Side Effects releases beta of Houdini Engine for UE4
Originally posted on 27 February. The plugin has now been released: scroll down for updates.
Side Effects Software has announced that Houdini Engine for UE4, its plugin enabling games artists to use procedural Houdini content inside the Unreal Editor, will be available in free public beta in April.
Houdini artists can create content within the software, then export it as a Houdini Digital Asset. The asset can then be imported into Unreal, where it remains fully editable.
Although not a runtime solution, Houdini Engine does provide artists with an easy way to create and share tools for creating more game content quickly and intutively.
So what’s actually new?
Of course, the Unreal plugin was originally announced last summer – and was originally due to ship last year – so today’s announcement really just adds an updated release date.
In that respect, the more interesting part is actually Side Effects new GDC 2015 demo reel (top of story), which shows that games in which Houdini content has already been used.
Although it doesn’t have the strength in depth of, say, Autodesk’s games reels, it does include some well-known AAA titles, including Sunset Overdrive, Killzone Shadow Fall and Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception.
Updated 3 April: The beta of Houdini Engine for UE4 has now been released. Download it via the link below.