The Unreal 4 tech demos have finally been released.
Why should you care?
Well, this is the engine that many 'next-generation' games will be based on, so if your computer
can run it, it should be fairly future-proof.
The links to the download page are in the description of this video.
Once you've downloaded it, I recommend installing vcredist2013 x64 to avoid any problems, or
the x86 version just before trying the 32 bit demos.
Firstly there's the Elemental demo which is the biggest and most impressive.
I suspect that this is representative of the frame-rate and graphical quality that you
can expect from games.
Open the console by pressing the tilde key then type 'stat fps' to show how well your
computer is performing- if it's nice and smooth then congratulations, your PC is at least
ready for the minimum requirements of next-gen games!
After the demo ended I found that I was able to explore the environment by typing 'walk'
into the console followed by 'fly', but it was still very awkward and a bit of a let-down.
A bit like somebody revealing a magic trick.
I mean, in the bits of the world it showcases it looks beautiful, but step one foot off
the beaten track and the cracks begin to appear.
I can't say that I wasn't expecting that, what with developers trying ever more aggressively
to optimise games, but this demo is a simple movie set, designed to look as good as possible
but only from certain angles.
It will be nice once a proper, large-scale environment is released for us to explore.
I can't say that any of the textures or models jumped out as being impressively highly detailed,
though the shaders on the ice are pretty and it's definitely got a very artistic, 'unreal'
feel to it.
The bloom is almost blinding- out in the snow I began to feel very uncomfortable and quite
frustrated by the amount of shine on the screen.
I had an equally disappointing first impression with Unreal Tournament 3 since all of these
effects also act as cheap ways of disguising shoddy background detail.
Interestingly, the screen capture for this demo was called 'Elemental: War of Magic',
which also happens to be the name of a game released in 2010.
But let's move onto other demos which are better equipped to handle free-walk mode!
EffectsCave is the second tech demo.
This one's interesting since it lets you view the engine at different quality levels, ranging
from a blocky version of Playstation 3 graphics to... uh, Unreal 4 quality?
The whole thing reminded me a bit of Counter Strike Source's tech demo, only obviously
a bit more advanced.
There are some pretty water ripples, a fair few fog and fire effects and some marvellous
sound effects as you walk about the place.
As usual I managed to get stuck in a few pits, but typing restartlevel in the console teleported
me back to the starting area.
I really like this demo- it shows a lot of different things and once again I was able
to glitch out of the level and see how it was done.
I'm going to keep talking for a couple more seconds just because there's so much cool
stuff to be seen in this demo.
It makes me wonder if these assets were made solely for these demos, or if they're being
added to the new Unreal Tournament that should be coming out soon.
RealisticRendering shows how close to ray-traced quality lighting and reflections the Unreal
4 engine can get.
You can't exactly do much in this demo but it shows what it needs to.
It really displays the different material properties and textures, probably to show
that the Unreal Engine doesn't just do garishly over-the-top graphic styles.
I particularly like the leather seat and wish I could crouch down and smoosh my nose into
the upholstery to get a better look.
If you know what I mean.
Once again I managed to fly out of the level and reveal the magic trick- it was eerily
realistic, peering into the place from outside.
I've always loved the dreamy music in tech demos, reminds me of new and exciting technologies.
Reflections is the demo set in the subway, and trust me, it doesn't take a Titan to run
it- unless you get too close to this reflective thing, which brought my Geforce 670 to its
knees.
It's a neat little demo for looking at the reflections and particles, which seem to be
the two main features the Unreal 4 engine is really pushing.
The real-time reflections are done in the same way as Crysis 3 and have the same limitations.
There's a default, low quality cubemap reflection which is replaced with high quality reflections
of anything shown on-screen.
This means that things fade out of the reflection as you look up and down.
I mean, if you really stop and stare at it then the limitations and imperfections become
apparent... but it's a neat little compromise that won't be too noticeable in-game.
This demo reminds me of Deus Ex: Human Revolution, what with its orange and yellow colour pallet
and depressing setting.
As well as that there are particles and flashing lights, though the lighting in Unreal 4 is
still a mystery to me.
It looks good though I suspect it of remaining fairly static for the most-part.
Dynamic lighting's not a feature that these demos really showcase.
However, Temple Mobile is by far the best demo to showcase beautiful, static lighting.
The warmth from the sun can almost be felt and brightly lit walls contrasting with the
dim, fire-lit corridors show the HDR well.
The tiled floor and contrasted lighting make it easy to see the reflections that I was
talking about earlier.
A bit like ray-tracing, the moment you're stood still for a moment the quality of the
reflections increases.
It's a subtle touch and I kind of like it.
While you're moving, the reflections tend to lag behind the action by a split second
which is particularly noticeable when I go around this corner here and it's like 'OH
NO what do I show for the reflection here?!'
and gets it totally wrong.
If this demo can be played on mobile devices then the future is indeed very bright.
Even on my HD monitor, everything looked crisp and clear.
The background cliffs are more on par with the old Source levels, but it doesn't really
matter too much on the grand scale of things.
And finally, there's the Shooter Game demo.
Is this for a new Gears of War game, or are they perhaps GEARING up to launch a new Unreal
Tournament?
Who knows.
There are two levels to choose from.
One's a futuristic tower in a place that looks like it's been ripped straight from Upper
Hengsha in Deus Ex Human Revolution, only this time it's been rendered in 3D.
And hasn't been peed on.
Aside from reflections, refractions and parallax mapping, there's not too much else to see
here.
The other level looks like something from inception.
It has some sinister sound effects but altogether is even more boring than the other level.
It doesn't show off the new engine as much as a complex, messy level would, but it's
great for multiplayer shooters where you don't want distracting stuff in the way.
In fact, it's almost like the original Unreal Tournament, but pretty...
Where are they going with this I wonder.
Hmmmmmm!