>>Amanda: Hi everyone!
If you haven’t heard we’re preparing to share What’s Next
at the annual State of Unreal,
and we’re thrilled to again host a three-day celebration
of our amazing developer community
at GDC 2020 inside Moscone South,
complete with a wide range of UE games
from studios of all shapes, sizes, and locations.
Attendees will savor the last chance
to go hands-on with a demo of SQUARE ENIX’s
Final Fantasy VII Remake before it ships worldwide,
in addition to a number of first-time-ever playable demos.
See more of the amazing teams that will be joining the likes of
The Artful Escape, Backbone, and Dead Static Drive
on display in the Unreal Engine Games. Jobs. Beer. booth.
While we’re excited to reveal more on how we’ll be
integrating Twinmotion and Unreal Engine
workflows together in the future,
we wanted to begin bridging that gap
by offering you a free archviz-themed
material collection based on Twinmotion materials.
Available now, these powerful master materials
support the latest ray-tracing advancements
and have used best practices
to define how the nearly 500 PBR materials were used.
Download them now on the Unreal Engine Marketplace!
Epic Games, in collaboration with Jon Favreau and ILM,
forged a new production path
for The Mandalorian Season 1
by evolving real-time technology
to meet complex demands for filming scenes and actors.
Get a glimpse at how the team overcame these challenges
and ultimately supported the community
with production-proven features,
including multi-user collaboration,
nDisplay, improved live compositing, and more.
available now in 4.24,
with more coming soon in 4.25.
When you think about the creative process behind manga artwork,
real-time game engine technology
may not be the first thing that springs to mind.
However, a flash of inspiration one day led
acclaimed manga artist Inio Asano to ask, “What if…?”
After some experimentation,
his efforts gave rise to an innovative technique
that harnesses the power of real-time technology
to develop backgrounds for his artwork.
Find out how he’s pushing the boundaries of manga illustration
and opening up new creative avenues on our blog.
A fantastic selection of Unreal Engine-powered games
were honored at the 23rd annual D.I.C.E. Awards in Las Vegas.
15 Unreal titles shined at the show
garnering nominations across 15 categories,
with awards going to Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order
for Adventure Game of the Year,
The Outer Worlds for Role-Playing Game of the Year,
and Mortal Kombat 11 for Fighting Game of the Year.
Head to our unrealengine.com to see the full list of UE games
and listen to Epic Games Founder and CEO
Tim Sweeney’s opening keynote,
"The Times They Are A-Changin'."
>>SpongeBob Narrator: Are ya ready, kids?
>>Amanda: Since its original release in 2003,
SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom
has gone on to become a cult classic.
The 3D platformer steadily accrued a passionate following
and even became known for its lightning-quick speedruns.
Nearly two decades later Purple Lamp Studios and THQ Nordic
have set out to remaster, or rehydrate,
the game with updated visuals,
tweaked game design, and new content.
Dive into our interview with THQ Nordic to see how they’ve done it!
There are no weekly karma earners to report this week,
as AnswerHub is offline.
We’re working with our partners to have
it restored as quickly as possible,
but in the meantime,
feel free to continue your development discussions
over in the forums.
On over to our spotlights for this week.
Inspired by both classic and modern platformers,
go on a side-scrolling quest as the lovable hero Orn,
a tiny forest sprite, to discover your purpose
and help ward off the impending darkness.
You can play now on Nintendo Switch or Steam!
These lovely pieces here are for a Mayan environment for FARIL,
a location-based VR game.
Great work by Evgeniy and the team.
Check out their ArtStation pages for more shots of the piece.
And last up is DREAMO,
a story-driven adventure puzzle game,
where the player explores strange landscapes
and solves interactive cube riddles
to unlock mysteries of the dreamlike world
Start your adventure today on Steam.
>>Woman's voice: Don't worry, Jack, my name is Tara Moreau.
I'll be your guide.
>>Amanda: Thanks for joining us for this week's
News and Community Spotlight.