Introduction
I have been eagerly awaiting the release of Unreal Engine 5 ever since it was first announced back in 2020. With its revolutionary new technologies like Nanite and Lumen, UE5 promises to take real-time 3D graphics to the next level. Now that Early Access for UE5 is finally here, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it and see what it can do. In this in-depth review, I’ll be going over my experiences with UE5 Early Access and giving my thoughts on where Epic is taking things with the next generation of their industry-leading game engine.
Getting Started with UE5 Early Access
Getting started with UE5 Early Access was simple enough. I just had to download the Epic Games Launcher, install the UE5 Early Access preview, and I was good to go. The install size came in at just under 6GB which isn’t too bad considering the massive graphical upgrade UE5 brings.
Once installed, I was greeted with a stripped back version of the usual Epic Games launcher. From here I could easily create new projects, open existing projects, or jump into sample projects to start testing UE5 out. Overall the process was smooth and I was up and running with UE5 Early Access in no time.
Key New Features – Nanite and Lumen
UE5 introduces two groundbreaking new core technologies – Nanite and Lumen. These represent a giant leap forward in real-time 3D graphics capabilities and promise to enable photorealistic virtual worlds.
Nanite
Nanite allows artists to create scenes with an extraordinary amount of geometric detail. It employs micropolygon technology to efficiently render billions of polygons in real-time.
In practice, this means 3D models with film-quality levels of detail can now be rendered interactively in UE5. No more normal maps or other texture tricks – true geometric detail is now practical.
I tested Nanite with some of the sample projects showcasing highly detailed sculptures and environments. The level of detail was astounding, far beyond what we’ve come to expect from real-time 3D. Zooming in revealed intricate geometric details, with zero visible polygon edges. Nanite intelligently streams in detail only where needed, while optimizing the scene globally.
Lumen
Lumen is UE5’s fully dynamic global illumination solution. It features real-time GI with diffuse interreflection, ray traced reflections, and ray traced shadows.
In practice, this means dynamic lighting in UE5 scenes reaches new levels of realism. Light behaves naturally as it bounces around the environment, with soft diffuse lighting and sharp reflections. Moving light sources interact properly with all materials.
I tested Lumen in a couple of demo scenes with dynamic light sources. The ray traced reflections and realistic indirect lighting transformed areas like a hard tile floor from flat and dull to rich and photorealistic. Lumen handles even the most complex lighting changes smoothly in real-time.
Combined with Nanite’s geometric detail, Lumen allows for lifelike scenes that would have been impossible to render interactively even a year ago. The jump in visual quality is dramatic.
Workflow Enhancements
Beyond the flagship graphics features, UE5 also introduces a number of enhancements designed to improve workflow efficiency for developers.
Improved Shaders and Materials
UE5 comes with a new Material Editor that has been redesigned for ease of use. The UI is cleaner and many new material nodes have been added to support features like Lumen and Nanite. There is now a unified Material Graph for shaders instead of separate graphs for surface, volumetric, and post-process materials. This makes it simpler to mix and match different material types.
I found quickly I was able to build complex layered materials leveraging features like subsurface scattering, world-aligned normal mapping, and high quality translucency. The material system performs well even for very heavy graphs. Working with shaders and materials in UE5 feels like a big step forward.
World Partition Simplifies Open Worlds
For developers working on large open world environments, UE5 now offers World Partition. This allows the world to be divided into a grid system at varying levels of detail.
Streaming and visibility culling are handled per partition for optimized performance. This should allow for sprawling open worlds with minimal loading.
While I didn’t extensively test a massive procedural world, experimenting with World Partition showed plenty of potential. It’s easy to set up and seems like it will be hugely beneficial for open world games.
Improved Animation Tools
Animation also sees workflow enhancements in UE5. The new Control Rig toolset introduces layered rigging, constraints, and software IK solving. This makes building and working with complex character rigs much more artist-friendly.
Synchronizing multiple animations has become easier with the new Animation State Machine. This brings State Machines into the sequencer animation tool.
While I’m not an animator by trade, it was simple enough for me to rough out a layered character rig with inverse kinematics and get a basic state machine up and running to blend animations. The new tools provide animators with more flexibility and control.
Closing Thoughts on UE5 Early Access
After spending some time with the UE5 Early Access preview, I’m confident in saying that Epic is delivering something truly groundbreaking with the next generation of Unreal Engine.
Nanite and Lumen represent a giant technological leap forward that will empower developers to create gaming worlds of unprecedented scale and realism. The new material system, animation toolset, and World Partition also appear to be solid workflow improvements.
There is still work to be done as UE5 has not yet reached beta stage. I encountered some crashes and performance issues which are to be expected at this alpha stage of development. But the key technologies and infrastructure seem solid.
By the time UE5 officially launches in 2022, I believe it will enable game experiences not possible on any other platform. The graphical leap over UE4 is massive. UE5 Early Access proves this is the start of a new era in real-time graphics. Any developer or studio using UE5 will be well positioned to create truly next-gen games.
