Although much of the gaming world’s attention has been on the next generation hardware and what it can do, behind the hardware are the tools that create software to take advantage of that new tech. These game engines are what make it possible for companies that may not have a massive budget to spend on programming – or a resident genius on staff – to develop high quality games that can compete. These engines are what drive game development, and one of the biggest is Epic Games’ Unreal Engine.
The current engine, Unreal Engine 4, began development in 2003, primarily thanks to Epic founder Tim Sweeney who worked on the engine alone until 2008 – it finally debuted in 2012. Unreal Engine 4 offers tools that are made for experienced developers to design games for PC and next-gen hardware, but with a little work anyone can use it – as long as you are willing to pay the license fee.
In the video below, Epic discussed some of those tools, specifically how they work when it comes to character aesthetics. Using the Unreal Engine 4 tools, it is easier than ever before to create a high level of detail in games that will help to create some astounding graphics. It also provides a brief glimpse behind-the-scenes of game development. Check it out.
