As an avid gamer and a worker in the VFX industry, this video freakin’ blew my mind.
Movie level assets!
No optimisation!
Straight from ZBrush!
Realistic dynamic lighting!
All right so I’m not gonna box your ears(eyes?) off with my geek enthusiasm and at the same time I’m really not the most technical person to fully understand let alone explain all this cutting edge technology. There are people way more qualified to explain all of this in a dry and comprehensive manner.
I do however, have some experience when it comes to dealing with CG assets, triangle counts, lighting and rendering, from my time working in the VFX/CG industry.
And from what I can gather from this video is that if they are telling the truth, next gen gaming is going to look incredibly stunning.
Ok, so it doesn’t take an expert to come to that conclusion but I can say that I probably have a greater appreciation for what was displayed in this video along with the explanation that accompanied it.
Most Malaysian companies aren’t exactly working on Hollywood level movies on a daily basis. It’s not like they’re knocking on our door with a butt load of projects all lined up for us.
And if they did start knocking, we probably wouldn’t be able to deliver the goods due to machine limitations. Most companies here are getting by with mid level machines at best and that’s probably what limits us in terms of project offers.
So to attempt to recreate what we see in that Unreal Engine 5 demo as far as the lighting, look and level of detail goes is laughable.
So this is where it gets a little bit muddy for me.
I don’t quite understand game engines.
When I say I don’t understand them I mean I’ve never used Unreal Engine or any other game engine for that matter.
I get that there’s an optimisation there that allows them to handle multiple assets and lighting in real time.
And that’s pretty damn cool.
The imagery and the quality of the real time rendering in today’s games are amazing.
A great example would be Square Enix’s Final Fantasy VII Remake.
The cutscenes in this game were all in real time(with the exception of a few special cutscenes that they chose to pre-render). You can tell because the weapons displayed during the cutscenes mirror the weapons that you are currently using for your in game battles. And if that isn’t enough, try changing your weapon’s materia. It will actually display in the cutscene as well.
But Final Fantasy VII Remake does not look like a Hollywood movie.
Don’t get me wrong.
It is an amazing looking game! The in-game graphics look way better than the movie they released back in 2006!
But the overall quality as far as assets and lighting goes just isn’t there yet.
At least til now.
Sure, it will probably take a couple of years for them to optimize Unreal Engine 5 and for us to see a next-gen game from said engine but I'm fine with that.
I'm honestly still in awe at what they've manage to produce for the current gen consoles with games such as God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn, Final Fantasy VII Remake and so on.
In fact, we still have The Last of Us 2, The Ghost of Tsushima, and Cyberpunk 2077 to close out this current gen and those games look nothing short of amazing.
And it doesn't end there.
What if we could use Unreal Engine not just for games but for film and TV.
Well apparently it's already been done with Disney Plus' " The Mandalorian".
It not only removes the hassle of scouting for an exotic otherworldly location and the need to be on site, but Filmmakers will be able to change backdrops on the fly in REAL-freakin-time!
Actors will actually be accurately lit by the digital set from the dome and will blend in with the backdrop.
So far as I know they've only done this for The Mandalorian. But imagine when all or most of Hollywood start utilizing this technology and method for their filmmaking.
It's only a matter of time before we start seeing this in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
And we haven't even gotten into VR and AR yet.