380°

Epic Games Teasing the ‘Next-Generation’ of Graphics for GDC

It’s long been argued that while Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 3 is a versatile videogame platform, many developers are finding it difficult to further draw an improved graphical standard from the platform. Indeed, it appears at present that only Epic Games themselves are able to continually improve upon that which has already been achieved, with the forthcoming Gears of War 3 looking to be a significant step ahead of Gears of War 2, despite both being developed with Unreal Engine 3. However, that may be about to change, as some of the most well known personalities from Epic Games have begun touting the ‘next generation’ of graphics.

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electronictheatre.co.uk
sjaakiejj5233d ago (Edited 5233d ago )

If this is referring to the new generation of hardware, then: About fucking time.

Will be looking forward to this presentation though.

Edit:
“To reiterate - our GDC booth will show Epic's proposal of what the next generation will be.” Offered Bleszinski on his personal Twitter account, continuing: “Graphics aren't good enough yet, dammit.”

Great stuff :D

5233d ago Replies(15)
xTruthx5233d ago (Edited 5233d ago )

"I just don't understand why I can't go into the comments of ANY articles on n4g without seeing at least several idiots talking about how great they think ps3 is"

I just think your in denial lol

-Free Movies
-Free TV Shows
-Free Anime
-Free Mangas
-Free Live Streams
-Free Online
-Most exclusives(With dedicated servers)
-New IP's
-Games keep improving graphically
-Home; where you meet other gamers who are playing the games you like
-Helps Cancer research with PS Home

If that isn't what a real gamer wants, I don't know what is.

hassi945233d ago

Just proved his point.

Come on guys, you should realise that PS3 is God's gift to the world, Jesus was nothing in comparison.

vishant1015232d ago

if you check exclusives list the wii has the most if your talking bout highest rated exclusives that goes to the xbox i dont know where you people get your facts from

dragonelite5233d ago (Edited 5233d ago )

Probably something they think next gen console can do but using pc maybe we get to see Gears 3 brute forced on pc 1080p with some AA and some nice amount of AF.

Believe it or not Image quality was probably better begin this gen then now because of the last gen mentally and they had resources over for AA and AF now its all about the shader effects.

D3athc3ll5232d ago

Alot of console games got AA and AF! yes not 8x or 16x but 2x - 4x! And 720p is HD, so with 2x AA a game can still look amazing!

What u gonna tell me Avatar movie on dvd looks shit in terms of special Effects, just cause it aint 1080p???

Grow EYES

5233d ago Replies(1)
KRATOS-PS35233d ago

Well, if it's not the Unreal Engine 4 then it is just another updated UE3. That doesn't mean it can't look very good as well. If Cliffy wants to see the next-Gen of graphics he should pre-order Killzone 3.

Thrillhouse5233d ago

If Cliffy wants to see the next-Gen of graphics he should pre-order Crysis 2 on PC*

D3athc3ll5232d ago

Crysis 2 looks amazing yes, even the beta version! But you cant say Killzone 3 is not amazing looking! Cause it is!!! There's only a few pc games looking better than Killzone 3, and its called Crysis only!

FFS people need better eyes these days!

You pc fanboys cant take it that a 76 year old hardware machine outdo your latest pc machine, which cost u about $70 000

Funny how such old hardware r still capable of delivering pure eyecandy!!!!

dragonelite5233d ago

WTF killzone 3 is far from next gen.
720p no MSAA only post filter stuff.
But its still a good looking game for consoles.
Hell i hop crysis 2 very high on pc is like a nice view of what next gen can bring.

a_bro5232d ago (Edited 5232d ago )

"no MSAA only post filter stuff."

It doesnt need it. it has something else(MLAA), which is why its very sharp and clean to look at and what most devs should look at for the future. In my opinion, its great for consoles. not for PC though.

dragonelite5232d ago

What mlaa has a lot of shortcomings its a nice simple solution because deferred render engines wont make good use of MSAA. Because of the old hardware not supporting a more flexible programmable renderpipeline. With a bit off luck nvidea SPRAA can produce better result because it uses some of the sub pixel data if im not mistaken.

BlackKnight5232d ago

@dragonelite

MSAA is only an issue with deferred rendering in DX9 (PS3/Xbox360). DX10/11 have no issue and MLAA and Nvidia's possible SRAA are some what pointless, though I still think the more AA options the better.

D3athc3ll5232d ago

@draonelite!

Plz i dont want next gen to look like Crysis 2, oh plz! Its not that big a jump from current ps3 games! I mean the consoles can handle medium settings fine, so id hope next-gen delivers more!

But then again, the next ps or xbox will crush Crysis 2 like they did with Half-Life 2 and the rest!

Half-Life 2 still my best game of all time though!!!

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 5232d ago
hassi945233d ago

You know a game is next gen when it doesn't use current-gen graphical effects such as real anti-aliasing.

Not slagging off the game, it's an amazing looking game. But by no means is it 'next gen'.

Trevonn5233d ago (Edited 5233d ago )

please be unreal engine 4 cause im sick of games using that turd that should not be named (unreal engine 3)

TROLOLOLOL5233d ago

looks at Mass Effect2, bioshock and Gears... nope i see no turds here :)

AKS5233d ago

Mirror's Edge is another game that used the Unreal Engine, and it looked especially gorgeous on PC. The UE3 can look unique if the developer decides to use creativity and good art direction.

TROLOLOLOL5233d ago

for a second there i thought it was run on frostbite. ohwell. it did look so clean and beautifull

Trevonn5233d ago

graphics wise yes and if it does look good its a heavily modified version anyways compared to more recent engines ue3 is a turd

sjaakiejj5232d ago

Mass Effect 2 didn't look all that impressive to me (Good, but not as good as my PC can handle), Bioshock ran on a heavily modified version of the Unreal Engine, and Gears of War 1 & 2, like Killzone, offer a very limited colour palette.

Unreal Engine 4 should be able to show something that looks significantly better than Killzone 3, and even Crysis 2 and Rage

... But we'll find out next week.

AKS5232d ago

@sjaakiejj

Those are some pretty lofty expectations. I wouldn't count on them showing up Crytek or id.

sjaakiejj5232d ago

@AKS:

If this is a next-generation engine, you better expect it to look better than Crysis 2. If it didn't, it wouldn't be much of a next-generation engine.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 5232d ago
dragonelite5233d ago

Bad devs make bad looking game.
A engine is not what makes the artstyle of a game.

Bloodyghost5233d ago

PLEASE BE AN INDICATION WE ARE CLOSE TO A NEW GENERATION!

Announce a new console at E3 then you deserve my money.

Shaman5233d ago

Agreed.After playing Crysis 2 for a short period of time on not even highest settings but 1080p I would be very happy if new consoles were to be announced in say 2012 E3.

Bloodyghost5233d ago (Edited 5233d ago )

Exactly plus the software is there. I was imagining yesterday what it would look like and I got very hyped.

Also i do not know why people are disagreeing. I mean its a win-win.

If you love your PS3 then stay with it but others will certainly pay more for a PS4.

NiKK_4195232d ago

yea but i don't think they will be announced this year (maybe a wii 2) but like shaman said they will probably be announced next year e3 (at least one of them will be)

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90°

Epic Games Asks Judge to Force Apple to Unblock Fortnite on iOS

The saga of the legal battle that sees Epic Games fight Apple in the attempt to bring Fortnite back to iOS has just gained another chapter.

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simulationdaily.com
PapaBop30d ago

Damn, I'm going to need to restock my popcorn if this keeps up.

230°

Epic's Tim Sweeney shares first details about Unreal Engine 6

In an interview with Lex Fridman, Epic Games' Tim Sweeney shared the first details about the next version of Unreal Engine, Unreal Engine 6.

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dsogaming.com
Vits43d ago

It’s going to come packed with a bunch of flashy, buzzword-filled features that no one will actually be able to use without tanking performance. And just like every iteration of that engine before it, the excuse won’t be that it’s poorly optimized, no, it’s "forward-thinking" and the hardware just isn’t ready to keep up.

But since it saves studios from having to invest in developing their own internal engines, it’ll still end up being widely adopted across the industry.

VenomUK42d ago

But will it have micro-stutters?

Vits42d ago

But of course, even compatible with VRR, so you can really feel it.

rlow142d ago

What cracks me up, is a lot of games utilize Unreal 5 and yet gaming has become more expensive. So all that BS that they shoveled out the last big reveal hasn’t translated into savings and if it has, then the industry is just plain ol’ lying.

1nsomniac42d ago (Edited 42d ago )

You mean like “going digital will bring down costs for customer dramatically. Because there will be no packaging/distribution.” Or maybe the “games going forward, will be cross-buy so you buy it once and will be able to access it across all platforms you own.” Or even the “if we increase the rrp it will mean we can get rid of micro transactions altogether.”

… I could be here all day quoting the lies from this industry.

abstractel42d ago

Scope of games are way bigger than even just 10 years ago. Also keep in mind that Epic charges 5% for using their engine, Steam charges 30% just like Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft's stores. That's 35% of your revenue gone. Steam infuriates me because they don't have nearly the overhead console manufacturers have but they know people are unlikely to migrate to Epic Games Store (which charges 15% instead but has a shit storefront compared to steam). I love UE5 (for the most part) and it has pushed the envelope in ways that would be too long to list here. I think UE6 will push things further and make it possible for devs who don't have Rockstar resources to make amazing games even further. Time will tell.

barom42d ago

@1nsomniac Going digital did make things cheaper though. Games are dropping in prices at much faster rate than before and you’ll find plenty of sub $10 games on sale all the time, whereas before we had to wait for “greatest hits” label. Not to mention the indies basically have a levelled playing field now.

Pyrofire9542d ago

In the same way that you make all these assumptions and judgments on the future of UE, I see you making these assumptions and disregard any opinion you hold.
I see no value.
There is nothing constructive, just ire on what was and the willingness to believe nothing will get better.
You have given up on the possibility of joy and will not find it.

Profchaos42d ago

Will it have games or just more decade long projects

IanTH42d ago (Edited 42d ago )

I find this odd. How am I expected to be excited with future promises when mired by the current legacy of UE5 and its myriad of technical shortcomings that have yet to be solved, even years after release.

Of course they should be working towards the future, but talking about it while UE5 still has many unsolved issues years after it has been the de facto standard? An engine used by so many, after so many years, with the backing of a company as grossly cash-rich as Epic shouldn't have so many problems still.

And the optics - even if not the truth of the matter - is you're putting time & resources into UE6 at the expense of UE5; your current product still needs quite a lot of attention. Unless the message is "we're abandoning UE5 because it's issues are systemic, and we hope UE6 can address that mess by moving on as quickly as possible".

IanTH42d ago

I was attempting to reframe my comment as I watched more of the video, but the edit timed out. So here is a nearly completely different comment lol:

The number forks/fragmentations of UE5 feels like - from a laymen's perspective - a plausible explanation for why the engine, 3 years post release, has continued to have the same problems today as it did from day 1. Sounding as if they can't really find a way to cleanly coalesce each of the seven disparate variants, it seems hopes lie with being able to do so in the years leading up to the launch of UE6.

That said, if they have so many specific versions, then it does still kind of boggle the mind why issues, like compilation stutter, are still so pervasive. Seems in this specific scenario, the fragmentation could potentially be useful for at least helping to narrow down platform specific issues/solutions.

Clearly not the case, so hopefully they can make UE6 more unified to allow for more focused, streamline engine development.

PixelOmen42d ago

Compilation stutter hasn't really been much of an issue for a couple years now if the devs know what they're doing. The problem is not all the devs know what they're doing in that regard. The real problem is traversal stutter. That is nearly universal.

IanTH42d ago (Edited 42d ago )

I sort of ended up mentally putting both of those under the category of compilation stutter, which is surely too reductive. I should have just said "stuttering/fametime issues in all their incarnations". Because while there are improvements to comp stutter, even games that force you through long, even 30 minutes shader compilation stages before playing haven't managed to fully solve that issue. Heck, even consoles, with fixed hardware that can ship with pre-compiled shaders can't even seem to fully escape it.

Traversal stutter is definitely its own issue, though, and has only been exacerbated thanks to older cards being held onto longer, and companies - primarily Nvidia - opting to put 8GB VRAM buffers into cards for way the eff too long. If you don't have the top of the line CPU and high-end, overclocked RAM kits - most of the PC playing population - to help shuffle that info between system memory and the GPU, you're more screwed than most. And Nvidia could help the issue as well, if they could improve their years-long issue with high driver overhead. Freeing up any extra CPU usage, especially for those with weaker CPUs, would really benefit.

I really hope these things can have some kind of solution found for them sooner than later. As it is, it just feels like games are taking two steps forwards and two steps back a lot of the time. Improved pixel quality (world detail, lighting, etc), at the expense of degraded image clarity (softer image, heavy reliance on upscaling, increased artificing) and smoothness/performance (stuttering/poor frametimes).

And the fact this stuff occurs, when dev times are longer than they've ever been, with budgets creeping ever higher, it's that much worse to feel like a lot of experiences just aren't wins across the board. Especially as deep into this generation as we are, and with as much time as devs & engine makers have had to iron out issues. It feels like we may need to pump the brakes on the pace of research into graphics tech and rebalance towards optimization. Image clarity (native res, especially) continuing to fall further, with poor frametimes for a myriad of reasons, as the generation goes on doesn't feel the best.

PixelOmen42d ago

I'm not just talking about shader compilation stages. There are games like Expedition 33 that barely have any pre-compilation stages (in the background on the main menu) and have almost zero comp stutter. It has to do with the way you use shaders and make your materials. It still has some small traversal stutter though.

Noskypeno42d ago

It feels too soon to talk about UE6. It feels like UE5 barely got tapped, only a handfull of games really showed its potential.

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210°

Epic Games files lawsuit against Fortnite player for violating rules

Another day, another Fortnite lawsuit. This time, Epic Games sued a player who violated in-game rules,

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videogamer.com
KwietStorm_BLM169d ago

Hide ya kids cuz Epic suing everybody out here

Azurite169d ago

"This is a player who cheated in tournaments and tried to avoid the ban using multiple accounts."

INMATEofARKHAM168d ago

I don't follow all of Epic's lawsuits, nor do I play Fortnite, but there's been many times that I wish other companies took cheating in their MP content this serious.

So good for Epic. (And I say this as someone who detest Epic so much that he doesn't even bother to add their free games to an account.)

Inverno168d ago

I don't think avoiding being banned warrants a whole lawsuit. Seems like a misuses of the system, and something that only a company with too much f-u money could do. Not like they couldn't possibly implement an anti cheat that actually works as intended.

shadowfax33169d ago

now if only activision would do the same...

CrimsonWing69168d ago

If you told me back in the day game devs could sue you for cheating in a game, I’d have looked at you with a blank stare as I plugged my NES cartridge into a game genie.

INMATEofARKHAM168d ago

Big difference between enjoying the a game in single player/off line play and ruining the experiences of others in a MP/Online game.

CrimsonWing69168d ago (Edited 168d ago )

Ok, so ban them? Repeatedly if necessary. Like, suing for cheating in a video game is kind of absurd to me. What’s next? Suing someone who modded a game? They’re video games… so weird.

LG_Fox_Brazil168d ago

Read the article Crimson, it's not that hard

CrimsonWing69168d ago

@LG_Fox_Balrazil

How does the article change what I’m saying?

Inverno168d ago

People seem to think it's a good thing that they can abuse the justice system for something as petty as cheating in an online game. It's that way of thinking that we're where we're at. Then we wonder why these companies can over step their "authority", and it's cause of backwards logic from your average Joe. It'll get to the point where people will get sued for buying games on steam rather than on Epic and people will defend that too.

CrimsonWing69168d ago (Edited 168d ago )

That’s kind of my point. This is a video game, if people are cheating, you ban them… not f*cking sue them. I just feel it on the level of most absurd things to get sued over. Can Hasbro sue you for cheating in Monopoly? Like if you’re playing the board game of Monopoly with multiple people and you cheat, could the other players sue you?

Inverno168d ago

People don't think that allowing something like this happening for such a stupid reason just opens the flood gates. Rules aren't law, nor do they hold as much weight.

Software_Lover168d ago

I don't understand what they could be suing for. Just ban him/her. Unless they are suing for the payroll used for already banning them multiple times.