Unreal Engine 4-based Daylight will have procedurally generated content

It’s no secret that Epic’s Unreal Engine is one of the most widely used game engines today. With the next generation of consoles on the horizon, it looks like it’s about time for an upgrade. According to Pocket Lint, Epic has revealed one of the first games that will run on Unreal Engine 4—named Daylight—and it’s obvious that this isn’t a current-generation game.

From a look at the screenshots, you can tell that you’ll need a decent computer to run it on its highest settings, and it doesn’t look like the current crop of consoles—the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360—will even be able to run it. If it does end up being current-gen game, the graphics will likely be stripped down from what you can see in the screenshots.

You get a compass to help you navigate through the asylum

The game will revolve around procedurally generated content and gives you snippets of the story each time you play it. While this may sound a bit like Dear Esther, it is worth noting that Dear Esther didn’t have procedurally generated levels. The main protagonist—as of yet simply revealed to be a woman—has to break out of an insane asylum. Obviously, as genre conventions go, the asylum is haunted.

It also seems to be following the path of Amnesia: The Dark Descent by not giving you any weapons. The only option you will have will be to run, and maybe even hide. You have a smartphone with a compass and a flashlight. There are also flares available as usable items to scare off baddies.

This may be the game that Zombie Studios was revealed to be working on back in December. The game is set to be released in the second quarter of 2013. This would be one of the very few games in development that are using Unreal Engine 4. Zombie Studios chief Jared Gerritzen said Unreal Engine 4 “will be a fundamental benefit to our studio as we move into the next generation of games and take our studio to the next level."

Obviously, the asylum is haunted

Back in August, the company had explained how the Engine worked through a PDF. Cliff Bleszinski, the then head of Epic Games, had confirmed that the engine would debut with the company's upcoming PC exclusive game Fortnite. Epic unveiled Unreal Engine 4 by showing a live gameplay video of its tech demo Elemental. The video had amazing lighting, which seems to be the focus of the newest iteration of the engine.

Epic Games has also confirmed that Fortnite will be released in 2013. According to the company, gameplay revolves around players exploring, foraging and collaborating to build a structure by day, using scavenged materials "to quickly build and renovate structures of varying materials and complexity." At night, players will work together "to defend their prized fortress from the forces of darkness."

Unreal Engine has been one of the most popular and versatile game engines to be released. It has powered many games, some of the more popular ones being the Gears of War series for the Xbox 360, the BioShock series, the Batman Arkham series, Borderlands 2, and DmC Devil May Cry.