At Adobe’s MAX 2011 conference, Epic Games showed off Unreal Engine 3 running in real time inside Flash Player 11. Here are two videos of the live demonstration. The graphics look detailed and everything appears to be running at a smooth frame rate. Unreal Engine on Flash has tremendous potential and could drastically change the gaming landscape. Before I get into that, here’s a clip from Epic’s community site:
Flash Player is a key technology for gaming on social networks and the Web, and with UE3 will usher in the leap from 2D game experiences to world-class 3D gaming on the Web. Developers can now animate millions of objects with smooth 60 frames per second rendering and deliver console-quality games on Mac OS, Windows and connected televisions.
I’ve been working with people from Epic for more than a decade. It’s been interesting watching the company start out in the PC space, move into consoles, and enter mobile gaming. I’ve always been impressed with the company and several of its executives. With that in mind, this bit of news floored me. I wasn’t expecting it…and I certainly wasn’t expecting anything this good-looking.
Most of you know that Flash games are tremendously popular. Most of you also know that Flash games typically look like caveman sketches compared to the top PC and console games. Unreal Engine 3 on Flash can change all that. Can you imagine playing a Flash game that looks as good as what’s currently in your Xbox 360? In the immortal words of Brian Fellow, “That’s crazy!!!”
In addition to improving the visual quality of Flash games, Unreal Engine support for Flash gives smaller developers another avenue. Due to the huge budgets and teams required to make a big console or PC title, a lot of independent developers have been taking their talents to South Beach iOS, Android, Facebook, etc. I can see a lot of indie devs using Epic’s tools and taking Flash games to new heights. Bejeweled is great and all, but I love the idea of a full-featured action-RPG running on Flash. Half of me wants to get an office job just so I can goof off on Unreal Engine Flash games instead of working!
When you have a chance, check out the videos and let me know what you think of Unreal Engine 3 support for Adobe Flash. Do you think it’s as huge a deal as I think it is?
HOLY FUCKING SHIT!!!
I literally got goose bumps while reading this, man I think this is huge!
Just don't use the term "Dude Huge". That's crap.
THIS. I want develop a game using it now. (I was contemplating learning Java, but learning more flash and THIS is definitely what I want.)
I can make music man, just saying lol.
I have to applaud Adobe for this partnership. This is definitely how you stay on top of the web market.