Epic shows of Unreal Engine 4's particle effects in new video

Studio Epic Games has released a new video that shows off some of the capabilities of the upcoming Unreal Engine 4. The video gives us a good glimpse at what a typical scene in any game we play contains, and how Unreal Engine 4 can do it. It is narrated by Epic engineers Tim Elek and Zak Parrish, as they detail improvements in Unreal 4 by simulating a realistic environment. Check it out:

The duo talk about some of the effects that were earlier shown off in the Infiltrator real-time demo, and how it was achieved, including muzzle flashes, impacts and tracer rounds, as well as atmospheric things like haze and water. All in all, a quick look at the video proves that Unreal Engine 4, when it finally comes out, will be a sight to behold.

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In August, Epic had shown off Unreal Engine 4's layered materials feature. A material is essentially the texture of any object in the game. The video also gave us a look at the still work-in-progress material editor in the Unreal Engine 4 devkit. The system of layered materials lets developers set up several layers of these materials on geometry. This allows a higher fidelity without as much stress on hardware. It essentially works by letting developers specify what materials go where on the polygon level.

Unreal Engine 4 doesn’t have a release date yet, but there are a few games being made with it.