Unreal Engine 5 enters early access, gets new tech demo

By Andrew Zucosky Published November 11, 2021

Epic Games announced today that Unreal Engine 5 is now in early access. The company went into detail about the tool on its blog and outlined the new features that will be available for early access.

Unreal Engine 5 is the latest game engine from Epic Games that a multitude of game developers and filmmakers use to create their art. Those who are interested in signing up for early access and testing out the new engine can access it through the Epic Launcher.

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Along with the Early Access announcement, Epic Games released a 15-minute tech demo called Valley of the Ancient, which highlights all of the new, key features of Unreal Engine 5. While Unreal Engine 5 is not production-ready, there are plenty of tools for game developers and enthusiasts to try out and experiment with.

This latest generation completely overhauls the UI and utilizes new features such as Nanite and Lumen. The new UI for the game engine streamlines a significant amount of access to features for developers.

The content browser can now be accessed through hotkeys and editor tabs can be opened and closed right on the side of the screen. Nanite is a “virtualized micropolygon geometry system” which allows an incredible amount of detail in geometric shapes in massive playable spaces. The Lumen feature gives developers the ability to create photorealistic lighting that adapts to geometry and light sources in the engine.

Those who want to get into the nitty-gritty details can read the release notes on the Unreal Engine Site.

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