Unity 5.4 to come with screen-space raytraced reflections (SSRR)

[onQ]

BEDROOM DEMO: ARCHVIZ WITH SSRR

As you may know, Unity 5.3, due early December, is currently scheduled to come with screen-space raytraced reflections. So earlier this year the Demo Team grabbed an early internal build with the SSRR and took it for a spin to see how it would behave. (Edited 11/11/2015 Unfortunately, the SSRR feature has been delayed, and won’t be released with Unity 5.3. Check the Unity Roadmap for the latest release schedule information).

We also wanted to see how an architectural interior would look in Unity and what level of visual quality we could get from our latest technology. Here is a video preview of the result we got:

http://unity3d.com/unity/roadmap its coming in 5.4. Instead if sampling a single probe for an object it will sample into a grid of probes and interpolate across the object based on pixel location. This means that for large objects you will be able to get a spatial gradient across it. Example; guy carries a ladder through a door from inside to outside. When the ladder is halfway the lighting on the part of the ladder that’s inside should match inside lighting, the part that’s outside should match the outside lighting – this is hard with a single probe, but easy with the grid;-)

 

[Commenter]

I wonder what kind of graphics card you need to run this well.

 

[CNCAddict]

There is a download link in the Unity blog. Runs fantastic on my GTX980Ti and looks unbelievable!!

 

[L. Scofield]

Unity 5.3 released:

http://blogs.unity3d.com/2015/12/08/unity-5-3-all-new-features-and-more-platforms/

Release notes:

https://unity3d.com/unity/whats-new/unity-5.3

Good to see they've finally ditched Blinn-Phong and adopted GGX.

 

[L. Scofield]

A new Unity tech demo to haunt your nightmares

 

[Lightman]

WoW!
Looks bombastic! Wonder what hardware required for VR experience @90FPS ...

 

[L. Scofield]

5.4 beta detailed:

http://blogs.unity3d.com/2016/03/15...-and-more-the-unity-5-4-public-beta-is-ready/

 

[London Geezer]

A new Unity tech demo to haunt your nightmares

That looks incredible... And I actually want to know how it continues!

 

[L. Scofield]

That looks incredible... And I actually want to know how it continues!

You'll have to wait a couple of months for that:

This is the first part of our real-time rendered short film “Adam”, created with the Unity engine by Unity’s Demo team. Adam illustrates the high quality graphics that are enabled by the Unity engine in 2016. The full length movie will be shown at Unite Europe 2016 in Amsterdam – so stay tuned!

The production of this short was used to stress our beta versions of Unity 5.4 and the cinematic sequencer currently in development. We also used an experimental implementation of real time area lights.


The demo makes extensive use of the high fidelity physics simulation tool CaronteFX, which is now available for Unity on the AssetStore.


The Demo team also created some custom tools on top of the Unity engine to cover specific production needs. For this project we needed volumetric fog, transparency shader, motion blur – to name a few. Expect to have them in your hands after Unite Europe.

http://unity3d.com/pages/adam

 

[Osamar]

I just hope they upgrade "Pillars of eternity" to Unity 5.4 to see the improvements in something like a Z3735 tablet/nuc like.

 

[sebbbi]

All the current screen space reflection solutions are raytraced (height field raytracing depth buffer). Killzone SF already had it and so does Unreal Engine. This is nothing radically new. An important feature, since it mask out false cubemap reflections, grounding objects better compared to techniques that only use probes for reflections. Per pixel probe blending also is nothing new. Some last gen games already used it.

 

[Arwin]

I think people don't use Unity for cutting edge reasons (single-threading shenanigans ahoy!), so they're likely just pleasantly surprised when Unity catches up. (mom, look, multiple threads! )

EDIT: this may be as big an innovation as any of them

https://bitbucket.org/Unity-Technologies/cinematic-image-effects

 

[L. Scofield]

A lot of stuff is already there for Unity users to take advantage of, all they have to do is pay for it, heh.

 

[willardjuice]

Also unity supports multiple threads (save on webgl where it's a platform limitation); I'm not sure what you're implying.

 

[Arwin]

From the Digital Foundry article on Firewatch

It's easy to understand the appeal of Unity. It's simple to prototype a new game concept, the tools are very friendly, and there's a vibrant community out there to tap into. It seems like a great place to build a game. However, as things stand, the way Unity handles certain tasks isn't always optimal. In its current iteration, console developers familiar with the tech tell us that the engine struggles with proper threading, which is very important on a multi-core platform like PlayStation 4.

This refers to the engine's ability to exploit multiple streams of instructions simultaneously. Given the relative lack of power in each of the PS4's CPU cores, this is crucial to obtaining smooth performance. We understand that there are also issues with garbage collection, which is responsible for moving data into and out of memory - something that can also lead to stuttering. When your game concept starts to increase in complexity the things Unity handles automatically may not be sufficient when resources are limited.

Games built in Unity have a long history of suffering from performance issues. Unstable frame-rates, loading issues, hitching, and more plague a huge range of titles. Console games are most often impacted but PC games can often suffer as well. Games such as Galak-Z, Roundabout, The Adventures of Pip, and more operate with an inherent stutter that results in scrolling motion that feels less fluid than it should. In other cases, games such as Grow Home, Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty on PS4, and The Last Tinker operate at highly variable levels of performance that can impact playability. It's reached a point where Unity games which dorun well on consoles, such as Ori and the Blind Forest or Counter Spy, are a rare breed.

There is some hope on the horizon, however - the latest update of Unity, version 5.4, is scheduled for March 16th. We're told that this will include a number of performance enhancements including better threading - something very useful for CPU-limited consoles. Members of Campo Santo, the game's developer, have already posted a number of tweets suggesting that these improvements are in the works for Firewatch.

 

[willardjuice]

I've been using threading with Unity for years. The only thing I can think of is threading wrt rendering (submitting work to the GPU from different threads like you would with DX12/Vulkan/etc.). And I believe that Unity 5.4 increases that capability. But threads in general have long been supported in Unity.

 

[L. Scofield]

From the Digital Foundry article on Firewatch

DF is only good for things they can analyze from video. MT is not one of them.

 

[L. Scofield]

 

[hesido]

Wow @Gift. Incredible. Unity is getting so much flak on the gaming front but then we get these stuff.

 

[Arwin]

I've been using threading with Unity for years. The only thing I can think of is threading wrt rendering (submitting work to the GPU from different threads like you would with DX12/Vulkan/etc.). And I believe that Unity 5.4 increases that capability. But threads in general have long been supported in Unity.

It says better threading, not no threading. I think the thought was that certain interactions such as disc access could easily stall the rest, or something like that.

Anyway that animation trailer looks stunning. Great lighting and detail.