Have you ever had a moment when you’re looking at the screen, questioning whether you’re watching a real video or a game?
As high-fidelity content gains popularity, virtual worlds now blur the line between what’s real and what’s not. Remember adrenaline-pumping action scenes in The Fast and Furious film series and the eye-catching special effects of The Matrix? People are craving such cinematic experiences in games like never before, wanting to feel like a part of a Hollywood movie.
The growing interest in such experiences pushes game developers to innovate relentlessly, aiming for the pinnacle of realism, especially when high-fidelity content is expected to become the new industry standard in 2025.
So, is there a way to meet gamers’ desires without breaking the bank?
There is! Unreal Engine is the ultimate solution here. The engine offers a myriad of tools that streamline game development and will stay relevant for years to come. In this article, we will delve into the topic of realism in games and share some valuable insights from our Unreal experts about meeting the upcoming standard in game development using this technology, Chaos Destruction and Niagara Fluids in particular.
Realism in Games 20 Years Ago vs Now
From humble beginnings to jaw-dropping photorealism and advanced physics, the visual landscape of gaming has undergone a remarkable transformation throughout the years. Do you remember the Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (2001) and Resident Evil 4 (2005) and the thrill their releases caused back then? At that time, we considered those pixelated visuals incredibly lifelike and couldn’t imagine how much further they might advance.
Resident Evil 4 (2005)
Now, when there are games like Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018) or the same Resident Evil 4 but remastered (2023) in sight, those ones from the early 2000s seem to lack that realism now, do they?
Resident Evil 4 Remake (2023)
Today, many of us struggle to envision the future of games striving for realism, much like twenty years ago. Will there come a point when games become completely indistinguishable from movies? Is this even possible?
Here’s the dilemma with realism: while having excelled in crafting unparalleled environments with excellent physics, game developers can’t quite reach perfection in character creation. This dilemma is exemplified by the phenomenon known as the Uncanny Valley (when something resembles a human but doesn’t quite achieve it, evoking eerie feelings in the observer). Despite the characters being meticulously detailed to the point where we can discern hyper-realistic skin pores and a wide range of facial expressions, they still lack vitality in the way they move and speak.
Horizon Forbidden West (2022)
Will the new tech advancements solve this issue? Will there be a point in time when we look down on today’s photorealistic games with skepticism? Time will tell.
What Helps Game Developers Reach a High Level of Realism Today?
When there’s a need for high-fidelity media content, Unreal Engine is the #1 technology game developers turn to, and for a good reason. The immense power of this game engine allows the production of top-quality, photorealistic visuals without compromising performance. Moreover, its vast set of tools covers the entire spectrum of game development, from sophisticated animation and physics systems to advanced lighting and audio tools.
By the way, Unreal Engine has already introduced a solution that might solve the issue with Uncanny Valley in the future, which is its new tool called MetaHuman. This tool enables the creation of high-fidelity digital humans that closely resemble real people. But that’s the topic for the next time.
In games, a great chunk of attention is directed toward special effects and the dynamic interactions between objects, particularly collisions and their consequences. A ricochet of a powerful spell, sword clashes with sparks, heavy explosions, and the smoke afterward – it all adds to the immersion. Properly thought out, these two aspects significantly increase the level of cinematics in the title, bringing it as close to reality as it can be. This is the subject we will delve deeper into in this article.
You’re probably familiar with Niagara Fluids and Chaos Destruction – the Bonnie and Clyde of digital artistry and game development. This dynamic duo adds spice to game action scenes, making them no less true-to-life than movies. Each of them grants artists and designers more control over content creation, allowing them limitless possibilities to express their creativity in your game.
What’s Chaos Destruction?
Chaos is Unreal Engine’s high-performance physics and destruction system, which comes in like a wrecking ball. Literally. It allows for smashing structures, shattering glass, and leaving a trail of chaos in the wake with super high accuracy, making it so realistic as if you’re witnessing the aftermath of a real-world catastrophe. With Chaos Destruction system, game developers can achieve cinematic-quality levels of destruction, bringing forward the tiniest details, like the bullet damage on walls, glass fractures, wood chips, etc. – all optimized for performance.
Discovery
What’s Niagara Fluids?
Unreal Engine also presents Niagara Fluids, a solution that provides intricate simulations of complex substances, like raging fire and billowing smoke, which will interact dynamically with physical objects near the simulation source. This plug-in also helps craft realistic fluids like water splashes from a puddle under the character’s feet. Fluid simulation methods yield realistic and natural outcomes compared to simpler particle-based setups.
Discovery
Mixing Chaos Destruction and Niagara Fluids for Cinematic Scenes in a Shooter Game
When combined, Chaos Destruction and Niagara Fluids help developers implement gameplay ideas that were once beyond reach. Their potential is being actively harnessed during the production of an upcoming sci-fi first-person shooter, Discovery, particularly in its VR version. Stepico, a game development company working on the game, uses these UE5 technologies to create its cutscenes and VFX and readily showcases preliminary demonstrations.
Discovery
For the development of the scene where the boss smashes through an enormous rock to attack the player, the developers used Chaos Destruction to create the rock and its scattering particles. The experts then applied Niagara Fluids to make sand and dust particles that rise into the air at the destruction site. The second example of using these two tools showcases the destructive consequences of a projectile crashing through the stone wall, including intense flames and dispersing smoke mixed with dust.
Discovery
“What happens in the movies: flying cars, collapsing buildings, cataclysms – it’s all pre-rendered,” says Anton Lomanov, Lead UE Engineer at Stepico Games. “Movies with abundant VFX like The Matrix and Avatar used advanced computer hardware, including rendering farms to create 10-second simulations for the pre-render. With Unreal Engine and its tools, we are able to achieve the same effect in real time.”
Globally, these Unreal Engine technologies introduce fresh gameplay possibilities and elevate visual quality in gaming. Until recently, achieving such results was technically unattainable due to software and hardware limitations. Now, the accessibility of these technologies paves the way for the creation of exciting new games, pushing boundaries and unlocking innovative possibilities.
Given the growing demands for high-fidelity content and games in particular, game development vendors like Stepico are using Unreal and its diverse technology to achieve a high level of quality at a relatively low resource cost for our fresh titles.
It’s the perfect time to implement UE technologies, especially Chaos Destruction with Niagara Fluids if you plan on developing a game. What’s more, a skilled Unreal engine game development partner will help you leverage their potential right, hit the mark, and not throw money down the drain. Contact us today to get a game that blurs the lines between what’s real and what’s not with advanced Unreal Engine tech!
