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UNIGINE 1 had support for large virtual scenarios and specific hardware required by professional simulators and enterprise VR systems, often called
serious games.
Support for large virtual worlds was implemented via double precision of coordinates (64-bit per axis),[12] zone-based background data streaming,[13] and optional operations in
geographic coordinate system (latitude, longitude, and elevation instead of X, Y, Z).[14]
Display output was implemented via multi-channel rendering (network-synchronized image generation of a single large image with several computers),[15] which typical for professional simulators.[16] The same system enabled support of multiple output devices with asymmetric projections (e.g.
CAVE). Curved screens with multiple projectors were also supported.[17] UNIGINE 1 had stereoscopic output support for
anaglyph rendering, separate images output,
Nvidia 3D Vision, and
virtual reality headsets. It also supported multi-monitor output.[18]
Other features
UNIGINE rendered supported Shader model 5.0 with hardware
tessellation,
DirectCompute, and
OpenCL. It also used
screen space ambient occlusion and real-time
global illumination. UNIGINE used a proprietary physics engine to process events such as
collision detection, rigid body physics, and dynamical destruction of objects. It also used a proprietary engine for path finding and basic AI components. UNIGINE had features such as interactive 3D
GUI, video playback using
Theora codec, 3D audio system based on
OpenAL library, WYSIWYG scene editor (UNIGINE Editor).
UNIGINE 2
UNIGINE 2 was released on October 10, 2015.
UNIGINE 2 has all features from UNIGINE 1 and transitioned from forward rendering to deferred rendering approach, PBR shading, and introduced new graphical technologies like geometry water, multi-layered volumetric clouds, SSRTGI and voxel-based lighting.[19]
UNIGINE 2 also supports the following graphical APIs:
DirectX 11,
OpenGL 4.x. Since version 2.16 UNIGINE experimentally supports
DirectX 12 and
Vulkan.
There are 3 APIs for developers: C++, C#, Unigine Script.
Proprietary SSRTGI (Screen Space Ray-Traced Global Illumination) rendering technology was introduced in version 2.5.[21] It was presented at
SIGGRAPH 2017 Real-Time Live! event.[22]
Development
The roots of UNIGINE are in the frustum.org open source project,[23] which was initiated in 2002 by Alexander "Frustum" Zapryagaev, who is a co-founder (along with Denis Shergin, CEO) and ex-CTO of
UNIGINE Company.
Linux game competition
On November 25, 2010,
UNIGINE Company announced a competition to support
Linux game development. They agreed to give away a free license of the UNIGINE engine to anyone willing to develop and release a game with a Linux native client, and would also grant the team a Windows license.[24] The competition ran until December 10, 2010, with a considerable number of entries being submitted. Due to the unexpected response, UNIGINE decided to extend the offer to the three best applicants, with each getting full UNIGINE licenses.[25] The winners were announced on December 13, 2010, with the developers selected being
Kot-in-Action Creative Artel (who previously developed Steel Storm), Gamepulp (who intend to make a puzzle platform), and MED-ART (who previously worked on Painkiller: Resurrection).[26]
UNIGINE-based projects
As of 2021, company claimed to have more than 250 B2B customers worldwide.[27]
Some companies that develop software for professional aircraft, ships & vehicle simulators use UNIGINE Engine as a base for the 3D & VR visualization.[28][29][30]
Games
Released
Cradle - released for Windows and Linux in 2015[31]
Oil Rush - released for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X in 2012; released for iOS in 2013
Syndicates of Arkon - released for Windows in 2010[32]
VR simulator for learning of computer vision for autonomous flight control at Daedalean AI[65]
Benchmarks
UNIGINE Engine is used as a platform for a series of benchmarks,[66] which can be used to determine the stability of PC hardware (CPU, GPU, power supply, cooling system) under extremely stressful conditions, as well as for overclocking: