GDC 2011: Epic, Nvidia Partner To Enhance UE3 With DX11

Author: by Staff

Epic Games announced a partnership with Nvidia to add DX11 capabilities to its popular Unreal Engine 3 platform, including tessellation and support for the GPU firm's PhysX, APEX, and 3D Vision technologies. In a new real-time demo of UE3 developed with Nvidia's GeForce GTX 500 Series GPUs and shown at its booth (Business Suite #400, South Hall), Epic says it's demonstrating the benefits of DX11, such as "complex environments and detailed character models with lifelike movement and animations." The demo also makes use of Nvidia's PhysX and APEX technologies, like destruction and clothing modules, which are designed to offer realistic character interactions with the environment. UE3 will now enable developers to ship games with "out of the box" support for DX11, APEX, PhysX, and 3D Vision. UE3 supports a variety of platforms, including consoles, mobile devices, and PCs. Many of the biggest video game releases are built on the engine, including Bulletstorm, Batman: Arkham Asylum, DC Universe Online, and Infinity Blade -- upcoming titles like BioShock Infinite and Gears of War 3 also use UE3. "Thanks to Nvidia's excellent cross-platform physics technologies and DX11 expertise, we have enhanced Unreal Engine 3 to bring unprecedented new levels of realism and demonstrate what the next generation of gaming will be," said Epic Games' vice president Mark Rein. These latest UE3 updates are now available to licensees. Epic's Unreal Development Kit (UDK), a free version of UE3, will also include these additions.