Jig" Fundora told Kotaku. "The game is being moved to Unreal Engine 4 to take advantage of technical and creative opportunities, and while the game was so early in development, I didn't want to keep working for years with a game engine (UDK) that had officially lost support by Epic. The move has put a bit of more work on my plate, but the already discovered opportunities using UE4 are exciting, and I'm confident fans will be satisfied with the long-run decision." The dinosaur-themed survival sandbox went into early access this past May 30th.
Remember Unreal Tournament? Epic's making a new one and it's free
Epic Games is known for a lot of things, the Gears of War game franchise and development tool Unreal Engine prime among them. But old-school game fans might know Epic Games for another classic franchise: Unreal Tournament. The long-dormant series is making its return starting today! Sort of. Epic announced this afternoon that the next Unreal Tournament game begins development starting today with "a small team of UT veterans" focused on development for Windows, Mac and Linux. The entire development is open source, which Epic characterizes as, "a collaboration between Epic, UT fans and UE4 developers." As that line infers, the game's being created using Unreal Engine 4. Best of all? When the game's ready to play, it will be free. As Epic puts it: "Not free to play, just free."
Unreal Engine 4 hits Xbox One, PS4 in update 4.1
With today's update 4.1, Unreal Engine 4 is available to developers at no additional charge on PS4 and Xbox One. Epic is running Unreal Engine 4 as a subscription-based service, for $19 a month and 5 percent of gross revenue from any commercial product made with the engine. Unreal Engine 4 already runs on PS4 and Xbox One, but today's update makes it easier for new developers to secure a license on these consoles. Microsoft notes that now its independent developers in the ID@Xbox program can access Unreal Engine 4. Developers must still register with Sony and Microsoft; see the rundown of registration steps here. With update 4.1, Unreal Engine 4 now supports previous- and current-gen consoles, PC, Mac, SteamOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Oculus Rift and Project Morpheus. [Image: Epic Games]
Xbox One and PlayStation 4 support added to Unreal Engine 4 in latest update
Moving a game from one platform to another -- from iOS to PC, from Xbox One to PlayStation 4 -- isn't as easy as it seems. Just change a few button prompts and you're all set, right? Not so much. There's a lot to consider: how do you control the game (mouse/keyboard/gamepad/touch/etc.)? does it sync up with online leaderboards? does it have the proper logos/attribution? Epic Games' Unreal Engine 4 aims to circumvent as much of that as possible, and today it's enabling two more platforms: Xbox One and PlayStation 4. In terms of Xbox One peripheral support, that includes Kinect, and in terms of PlayStation 4 peripheral support, that includes the Project Morpheus virtual reality headset.
Firefox stops being polite, starts getting Unreal Engine 4 in tech demo
Mozilla offered up a new trailer this week that shows Unreal Engine 4 tech demos running in Firefox. The games shown are seemingly running without the use of plugins in the popular browser. The software company added Unreal Engine 3 support to the browser last June.
Oculus Rift support added to Unreal Engine 4
Unreal Engine 4 will support the Oculus Rift thanks to Epic's Integrated Partners Program, the developer announced today. The company also listed Intel, Nvidia, RealD and others as "inaugural" members of the new UE4 version of the program; member companies will contribute "tools and features that are trusted for high-quality game development" to the new engine. The Integrated Partners Program (or "IPP") aims to reduce development time by building commonly used middleware and hardware support directly into Unreal Engine's toolkit – Unreal Engine 3's IPP currently has 25 member companies, including Oculus VR. Only a small handful of games are known to run on Unreal Engine 4 at this time, though we fully expect that number to grow as the next generation unfolds itself like the dewy morning petals of a flower wearing a head-mounted virtual reality display, or something. We may have had trouble pulling that simile back together.
Unreal Engine 4 now supports Oculus Rift, introduces 'Integrated Partners Program'
Unreal Engine 4 now supports the Oculus Rift VR headset, Epic Games announced this morning. The move comes as part of an "Integrated Partners Program," which also adds support from a variety of other middleware companies (Autodesk, IDV, and NVIDIA to name just a few). Licensees have access to the entire list of middleware software, and can implement functionality in their UE4-powered projects starting today. Epic Games VP Mark Rein told us at GDC 2013 that Unreal Engine 4 support for Oculus Rift was in the works, but we didn't think it'd arrive this soon!
Unreal Engine 4 'Infiltrator' video
Here's the Unreal Engine 4 "Infiltrator" video, which was shown off as a demo this week at GDC, displaying the power of Epic's latest tech. The company jumped through different filters to show the demo was being rendered in real-time. Yes, it will run so many major titles for next-gen systems. Now, enjoy.
HP introduces Unreal Engine 4-ready 'turnkey solution' workstations, collaborating with ALT Systems
Hewlett-Packard may not be well-known by consumers for creating the machines that power the industries that power the world we live in, but the company's workstation business does just that. From film to oil drilling to medicine, HP's workstations have their hands in a lot of pies -- and today, that expands more directly to yet another major industry: video games. With its Z1, Z820 and Z620 workstations, HP is collaborating with Epic Games, Autodesk, and ALT Systems to create what they're calling a "turnkey solution" to game development workstation woes. The three aforementioned units can be customized to arrive with a variety of variables, including Unreal Engine 4, Autodesk, and NVIDIA GTX-line GPUs. In so many words, ALT Systems will take the disparate pieces of hardware and software from HP, NVIDIA, Autodesk and Epic Games to provide an all-in-one buying solution for game dev studios. As ALT Systems president Jon Guess laughingly explained, it provides clients "one neck to wring" should things go wrong, rather than dev studios having to suss out hardware issues on their own. The first fruits of the partnership arrive this year in game developer-centric versions of the aforementioned three workstation models. For a full rundown of the various workstation configurations that'll arrive this year, ALT Systems has a site set up just for you.
Epic launches Seattle studio to work on Unreal Engine 4
Epic has launched a new Seattle based studio to concentrate on Unreal Engine 4 development. The studio will be "initially focused on engineering efforts" for the engine, and Epic is now recruiting "exceptional programmers and support staff to collaborate with its engineering group." Specifically, the company is looking for "senior-level talent specializing in online game services and the infrastructure to support them." As of this writing, seven positions are listed on Epic's Careers Center site for the Seattle studio, all of which certainly appear geared toward engine development (animation systems, audio tools, online, rendering, etc). The actual name of the studio, not to mention the people who will take charge of it, will be revealed "soon," according to Epic.
Epic's Mark Rein on UE4, Epic Baltimore and Gears of War: Judgment
Given the engine's dynamic illumination features, it's only appropriate for Epic Vice President Mark Rein to start lighting up when he starts talking about Unreal Engine 4. We spoke to Rein on the last day of E3 about the engine's possibilities, and how its robust developer toolset addresses the dangerous costs of game development.Rein also comments on the multinational efforts behind Gears of War: Judgment (with special mention of People Can Fly's Creative Director, Adrian Chmielarz) and the recent addition of Epic Baltimore to the family.
Unreal Engine 4 to 'exclusively target the next console generation'
The video game industry has no shortage of brilliant, outspoken thinkers and Epic CEO (and Unreal Engine guru) Tim Sweeney is no exception. In a previous installment of his interview with TG Daily, Sweeney said the PC wasn't a good platform for gaming and in this final installment he reveals that Unreal Engine 4 "will exclusively target the next console generation, Microsoft's successor for the Xbox 360, Sony's successor for the PlayStation 3 – and if Nintendo ships a machine with similar hardware specs, then that also." Where does that leave the poor, struggling PC gaming platform? Sweeney says, "PCs will follow after that." Ooh, dissed. While he's not exactly dishing out granular details on the next major iteration of their ubiquitous engine – after all, he did just show us the latest upgrades for Unreal Engine 3 at GDC – Sweeney did share a big picture outlook on the direction of the engine: "scaling to lots and lots of cores." Using the number of cores in the Xbox 360 as a starting point, Sweeney busts out Moore's Law to determine "that around 2010 ... you can put tens of CPU cores on one processor chip and you will have a perfectly usable uniform computing environment." What if he used the PlayStation 3's seven synergistic processing elements as a starting point? The mind staggers ...
