Unreal Engine 4 Vs 5: Major Key Differences

Struggling to choose between Unreal Engine 4 and 5 for your next project? You're not alone. Unreal Engine 4 vs 5 is a hot debate amongst game developers, with both versions offering incredible capabilities. Game engines like Unreal Engine are the backbone of modern game development. They provide a comprehensive suite of tools for creating stunning visuals, immersive worlds, and engaging gameplay. Unreal Engine has emerged as a leader in the field, offering a powerful and versatile platform for developers of all experience levels. 

But with the inception of Unreal Engine 5, a question arises: Which version is right for you?  This blog will enumerate the key differences between Unreal Engine 4 vs 5, helping you understand the strengths and weaknesses of each to make an informed decision for your specific project needs.  So, grab your developer hat and get ready to explore the exciting world of Unreal Engine! 

Table of Contents 

1) What is Unreal Engine 4? 

2) What is Unreal Engine 5? 

3) Differences Between Unreal Engine 4 and Unreal Engine 5

4) Conclusion 

What is Unreal Engine 4? 

Unreal Engine 4, unveiled in 2014, marked a significant leap forward from its predecessors, introducing a host of enhancements across the board. Key advancements include:
 

a) Physically Based Rendering (PBR): This technology brought a new level of realism to graphics and lighting, allowing for lifelike visual fidelity. 

b)  Enhanced Particle System: The engine’s particle system was overhauled to produce superior environmental effects, such as smoke, fire, and magical spells, with greater detail and realism. 

c) Blueprint Visual Scripting: A revolutionary system that enabled developers to construct game mechanics without the need for traditional coding, making game development more convenient. 

d) Overhauled Audio System: The audio capabilities were significantly improved, offering surround sound and intricate audio effects like occlusion and reverb, enriching the gaming experience. 

e) Sequencer Tool: This feature allowed for the creation of cinematic cutscenes, adding depth and narrative power to games. 

f) VR Support: Unreal Engine 4 embraced the burgeoning field of virtual reality, providing tools for developers to craft immersive VR experiences. 

Games developed with Unreal Engine 4 are known for their exceptional 3D graphics, boasting detailed textures and sophisticated lighting effects. Some of the renowned titles powered by UE4 include ‘Batman: Arkham City’,‘Gears 5’, ‘Dragon Ball FighterZ’, ‘Kingdom Hearts III’, and ‘Mortal Kombat 11’, showcasing the engine’s capability to deliver high-calibre gaming experiences.
 

What is Unreal Engine 5? 

Unreal Engine 5, the latest iteration from Epic Games, debuted in early access in 2021, heralding a new era of graphic excellence and advanced gaming capabilities. Here’s a refined overview of its features:
 

a) Lumen: This dynamic global illumination solution offers real-time lighting that adapts instantly to changes in the environment, providing a more graphic and immersive experience. 

b) Nanite: This technology enables the creation of highly detailed virtualised micro polygon geometry, allowing for movie-quality assets and environments within games. 

c) Temporal Super Resolution (TSR): TSR is an upscaling technique that maintains high frame rates even with ray tracing, ensuring smooth gameplay without compromising visual quality. 

d) Enhanced Simulations: Unreal Engine 5 boasts improved systems for physics, destruction, and cloth simulation, contributing to more dynamic and believable interactions in the game world. 

In addition to these technical advancements, Learn Unreal Engine 5 places a strong emphasis on streamlining the game development process. It introduces tools like MetaSounds and MetaHumans, which simplify complex tasks for artists and designers. 

The integration of Lumen and Nanite stands out as particularly revolutionary, as they collectively overcome previous constraints in lighting and geometry. This empowers creators to effortlessly craft game environments of cinematic calibre, a level of visual fidelity that often distinguishes Unreal Engine vs Blender in terms of real-time rendering capabilities. 

Anticipated titles utilising Unreal Engine 5’s groundbreaking features include ‘Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II’, ‘Black Myth: Wukong’, and ‘Gears of War 6’, showcasing the engine’s potential to redefine gaming standards. 

Craft your dream game: Join our Unreal Engine 4 Game Development Training today! 

Differences Between Unreal Engine 4 and Unreal Engine 5 

Let us now look at some of the key features that differentiate Unreal Engine 4 and 5:  

Automatic Optimisation 

In Unreal Engine 4, optimisation often requires manual adjustments, such as Level of Detail (LOD) settings, texture streaming, and culling techniques. Developers need to fine-tune these parameters to achieve optimal performance. 

Unreal Engine 5 introduces automatic optimisation features, notably the Nanite virtualised micropolygon geometry system. Nanite dynamically adjusts the level of detail based on the player’s viewpoint, allowing for massive 3D assets without compromising quality. This automation streamlines the optimisation process and enhances overall performance. 

Enhanced API 

Unreal Engine 4 provides a robust Application Programming Interface (API) for developers to interact with the engine. While powerful, it can be tricky for beginners and requires familiarity with C++ programming. 

UE5 continues to offer an extensive API but aims to improve accessibility. The Blueprint visual scripting system remains user-friendly, allowing developers to create game logic without direct coding. Additionally, UE5 introduces Control Rig, simplifying complex character animation setups. 

Dynamic Lighting 

Unreal Engine 4 relies on pre-baked lighting calculations, which can lead to inconsistencies and limitations in realism. Achieving dynamic lighting involves manual adjustments and compromises. 

Lumen, UE5’s dynamic global illumination system, calculates lighting in real-time, reacting to scene changes and player actions. It eliminates the need for lightmap baking, resulting in more realistic and immersive lighting effects. Lumen significantly enhances visual fidelity and immersion. 

Graphics 

Unreal Engine 4 has made significant strides in visual fidelity, but UE5 takes it to a whole new level. UE5’s Nanite technology allows for handling up to 10 billion polygons, enabling incredibly detailed and photorealistic environments and characters without compromising performance. 

UE5: Unreal Engine 5 introduces Nanite, a micropolygon rendering system that seamlessly streams high-resolution assets into scenes. This breakthrough eliminates manual baking limitations, allowing for ultra-immersive and visually stunning gaming experiences. 

World Building 

Unreal Engine 5 elevates open-world creation by eliminating the need for manually creating LODs and lightmap UVs, thanks to Nanite virtualised geometry and Lumen dynamic lighting. It also introduces World Partition, which streamlines the streaming and scaling of expansive worlds. Additionally, UE5’s MetaSounds system utilises machine learning (ML) to generate audio procedurally linked to gameplay events, enhancing the audio experience. 

In contrast, Unreal Engine 4 demands extensive manual asset preparation for open-world readiness. Artists invest considerable time in crafting LODs and lightmap UVs. Audio in UE4 is more dependent on designer scripting, lacking the automated sophistication found in UE5. 

Materials 

UE5 introduces the Material Layering Pipeline, a non-PBR renderer that allows for the creation of stylised materials akin to hand-painted textures, akin to capabilities found in software like Substance Painter. It also brings parametric materials such as glass, water, and cloth, offering a higher degree of physical realism compared to UE4’s simpler shader models. 

UE4 operates on a PBR metallic/roughness workflow, necessitating texture manipulation for stylised effects. Its shader models for materials like water and glass require extensive manual adjustments to achieve quality results, and it doesn’t natively support advanced effects like glass destruction. 

Performance 

Unreal Engine 5 focuses on enhancing performance across all hardware types. Features like Temporal Super Resolution boosts rendering resolutions while maintaining smooth frame rates. Thanks to optimisations in Nanite and Lumen, UE5 also benefits from reduced draw calls and triangle rendering budgets. Moreover, UE5 better utilises AMD and Intel’s accelerated computing features. 

UE4, while capable of achieving 60 FPS, often requires additional optimisation, particularly for complex scenes. It lacks UE5’s advanced upscaling and triangle culling features, which aid in delivering higher graphical fidelity across various platforms. 

User Experience (UX) and Interface 

Unreal Engine 5 (UE5) presents a modernised user interface (UI) that is both aesthetically appealing and user-friendly. The interface has been updated from the classic look of Unreal Engine 4 (UE4), which was released a decade ago. UE5’s editor is designed to be intuitive, with a new Create tab for streamlined workflow, enhanced plugin support (notably for Quixel and Substance), a more efficient launcher, and an upgraded content browser system. Despite these enhancements, the core functionality remains familiar, and most UE4 tutorials and documentation are still applicable to UE5. 

Modelling Tools 

UE5 has significantly expanded its toolset for modelling, sculpting, and UV unwrapping, introducing a dedicated Modelling Mode. This mode offers a suite of transformers and tools for quick and flexible asset creation and modification. Additionally, UE5 provides integrated modes for landscape creation, foliage placement, mesh painting, and animation, along with a specialised brush editing mode for the Mesh Paint function. These tools represent a substantial advancement over UE4, where such tasks require more manual effort and external software assistance. 

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Conclusion 

Now that you've explored the battleground of Unreal Engine 4 vs 5, you're equipped to choose the perfect weapon for your development project. Whether you crave cutting-edge features or prioritize stability, both engines offer a path to success. If you're still wondering about the difference between Unity and Unreal, our comparison can help you decide. So, dive in, unleash your creativity, and power the game of your dreams!

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