How does Unreal Engine work?

What is Unreal Engine and how does it work?

What is Unreal Engine and why has it become one of the main options of game developers today? It is possible that most of those who have just started in the field of 3D design have heard the name of Unreal Engine software, and the first question that comes to their mind is what is Unreal Engine? Unreal Engine or the Unreal , which can almost be said to be one of the first gaming engines, was able to combine rendering, collision detection, artificial intelligence, visibility, network, scripting and file system management in one complete engine. Unreal Development Kit, which is known among game makers as UDK, has now been developed and is now known as Unreal engine.

Unreal Engine is one of the most powerful game engines in the world, developed by Epic Games. Today, this software is used to make all kinds of 3D games in various genres. Also, filmmakers and architects use many features and tools of Unreal Engine to create their works. Unreal’s programming language is C++ and it has the ability to create games for computer, console, mobile and virtual reality. However, this game engine is mostly used to make huge games of famous studios or so-called AAA.

This term is used for games made by large or medium-sized game studios. These studios usually use more budget to develop and develop AAA games compared to other games. Unreal allows professional programmers to run their scripts in this software using C++ language. Among other features of Unreal, we can mention its extensive resources and tools, especially for making game animations. In the following, we will examine the unique features of this software in detail.

How does Unreal Engine work?

Unreal engine consists of various parts such as sound engine, physics, graphics, inputs, gameplay, special effects, etc. These tools and engines have turned Unreal into one of the most powerful game engines. You can add all kinds of sound effects and music files to your game by using Unreal Engine sound engine to create a real atmosphere in the game. Unreal engine’s physics engine allows you to define and design physical laws such as gravity for your game world. You should know that the power of a graphics engine plays a key role in the realism of your game. Unreal’s powerful graphics engine creates these realistic images for you by performing all kinds of specialized operations on objects and game components, their shade and brightness, color and texture. Finally, the editor and various tools of this software allow you to create the desired gameplay of the game.

What are the unique features of Unreal Engine?

Since 1998, when Epic Games produced and released Unreal Engine, it has been constantly updating and releasing new and improved versions. The features and benefits of Unreal make it one of the first choices of game developers. This game engine is specially designed for huge computer and console games and offers all kinds of tools to the developers of these types of games. Among these tools and advantages, we can point to the powerful editor, Open Source codes, resource store and game assets, etc., which we will explain each of them below.

Unreal Engine is flexible

The flexibility of this software is one of the main reasons for its popularity among game developers. This feature means that regardless of the type of project, Unreal has the ability to build it. You can create all kinds of games such as action-adventure, open world, action, story-based, etc. in the Unreal Engine game engine, with enough tools and knowledge. Although Epic Games has optimized Enrile for a variety of games, the main focus is on 3D games. Enril has the ability to make mobile and 2D games, but it has nothing to say compared to its competitors in this field.

Unreal is very suitable for making shooter games

As we said, Unreal Engine is suitable for making all kinds of games, but its tools and source codes are built with the purpose of making professional shooter games. Epic Games’ famous games such as Fortnite are mostly in the shooter and battle royale genres, all of which are usually made with Unreal. This focus on shooter games is one of the favorite features of big game studios. Unreal Engine has made it easier than ever for studios to make big projects like shooter games.

Unreal Engine codes are open source

Users’ free access to all Enrail C++ source codes is another factor of its high flexibility. The codes of this software are available on GitHub (in English: GitHub) for public download. You can make changes in Anrail according to your needs without paying any fees. Making changes in the codes of the game engine, especially in the final stages of game development, can be very efficient. At this stage, game developers can apply final edits and changes and fix the problems they face in the engine.

Unreal Engine is free

Creating, developing and publishing games in Unreal Engine is completely free. This issue of game development for independent game developers and games

Iranian manufacturers have made it easier. But you should note that if your game earns more than 3000 dollars in a season, you have to pay 5% of it to Epic Games. Epic Games offers the most widely used tool for game developers in Enrile Engine for free. A tool that would be very expensive for developers to build from scratch. With Unreal, they can spend this money on the creative aspects of the game development process.

Implementation and construction of prototypes in Unreal is done quickly

In addition to being flexible and free, this engine will quickly build your project prototype. This feature is especially useful when you are just starting to develop a game. Because you can quickly give your team an overview of the game in question. Compared to Unreal, other engines spend more time to design and implement the desired features in the game. With this feature, you can easily test your different ideas in the form of prototypes, choose the best ones and finally create your ideal game.

Unreal is suitable for large and complex games

It is not strange that the creators of the huge Fortnite game are also the creators of the Unreal game engine. Unreal Engine is precisely developed to create massive 3D games with heavy graphics, multiple characters, and high quality. Although this powerful engine has the ability to build smaller projects, it shows its greatest potential in building and developing huge projects. By using the various tools of this engine, you can design scenes with the most details, various characters and various stages for your game.

Unreal Engine has a powerful editor

Earlier, we described various tools and powerful editor of this game engine. Unreal

tools provide the possibility for its users to design creative gameplays for the game. The Dontnod game development studio claims that Unreal’s countless features provide a solution to most of your big problems and challenges in the game development and design process. Challenges ranging from scene design and its details, visual effects, visual scripting, network of animators, making resources and materials, physics of the game world and many more.

Unreal Engine has a rich store of assets and resources

Unreal has a rich Asset Store of all kinds of assets and materials for studios and new game designers who have just started building their project. Users can download the elements and components needed to make a game from this store. These assets are high quality and very extensive. Many people who have had the experience of using the Unity game engine say that the Unreal store is superior to Unity because of its great variety.

What are the disadvantages of Unreal Engine?

Even though Unreal Engine is one of the most used game engines, despite all the updates, it still has some flaws. One of its biggest disadvantages is that it is unsuitable for making small and mobile games. Also, Unreal’s extensive and complex settings make it difficult for beginners to program.

Unreal Engine is not suitable for small games

The biggest advantage of Unreal engine is that it is good for making huge games, it is also one of its biggest disadvantages. This game engine does not have much power in making small games, especially in the editor part. The features required for making small games in Unreal are limited. So, if you have a small project or want to make a mobile game, it is recommended to go to the Unity game engine.

Unreal Engine is unable to process large amount of data

Even though Unreal is built for making massive games, it also has limitations. If your game is too big or has a very large world, you will probably have trouble running it. Of course, it should be kept in mind that most game engines are weak in managing and processing the data of big games, and this is not unique to Unreal engine.

To make a game in Unreal, you need programming

Publishing games on different platforms using the Unreal engine is more complicated than its competitor Unity. Unreal has many settings that you need to change according to your needs to publish on some platforms. Changing these settings is not easy and you need a reasonable level of C++ programming knowledge to do so. Although there are some ready-made features and tools in Unreal for beginners, you must know C++ language to take advantage of the many features of this game engine.

Conclusion

Game engines are the main factor in making quality games, each of which has many fans. Unreal engine is one of the most powerful game engines in the world. This software has always been one of the first choices of big studios for making huge and AAA games. In this article, we examined the distinguishing features of Unreal Engine as well as its disadvantages. We also had a brief overview of how this game engine works. If you plan to make a game, do you go to Unreal Engine? Share your thoughts with us at ViraaWeb Apadana.