Unreal Engine 4.5 released

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Unreal Engine 4 has earned a new digit today. The 4.5 release of the game development suite should be of help to self-taught developers, as Epic says it includes "a huge number of usability and learning enhancements, an all new tutorial system, and new game templates for Advanced Vehicles and Twin Stick Shooters."

Other additions in 4.5 include animation retargeting, real-time ray traced soft shadows, screen-space subsurface scattering (pictured above, on the right), and Unreal Motion Graphics for creating user interfaces. All the details are in the release notes.

Use of Unreal Engine 4.5 and its source code comes with a $19/month subscription, plus a 5% royalty on gross revenue earned through games developed with the engine. It's strikingly powerful for its affordability, and along with Cryengine, Unity, and others, I'm happy to see professional tools further blurring the line between PC game consumer and PC game creator. For a sense of what it takes to develop with Unreal Engine, you can browse the tutorials on the official site.

Tyler Wilde
Executive Editor

Tyler grew up in Silicon Valley during the rise of personal computers, playing games like Zork and Arkanoid on the early PCs his parents brought home. He was later captivated by Myst, SimCity, Civilization, Command & Conquer, Bushido Blade (yeah, he had Bleem!), and all the shooters they call "boomer shooters" now. In 2006, Tyler wrote his first professional review of a videogame: Super Dragon Ball Z for the PS2. He thought it was OK. In 2011, he joined PC Gamer, and today he's focused on the site's news coverage. His hobbies include amateur boxing and adding to his 1,200-plus hours in Rocket League.