Unreal Engine 5.6 Preview Released – Epic Games Promises ‘Expansive Open Worlds Running at Stable 60Hz’

Unreal Engine 5.6 Preview: Enhancing Game Development Capabilities

Epic Games has launched the highly anticipated preview of Unreal Engine 5.6, now available for developers to download through several platforms including the Epic Games Launcher, GitHub, and Linux.

Key Features and Performance Enhancements

This latest version promises to empower developers in creating extensive, high-fidelity open worlds with a targeted baseline of a “consistent 60Hz”frame rate. Unreal Engine 5.6 introduces device profiles optimized specifically for Fortnite, enabling the achievement of this frame rate across all supported platforms. Additionally, the engine’s streaming capabilities have been fine-tuned to enhance the performance when loading and unloading content during gameplay. This improvement aims to reduce the stuttering issues that are frequently witnessed in games utilizing Unreal Engine technology.

Lumen Hardware Ray Tracing Improvements

One of the standout features in this preview is the optimization of Lumen-based hardware ray tracing. According to Epic Games, the Lumen Hardware Ray Tracing (HWRT) mode now offers enhanced performance on contemporary hardware. These low-level optimizations facilitate faster and more efficient rendering, achieving a level of visual fidelity and scalability that aligns with the demands of software ray tracing. This not only enables high-quality graphics but also conserves valuable CPU resources on the target system, aiding in the maintenance of a steady 60Hz frame rate.

Applications in Popular Games

This technology could significantly benefit games like The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, which are resource-intensive, particularly in terms of CPU use when running Lumen HWRT. However, for such titles to leverage these advancements, they would need to be updated and tested in Unreal Engine 5.6, a challenge for games that are no longer supported post-launch.

Additional Features in the Preview

The Unreal Engine 5.6 preview is brimming with exciting new features, such as:

Parallelization of the Renderer Hardware Interface (RHI) API.
Optimizations for virtual shadow maps.
Introduction of GPU Profiler 2.0.
Enhanced performance for PCG GPU Compute.
Integration of the MetaHuman Creator within the engine.
Significant expansions to the animation authoring toolset.

Upcoming Events and Stability Considerations

Excitingly, Unreal Fest Orlando is set for June 3, where Epic Games will further elaborate on these innovations during the State of Unreal keynote. While developers can begin experimenting with Unreal Engine 5.6, it is crucial to note that the version is currently unstable. It is advisable for developers to copy their projects from earlier versions rather than converting them to avoid disrupting their workflows.

Future Roadmap

Despite these advancements, it’s important to acknowledge a persistent challenge within Unreal Engine, highlighted by founder Tim Sweeney: its dependence on single-threading architecture. This limitation is expected to be addressed in the forthcoming Unreal Engine 6; however, a preview of this next-generation engine is still estimated to be two to three years away.

Learn more about the features in this preview.

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