html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"Epic Games has posted a recording of the session on upcoming features in Unreal Engine, its game engine and real-time renderer, from last years Unreal Fest Seattle conference.It runs through features in development for Unreal Engine 5.6, the next version of the software, along with those in development for Unreal Engine 5.7 and beyond.The video covers changes to gameplay systems, audio, build tools and platform support, but below, weve summarised the key changes affecting CG artists, as opposed to programmers.They span UE5s world-building, rendering, animation and simulation toolsets, and range from concepts like Megaworlds biomes to big initiatives like the Anim Next unified animation pipeline.New features scheduled for Unreal Engine 5.6 and beyondIn the recording, Epic Games Technical Director Arjan Brussee runs through upcoming features in Unreal Engine.The session took place a month before the release of Unreal Engine 5.5, so many of the features shown have already been released, but a number are still in development.Some are scheduled for Unreal Engine 5.6, which is likely to be released in spring or early summer this year, while others arent yet scheduled for specific releases.However, theres a big disclaimer at the start of the video that all of the plans announced are tentative, so when or if individual features ship could change at any time.Nanite: Updates to Nanite FoliageNanite Foliage that is, support for assets like trees inside Nanite, Unreal Engine 5s geometry-streaming system, is due for some really big updates in Unreal Engine 5.6.The slide above namechecks Nanite decals & translucent support: presumably support for Mesh Decals using a Translucent Blend Mode within Nanite.The work is intended to resolve issues with rendering dynamically moving trees, and to make Nanite Foliage work better with Lumen, Unreal Engines dynamic global illumination system.Lumen: 120Hz mode and support for low-end hardwareWork on Lumen itself focuses on improving performance, with Epic working on a 120Hz mode up from 60Hz on current consoles and a prototype capable of running on low-end hardware.The MegaLights system the Nanite of lights introduced in Unreal Engine 5.5 will also see continued R&D work.Rendering: Better rendering of first-person gamesRendering changes include better rendering of the player mesh in first-person games.The work is intended to reduce the need for nasty hacks to render the mesh, and includes better support for self-shadowing and reflections, and a separate FOV for first-person mode.Rendering: More intuitive new material editorMany of the other changes announced to rendering are iterative improvements, including further reducing shader permutations by reducing the need for Static Switch conversions.However, Brussee also namechecked an experimental new Material Editor intended to make it easier for non-experts to make performant materials simply out of the box.World Creation: World Partition Bookmarks and better streaming performanceChanges due to the world creation toolset in Unreal Engine 5.6 include World Partition Bookmarks, intended to help artists navigate large open worlds.The update should also improve performance when streaming data in and out of memory, particularly on complex environments with tens of thousands of objects in a cell.Longer-term changes include more automated tools for packing objects into grid cells, and implementation of the Scene Graph from Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN).PCG: Megaworlds biomes simplify environment creationUnreal Engines Procedural Content Generation Framework (PCG) will get workflow improvements, including better attribute support, dependency tracking and versioning.However, Brussee also announced a new system of Megaworlds biomes: assets with built-in PCG rules that could be released on online marketplaces like Fab to speed up world building.The slide above also lists PCG for landscape grass, described in Epics online roadmap as a GPU compute-based solution for landscape and micro-scattering for high-frequency details.Terrain: next-gen terrain system will bring Nanite-level detail to landscape geometryEpic Games is also working on a next-generation terrain solution, potentially bringing Unreal Engines currently heightfield-only landscape system into full 3D.Brussee noted that people internally sometimes say that our landscape is the worst geometry we have on screen, and that the new system was intended to get terrain to Nanite level detail.Character Rigging: Physics Rigs and a new Skeletal Hair Editor Changes to Control Rig, Unreal Engines character rigging and animation system, include updates to the Deformer Graph, and new nodes for creating Physics Rigs of which, more later.The slide above also mentions a new Skeletal Hair Editor, although it wasnt mentioned in the presentation, and isnt yet listed on the online roadmap.Animation: New branching dialogue systemSequencer, Unreal Engines cinematic editor, is scheduled to get quite a few new features, including support for animation mixing with bone masking.However, perhaps the biggest is a full branching dialogue system, out of the box.According to the online roadmap, the Narrative Branching with Cinematic Dialogues system will help artists create branching cinematics, including procedural content-generation capabilities.Animation: in-engine animation with character physicsChanges to Unreal Engines in-engine animation tools will include a simplified timeline, and new versions of the Tween Tools and Motion Trails systems.The one discussed in detail was animating with physics, with a physics sim run in parallel with skeletal animation, which Brussee described as providing free overlap and secondary motion.Animation: support for multi-actor Motion MatchingOther animation changes include multi-character Motion Matching, making it possible to have character controlled by the Motion Matching motion synthesis system interact.The experimental Gameplay Camera System will also move into beta, while the Mutable plugin for generating character variations will become production-ready.Anim Next: new high-performance unified animation pipelineHowever, perhaps the biggest upcoming change to animation in Unreal Engine is Anim Next: a long-term initiative to integrate all of the animation logic systems.The new unified animation pipeline will be faster and easier to use than Animation Blueprints, which it is ultimately intended to replace, removing the need to nativize Blueprints into C++.Chaos Physics: new machine learning capabilitiesOver in Unreal Engines Chaos Physics toolset, which includes soft body system Chaos Flesh, Epic plans to fully automate musculoskeletal simulation inside the [Unreal] Editor itself.The slide above also namechecks new machine learning features, following the ML Deformer introduced in Unreal Engine 5.2, including machine-learned SDFs and contact generation.Niagara: integrate Niagara effects with the PCGThe planned changes to Niagara, Unreal Engines particle-based VFX system, look to be mainly workflow improvements, with Brussee noting that the toolset had become too expert-level.However, Epic also plans to make Niagara and the PCG interoperable, making it possible to have simulations of different types inform and affect one another.Price, system requirements and release dateUnreal Engine 5.6 due later in 2025. Epic Games hasnt announced an exact date. The current release, Unreal Engine 5.5, is available for 64-bit Windows, macOS and Linux.For non-interactive content, the software is free to users with revenue under $1 million/year. For larger studios, subscriptions cost $1,850/seat/year, including Twinmotion and RealityCapture.For games developed with the engine, Epic takes 5% of the gross royalties after the first $1 million generated.See features currently in development for Unreal Engine on Epic Games public roadmapHave your say on this story by following CG Channel on Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter). As well as being able to comment on stories, followers of our social media accounts can see videos we dont post on the site itself, including making-ofs for the latest VFX movies, animations, games cinematics and motion graphics projects.