With the dust finally settling from this years Game Developers Conference (GDC)and forum threads settling down from the numerous announcements from Epicgames, they’ve decided to stir the pot again with announcing that their just released Unreal Engine 4 (UE4) has just received its first official update. An update, that is now setting the internet ablaze again with a fiery vengeance.
I myself have considered jumping ship from Unity 4.3 to UE4. Epic has in my opinion taken the time out to think about what is needed in a game engine. Not only for professionals but independent developers and hobbyist who want to get into making video games but lack the technical knowledge to do so. If you haven’t seen it already, included in the post below is the “Elemental Demo” that was shown over a year ago using this very game engine. So if you didn’t believe the hype then, then go ahead and spend $20, download the demo from the Unreal Engine marketplace and watch it running in real time on your desktop. But be warned, it will cripple your PC because of how epic it is.
Press Release:
“With the release of Unreal Engine 4.1, all subscribers who are registered Xbox or PlayStation developers, including members of the ID@Xbox independent developer program, can receive access to the engine’s complete source code for their respective console platforms, at no extra cost.”
For the past two years, some of the world’s leading console developers have been using UE4 to build their next-generation games, so the widespread console availability of this engine is highly notable for the indie developer community.
The 4.1 update also includes SteamOS and Linux support, refined iOS and Android workflow, new game templates both for C++ programmers and designers using Blueprint visual scripting, and more than 100 improvements based on community feedback. In addition, Epic’s Elemental demo is now available for free for subscribers to download from the engine’s Marketplace so that developers can learn from its construction and use its assets in their own projects.
As a demonstration of UE4’s high-end console support, the engine includes “Shooter Game,” a sample project created by Epic and released for free on Marketplace. The sample is now undergoing certification on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
Driven by feedback from the community and informed by Epic’s experience building games such as “Fortnite,” Unreal Engine 4 is evolving at an incredible pace. Its first month has seen thousands of development forks created on GitHub to improve and extend the engine in an open, collaborative manner. Starting now, developers on GitHub can see Epic’s internal development process in real-time, with live-streaming source code updates.
To view the full release notes click here:
