I've worked on a few Unreal Engine 5 projects lately, but due to NDA restrictions, I haven't been able to show as much as I'd like to. That's why I'm really happy to show the Galactic Horizon Demo I helped build with N-Fusion Interactive.
*Turn up the video quality if you watch the embedded video please!
**Skip to 30 seconds if you want to jump past the menus.
In this demo you take on the role of an interstellar traveler investigating various deep space planets. You analyze the atmosphere and local flora and fauna. Ultimately your goal is to determine if the planet is ideal for human colonization, interplanetary trade, or maybe should be avoided.
The demo was made by a small team using early versions of UE5 as they were released. Some things I learned more about along the way:
- Sequencer (cameras, animation blending, and BP events)
- UI Animation
- Media Player/Media Textures
- More Advanced BP Scripting
- Ultra Dynamic Sky/Weather
- Fluid Flux
- Landscapes
- Brushify
- Procedural Foliage Volumes
- Niagara Mesh Renderer (for flying ships and creatures)
- Level Streaming
- Cinematic Layouts
- Displacement Materials on Nanite Landscapes
- Manual vs Automatic LODs
After spending so long developing projects in Unity, it's really encouraging to dive back into Unreal and find out how my experience translates into the latest version of the engine. Some things are done the same, some things are done differently, but the underlying methodology is very similar.
But so far, in UE5, everything we make tends to be bigger, faster, and more detailed than what we've done in the past! I am loving this journey.
Image and video credit to N-Fusion Interactive (Jeff Birns, Jason Zisk, & Tyler Munden)
