Rendering in UE4

Rendering when used in video games terms means the drawing of the various elements within a scene to produce a final image that is the game in its current visual state. We do this every frame, hopefully at 60 frames per second, to create smooth and immersive game worlds within which players can engage and explore. Unreal Engine 4 features one of the most robust and modern rendering engines that can be found in today's game development platforms. The rendering system is an all-new, DirectX 11 pipeline that includes deferred shading, global illumination, and many more interesting features.

It is with this rendering engine that you can tap into the powerhouse of Unreal and create game titles with visuals at the highest end of quality and technology. The next section of this chapter will detail how we can tap into the Unreal Engine rendering systems with ease and usability via the UE4 material system.