Electric Dreams Environment UE: A Stunning Showcase of UE 5.2

Epic Games has released a new sample project Electric Dreams Environment UE for Unreal Engine 5.2 that demonstrates the power and potential of the latest features and technologies available in the engine. The project, called Electric Dreams Environment, is a futuristic cityscape that was first shown at the 2023 Game Developers Conference.

Electric Dreams Environment Sample Project Unreal Engine

What is Electric Dreams Environment and How Was It Built?

Electric Dreams Environment is a sample project that showcases several new, experimental features and technologies that are available in Unreal Engine 5.2, including:

Procedural Content Generation framework (PCG): A system that allows users to create tools, define rules, and expose parameters to populate large scenes with UE assets of their choice, making the process of large world creation fast, interactive, and efficient.
Substrate: A material authoring system that enables users to create complex materials with dynamic properties and behaviors using a node-based interface.
Unreal Engine’s latest physics developments: A set of features and improvements that enhance the realism and interactivity of physical simulations in UE, such as Chaos Destruction, Niagara Fluid Simulation, and Soundscape.

The project also showcases several existing Unreal Engine 5 features, such as:

Lumen: A fully dynamic global illumination solution that reacts to scene and light changes.
Nanite: A virtualized micropolygon geometry system that enables users to create scenes with massive amounts of geometric detail.
MetaSounds: A high-performance audio system that gives users complete control over sound creation and processing.

The Electric Dreams Environment was built by incorporating both traditional and procedural workflows directly within Unreal Engine using the PCG framework. The PCG framework allows users to create custom tools that can generate content based on rules and parameters that can be adjusted at runtime. For example, the project uses PCG tools to create buildings, roads, bridges, vegetation, props, and more.

The project also uses Substrate to create materials with dynamic properties and behaviors that react to the environment and the player’s actions. For example, the project uses Substrate to create materials for windows, holograms, neon signs, water puddles, and more.

How to Download and Explore it?

Electric Dreams Environment is a free sample project that anyone can download and use for learning purposes. The project is available from the Samples tab of the Epic Games Launcher or from the Unreal Engine Marketplace.

The project is a graphically intensive project that requires a powerful video card to run at a stable framerate. The recommended hardware specifications are as follows:

12-core CPU at 3.4 GHz
64 GB of system RAM
GeForce RTX 3080 (equivalent or higher)
At least 10 GB VRAM

The project also requires DirectX 12 support and up-to-date graphics drivers.

The project consists of several levels that demonstrate different aspects of the Electric Dreams Environment. Users can navigate the levels using keyboard and mouse controls or by using a drone controller. Users can also trigger different sequences that showcase the PCG tools, Substrate materials, physics features, and more.

Why Electric Dreams Environment Matters

Electric Dreams Environment is a stunning showcase of what Unreal Engine 5.2 can do and what users can achieve with it. The project demonstrates how users can create large-scale environments with high-fidelity graphics and realistic physics using both traditional and procedural workflows within UE.

The project also shows how users can leverage the new features and technologies in UE 5.2 to create immersive and interactive experiences with dynamic lighting, materials, sound, and more.

Epic Games hopes that Electric Dreams Environment will inspire users to explore the possibilities of Unreal Engine 5.2 and create their own amazing projects with it.