Epic Games has released Unreal Engine 5.6 with an integrated MetaHuman Creator
Epic Games has released the new version of the Unreal Engine — version 5.6. According to developers, it allows for the creation of games with large open worlds that can be consistently played at 60 frames per second on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series, as well as on high-performance PCs and mobile devices.
Below are some key new features.
- The MetaHuman Creator tool for creating realistic human models is now integrated into Unreal Engine. Alongside this, Epic Games has updated its license: characters and animations from MetaHuman Creator are now allowed to be added to projects on other engines and in software like Maya, Houdini, and Blender.
- Animation work has generally become faster. For example, with Motion Trails, character movements can now be adjusted directly in the viewport. An experimental Control Rig Physics feature has also been added for integrating procedural physics into character rigs, enhancing the realism and dynamics of movements.
- Hardware Ray Tracing has been improved, and the performance of the Lumen Global Illumination system has been enhanced.
- The Procedural Content Generation framework can now operate in a multithreaded mode. The load level from it on the central processor has been reduced. Additionally, the PCG Biome Core v2 plugin has been introduced, speeding up the creation of large biomes.
- The Nanite dynamic geometry technology has been enhanced. Currently, Epic Games is refining the voxel-based detailed nature creation system.
- The experimental Fast Geometry Streaming plugin allows for quicker loading of static locations and landscapes.
- The beta version of the Quick Render feature allows for rendering static images and frame sequences with a single click.
You can view the full list of changes on the Unreal Engine website.