Key Changes

• C# Component System: simplified workflow, Editor integration, working sample.
• Better Shadows: realistic penumbra, smooth edges.
• Revamped Subsurface Scattering: increased realism and flexibility.
• Improved materials and shaders customization.
• Spline Tool Updates: increased stability, smoother editing, improved rendering.
• Integration of Varjo VR-1 headset with bionic display and eye-tracking.
• Geodetics plugin for geo-coordinates conversion.

UNIGINE 2.9 introduces a new workflow for implementing application logic in projects using C# API (as a pilot version for verification), along with new rendering features such as improved soft shadows, more realistic subsurface scattering, smoother and more stable screen-space effects for better image quality, dome-screen supporting AppProjection plugin, performance optimizations (multithreaded clutters and clusters management, faster materials loading, etc.), a huge pack of quality of life enhancements for both Engine and Editor, and much more.

Key Changes

• Redesigned asynchronous data streaming to reduce performance spikes.
• Improved utilization of multiple CPU cores throughout the engine.
• UnigineEditor’s transformation: standalone application, made faster, more stable and extensible after a major refactoring, with a number of improvements.
• Cached shadows optimization: performance boost, more flexibility.
• Refactored bit masks.
• Better reflections with additive blending and occlusion clipping.
• Interleaved rendering mode for lights.
• Various vegetation improvements.
• More informative Performance Profiler.
• Major IG Template update: DIS support, more CIGI packets, multithreading and optimizations.

More features have been optimized for multicore processors in this release to fully take advantage of all the extra computing power that a PC platform provides wherever possible, from asynchronous data streaming to processing network packets.

Rendering improvements continue to push the boundaries of visual realism in our virtual worlds, in this release we've significantly improved the look of vegetation, shadows and reflections.

A huge pack of various performance optimizations including cached shadows, asynchronous data streaming have contributed to overall engine performance improvement and reduction of spikes.

Key Changes

• Major UnigineEditor update: new features, performance optimizations
• Properties system upgrade: support for arrays and complex data structures
• Component system evolution: improved performance, multi-threading, SDK Browser integration
• Improved refraction for glass
• Screen-Space Dirt effect
• Improved sky rendering
• Extended IG application template
• Improved import of textures
• Experimental road tool (WorldSplineGraph system)

On the way to the major 2.8 release while working on the updated terrain system we gathered a lot of useful user feedback, and the scope of the feature has grown significantly. In order to avoid painful migrations, we decided to dedicate more time to polishing the feature as much as possible. Same thing with the full round Earth solution as they share some codebase. Therefore, we decided to keep both features in development branches for a while and to move the 2.8 release date to Q1 2019. In the meantime, we have a lot of other planned for 2.8 features ready (and some much more), so we decided to release them as 2.7.3 now.

Key Changes

• Improved file system and collaboration
• CAD models import
• Impostor improvements: optimized performance, better tools
• Optimized texture streaming
• Physically-based cameras and lights
• Improved particle systems: advanced control, easy adjustment
• Refactored voxel and environment probes
• Multi-channel rendering improvements
• Terrain holes
• Overall engine improvements and bugfixes

Along with bugfixes and overall stabilization this release introduces a number of new important and long-awaited features.

Key Changes

• Forced shaders compilation
• Improved voxel GI
• Water performance optimizations
• Improved support for large-scale models
• Improved editor UI
• Experimental HLA protocol support
• Added support for HTC Vive Pro
• Overall engine improvements and bugfixes

Although this release is mainly a maintenance one, it also introduces some new features.