Unreal Engine Introduction for 3D System Development - Free Course

We will be learning the essentials to have the right approach to developing our product designs in 3D environments.

Summary

The course provides an introduction to developing product designs in 3D environments using Unreal Engine. Key topics include the essentials of Unreal Engine, its features, and hands-on development within the engine’s environment. The latest version, Unreal Engine 5, launched in April 2022, is highlighted for its advanced capabilities and commercial use model, which includes a royalty fee after certain revenue thresholds.

Unreal Engine has a rich history, beginning with its development by Epic Games founder Tim Sweeney in the mid-1990s. Initially released in 1998 with the game “Unreal,” it quickly became a highly successful video game engine. The engine evolved from relying on CPU-based software rendering to utilizing dedicated graphics cards, initially focusing on the Glide API for 3dfx accelerators. While it also supported OpenGL and Direct3D, performance issues with these APIs were noted at the time.

The course is designed for individuals interested in simulation design and integrated development engines, specifically those curious about learning and utilizing Unreal Engine for their projects. Prospective students are advised to ensure their systems meet Unreal Engine’s compatibility requirements.

What You’ll Learn

Introduction to Unreal Engine
Unreal Engine Features
Unreal Engine Development Hands-on
Unreal Engine Environment

Requirements

Please Follow Unreal Engine Compatibility in Software Requirements

Description

Here we will be learning simulation development in a 3D system with Unreal Engine. We will be learning the essentials to have the right approach to developing our product designs in 3D environments.

The latest generation, Unreal Engine 5, was launched in April 2022. Its source code is available on GitHub, and commercial use is granted based on a royalty model, with Epic charging 5% of revenues over US$1 million, which is waived for games published on the Epic Games Store. Epic has incorporated features in the engine from acquired companies such as Quixel, which is seen as helped by Fortnite‘s revenue.

In 2014, Unreal Engine was named the world’s “most successful videogame engine” by Guinness World Records.

The first-generation Unreal Engine was developed by Tim Sweeney, the founder of Epic Games. Having created editing tools for his shareware games ZZT (1991) and Jill of the Jungle (1992), Sweeney began writing the engine in 1995 for the production of a game that would later become a first-person shooter known as Unreal. After years in development, it debuted with the game’s release in 1998, although MicroProse and Legend Entertainment had access to the technology much earlier, licensing it in 1996. According to an interview, Sweeney wrote 90 percent of the code in the engine, including the graphics, tools, and networking system.

At first, the engine relied completely on software rendering, meaning the graphics calculations were handled by the central processing unit (CPU). However, over time, it was able to take advantage of the capabilities provided by dedicated graphics cards, focusing on the Glide API, specially designed for 3dfx accelerators. While OpenGL and Direct3D were supported, they reported a slower performance compared to Glide due to their deficiency in texture management at the time. Sweeney particularly criticized the quality of OpenGL drivers for consumer hardware, describing them as “extremely problematic, buggy, and untested”, and labeled the code in the implementation as “scary” as opposed to the simpler and cleaner support for Direct3D.