Epic Games has shown the world some of the most visually stunning VR experiences to date, and today, one of them (Showdown) is being released for free as a UE4 VR sample for developers to learn from.
Showdown was created in-house by Epic Games using their UE4 engine as a reveal demo to accompany the Oculus Rift Crescent Bay prototype, both revealed at Oculus Connect 2014, one year ago to the month. At the time, the demo wowed us with its graphical fidelity which had to remain performant at a whopping 90 FPS and 2160×1200 (1080×1200 per eye) resolution.
One year later, it’s still one of the most graphically impressive demos out there, and a fine example of what can be done in VR with UE4 and careful optimization.
See Also: Optimizing ‘Showdown’ for 90 FPS on Oculus Rift Crescent Bay Prototype
Previously it could only be seen under the careful watch of Epic, but now, (“finally,” I hear some of you say), the company is releasing Showdown as a VR sample for UE4 developers. Developers can now download the project and all of its assets through the Learn tab of the Epic Games Launcher.
Thanks to UE4’s ongoing VR support, the Showdown demo can run on the Oculus Rift (DK2, Crescent Bay, pre-production consumer prototype), as well as the HTC Vive and Sony Morpheus.
Don’t worry though, the release of Showdown doesn’t mean the end of teasing. Epic Games has yet another incredible VR demo that’s still out of reach to the public, one that’s even more stunning: Thief in the Shadows, an experience created in conjunction with Weta Digital, which puts you in a scene based on The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013).
See Also: Face to Face With Smaug – Inside Weta’s New Lord of the Rings Oculus Rift Demo
Given the intellectual property and content rights involved, we somewhat doubt that Thief in the Shadows will ever see a public release, but we can dream.