Unreal Engine 4 - Unreal Capabilities

Unreal Engine is one of the most popular engines used in video game development these days.

So what is it?
Well lets see what Epic, the creators of Unreal Engine have to say on the matter.

"Unreal Engine 4 is a complete suite of game development tools made by game developers, for game developers. From 2D mobile games to console blockbusters and VR, Unreal Engine 4 gives you everything you need to start, ship, grow and stand out from the crowd."  

I intend to delve quite a bit deeper into Unreal Engine, its history and its uses in game development over the years. I thought it would be good to start with a general over view first. Many AAA games have been made using Unreal Engine, particularly 3. Batman Arkham series, Gears of War, Mass Effect just to name a few.
The momentum seems to be continuing with UE4 and the current gen systems, however many developers are currently opting to  use heavily modified versions of UE3 over switching wholesale to UE4. MKX, Batman Arkham Knight, are two games that do this.
I do believe that as the years go on, UE4 itself will see a lot of use.

Epic have adapted a very progressive pricing model.
It is free to use and make things with.
If you sell your product there is a "5% royalty on gross product revenue after the first $3,000 per game per calendar quarter from commercial products".

Here is a quick video tech demo on some of the features of Unreal Engine 4.

 

 Games using Unreal Engine 4 include Epic's own Fortnite and the little known upcoming fighter from Capcom; Street Fighter V

Unreal Engine 1 was first implemented in Epic's own game Unreal, released in 1998. Its prime targets were integrated rendering, collision detection, Artificial intelligence, visibility, networking, scripting and file system management into one complete engine. All things which are still of great importance today.
Interestingly enough, the company had intended to create a steady base that could be iterated on for years right from the get go.

See this quote from Tim Sweeney from 1998:

"The big goal with the Unreal technology all along was to build up a base of code that could be extended and improved through many generations of games".

I don't know which is more impressive, having such an ambitious vision, or achieving the fact that it has come to fruition. Throughout the years, Unreal has gone from strength to strength.
Particularly with Unreal Engine 3, with many games now using the engine.

Above is a great visual representation on the jumps that Epic have made over the years from 1998 to 2007. This technology is still improving!

I'll leave it there for now. If you wish to know more about Unreal Engine or Epic, please go to their website for more: What is Unreal Engine 4

For the full interview with Tim Sweeney: Maximum PC interview with Tim Sweeney (1998)