Game development tools have grown more sophisticated and powerful over time and yet people have never had more access to them. Now developers will have access to a whole new range of tools that will revolutionize their work. At the center of this thought is MetaHuman, a character creation software that is changing triple-A games right now.
What is MetaHuman?
For the gravity of this addition to sink in let’s take a look at MetaHuman and why it is important. MetaHuman is a type of character creation and rigging system that has been used by Unreal creators for a long time. The system is advanced and allows for realistic character creation, in addition to that you can even develop and create a mesh for clothing. The newest version of the software also allows for highly effective motion capture.
MetaHuman is in and of itself a powerful tool that many developers want to get their hands on, but now it is integrated right into Unreal Engine. Most of the time developers want to use engines like this but it’s complicated because they have to export it through multiple pieces of software. Now MetaHuman can be worked on and played with right in the Unreal Engine.
This will save developers incredible amounts of time, not only by not having to switch between multiple different engines but also because you can test the effects of the environment right on the character. Weather, lighting, and physics can all be immediately applied to the models in the game world.
What other features are being included in Unreal?
In addition to this incredible tool in MetaHuman, Unreal Engine 5.6 has other powerful tools that are going to make a difference in games. Some of these are background features that will help games run smoothly but others aren’t. Some of these other options will allow for the expansion of larger games.
The first and primary of these is the fact that Unreal 5.6 is now being included with the ability to build huge open worlds. Open worlds are nothing new in games but they often come with caveats like sometimes slowing the game or needing multiple load screens. Now Unreal is saying that you be able to make worlds for current-generation hardware and that it will be able to run at 60 fps.
That is an interesting claim and one that could be game-changing if it comes through. Most open worlds that play well are like Tears of the Kingdom, which use fewer graphics and are focused more on whimsy and fun sections. If this pans out creator may be able to finally make living open worlds at high resolutions.
Who is using these right now?
This is fairly new stuff to the general public in this packaged form but some developers have been using these features in new games. The biggest of these is The Witcher 4, which was showcased at Unreal Fest where these features were shown off.
It’s important to remember that many of these features have existed in one form or another with Unreal. This is just the first version of Unreal to have them integrated into the existing software. So many of these have been used in the development of The Witcher 4 and we will see many of them in action when the game releases. So, this might very be another turning point for game development that will bring this level of power to even small studios.
