Archive notice: This article was originally published on September 6, 2019. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
After the many Siggraph presentations, Epic Games has already released the next version of its game engine. However, major new features in Unreal Engine 4.23 are initially accessible only as a beta. The highlights include:
Chaos Physics (Beta)
The new physics and destruction system called “Chaos” was first presented by Epic at GDC 2019. We already looked at an overview of the features here. Chaos is now available as a beta version and is also intended to replace PhysX in the future. Existing features such as geometry collections, fracturing, clustering and fields are initially designed only for destruction simulations.
To use the new features, you must follow these instructions.
Virtual Texturing (Beta)
With Runtime Virtual Texturing (RVT) and Streaming Virtual Textures (STV), it should be possible to use high resolutions for textures. At the same time, lower and more constant memory requirements can be achieved for better performance.
Unlike mip-based texture streaming, SVT, for example, uses only the parts of the textures that need to be visible. You can find further information about both methods in the documentation.
Virtual Production Pipeline
From now on, there are also more possibilities for the virtual production pipeline: With the new VR Scouting Tool, it should be possible to test shots in VR more easily. “In-Camera VFX” (Beta) also helps combine actors and props with Unreal Engine sets. An LED wall can be used for digital environments or even digital greenscreens, for example, to save time in post-production:
More new features
In addition to the feature highlights, there are various other new features in the 4.23 release, including…
- Real-time ray tracing improvements with better performance, new geometry and material support, as well as multi-bounce reflection fallback
- Native HoloLens 2 support
- Niagara improvements for integration with the new Chaos Engine
- and more
Further information: To the release notes
