Epic has published a first preview of the Unreal Engine 5.1 for developers. We have picked out the new features that should be relevant for gamers.
new major version. Rather, it is a smaller intermediate step that is intended to further expand the already existing strengths of the game engine.
The Unreal Engine 5.1 is now available in a first preview for developers, as Epic has announced (in the official forum) . If you want to see for yourself, you can install the preview either via the tab Engine
in the Epic Games Launcher or via repository (at GitHub)
Beware, however, that these early preview versions can be unstable and buggy, so you should not use them for serious projects.
Focus on nanite and lumen
When looking at the most striking changes, it is noticeable that major innovations are scarce so far. There is talk of improved workflows in the area of world partition, aha. And Large World Coordinates
are now supported, nice, nice. Ui, the Cinematic Pipeline is said to have learned as well.
What, that leaves you cold? Don’t worry, game fans are by no means left empty-handed. Whether on PC or consoles, you can at least look forward to an important improvement that could conjure up many a feast for the eyes on our display in the future: (Nanite and Lumen will be significantly more performant.)
The two undisputed stars of the Unreal Engine 5 have one big problem so far: Apart from tech demos worth seeing, the features have not yet been used in well-known titles. And apart from the young age of the UE5, there is a good reason for this, namely its ravenous appetite for powerful hardware.
The Unreal Engine 5.1 could therefore finally ensure that even mid-range computers can enjoy the realistic lighting and the almost limitless richness of detail in this area that is so important for us gamers.
What does this mean in concrete terms? Epic states that as a developer you can now use Nanite, Lumen and the (Virtual Shadow Maps) (high quality shadow casts in real time) on the PC and consoles also in games with up to 60 FPS.
The when
however, remains unanswered. No wonder, after all, even the Unreal Engine 5 games can still be counted on one hand. At least it should be relatively easy for developers to update their existing projects to version 5.1 and benefit from the performance optimisations.
Are you already looking forward to the upcoming Unreal Engine 5 games or do Nanite, Lumen and Co. leave you cold? Which graphic thriller on the horizon are you most looking forward to at the moment? Let us know in the comments!
