What was the first ever Unreal Day in Belgrade like?

This October, Belgrade hosted the first local Unreal Day event, where Epic’s Unreal Engine was the main topic of the whole day. This 3D graphic tool was primarily built for developing the old and then very popular game called Unreal, released in 1998.

Thanks to the success of this game, Epic Games continued to use this game engine, and soon it was offered to other gaming studios to develop their games using this technology. Today, Unreal Engine has reached its fifth version, which brings truly revolutionary possibilities.

This way, Epic Games unlocks the doors completely free of charge to everyone who wants to test or realize the idea for a video game or some other kind of visual project. The beauty of Unreal Engine is precisely that you don’t need knowledge of programming, 3D modeling, and many other skills that have been a requirement to start such a project.

My history with Unreal Engine started back in 1998 when I played Unreal for the first time. The next version of this game, the super-popular Unreal Tournament, was oriented toward multiplayer matches. For me, then a 20-year-old, it was a perfect opportunity to spend my time hanging in the local multiplayer gameroom. At the time, the Internet was just starting to trickle in, so any serious multiplayer gaming was still tied to playing in a physical multi-computer network.

Fast forward nearly a quarter of a century, I’ve come to the point where I now use Unreal Engine, not for playing other games, but for making my own. MY OWN GAME?! To be honest, this still sounds absolutely unbelievable.

Of course, I’m still on a very low level of knowledge, because I only turned on UE for the first time three months ago, with zero programming and 3D experience.

I’m currently in the prototyping phase for a game I would like to make, so Unreal Day came at the perfect time for me. Literally perfect.

Unreal Day program

Unreal Day was divided into three units, each of which was scheduled at a different location. Thanks to the excellent organization, three locations were chosen to be in the same neighborhood, which was very convenient for going from one location to another.

The morning part was set aside for workshops organized at the Crater Training Center in Knićaninova Street in Dorćol, lasting from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. After that, from 3 to 5 p.m., masterclass lectures were organized in the space of Miljenko Dereta on Dobračina Street, only 500 meters from Crater.

Since I’m now in the state of having a keen interest in everything that has something to do with Unreal Engine, I took a day off from work and dedicated it to the Unreal Day event. And of course, in keeping with my megalomaniacal tendencies, I signed up for all three segments. 😀

Workshops in Crater

Unreal Day started with two specialized workshops at Crater Training Center. Given that both workshops took place in the same time slot in the morning, those interested could sign to only one of them.

The options were “Fast Prototyping in Unreal Engine” and “Application of Unreal Engine in interactive presentations of architectural projects”. For me, the choice was more than obvious. As soon as I saw the title, I signed up immediately for a workshop on building fast prototypes in Unreal Engine.

This workshop was held by Milan Ličina, a man with extensive experience in making visual installations in physical space. Thanks to the live production that Unreal Engine offers, these installations give you the ability to physically move through a photorealistic space that is entirely generated in a virtual environment. In addition, Milan is also a professor at the Metropolitan University in Belgrade and a regular lecturer at the Crater Training Center for Unreal Engine.

Through a relaxed and open approach to the lecture, Milan gave us various tips on how to quickly set up 3D scenes in Unreal Engine from scratch without using the predefined types of environments that this engine offers. We also saw how we can optimize the elements we put into this environment, which directly reduces the load on the computer when moving through the levels.

Thanks to the well-equipped classroom at the Crater Training Center, we had the opportunity to try everything Milan shows us on his computer directly in Unreal Engine. The workshop was organized for 12 people with various levels of experience in knowing this tool – from absolute beginners to people with a lot of experience.

The second workshop focused on the practical application of Unreal Engine for generating interactive presentations used in architecture. From interior design of residential units to simulations of entire city blocks, UE gives you the opportunity to virtually walk through these spaces and really “feel” what they would look like in real life.

The lecturer was Saša Vlajkov, Medior Tech Artist at Case 3D Proptech Solutions, a Novi Sad company specializing in highly realistic simulations of architectural projects.

Masterclass lectures

The afternoon session of Unreal Day was dedicated to practical lectures related to Unreal Engine. As in the case of the morning workshops, those interested could attend only one of the lectures, since they took place in parallel in the area of Miljenko Dereta, very close to the Museum of Technology and Science in Dorćol.

However, it was now necessary to choose between four different themes:

• Geometry Script in UE
  • Lecturer: Krzystof Pachulski, Unreal Engine evangelist from Epic Games
• How to – Epic MegaGrants
  • Lecturer: Adam Kovač, Solutions Specialist in 3Lateral/Epic Games  Novi Sad
• MetaHuman inside Shape Shifters Production Environment
  • Lecturer: David Jiang, founder and Head of Development from Shape Shifters Creative (Taiwan)
• Combining blueprints and sequencers in Unreal Engine
  • Lecturer: Darko Subotin, Assistant on Faculty of dramatic arts in Belgrade 

For me, the most interesting lecture was about applying for Epic MegaGrants, so I applied for it. It is a financial support program offered by Epic Games, and it is intended for projects that use the Unreal Engine in some of their stages. Of course, these can be video games, but they can also be various other applications of Epic’s technology.

In the case of video games, if you make a game in this engine, it’s automatically a good match. However, even if you’ve started building your game with another tool, Epic MegaGrants is here to support the transition of your existing project to Unreal Engine.

Through practical examples of successful projects that were financed through Epic MegaGrants, Adam Kovač from Novi Sad’s 3Lateral managed to explain to us in a very clear way what is needed for an application to contain. It is very interesting that none of these three examples were related to video games. There was the educational program of the Crater Training Center, the use of the MetaHuman system for applications in robotics, as well as an advanced system for 3D mapping of the real world through the Unreal Engine.

Of course, Adam was always ready to answer the questions, which I was very happy to use. I learned that in addition to the idea for the game itself, it is necessary to attach a reasonable business case that shows what the funds are needed for, what are the stages of using these funds, as well as what the result can be expected from this financing.

Epic MegaGrants is always open for applications, so if you have an Unreal Engine project or are thinking about switching to this tool, prepare your application and submit it as soon as possible. There’s really no need to wait.

Keynote & Showcase

As I mentioned before, this segment of Unreal Day was focused on presentations of various projects based on Unreal Engine. Starting at 5 p.m., the showcase lasted almost five full hours. We’ve seen examples from video games and movies, as well as applications in architecture and other industries.

Of the video games themed presentations, I was able to see three of them. Ivan Koroknai from Phobos Studio presented the development process of Cloud Burst, a third-person post-apocalyptic survival battle royale game. The emphasis was on how Unreal Engine helped them to go from a general game idea to an opportunity to practically create a new genre of games that successfully combines different game mechanics.

Mad Head Games recently released the first gameplay footage of their Scars Above game. Considering that it is a mystical sci-fi adventure in the genre of action RPG games, Uroš Pavlović had the opportunity to explain their approach to creating this unique world through Unreal Engine.

And as icing on the cake, Lazar Mesaroš from Ebb Software presented a case study of the game Scorn. This game was released less than two weeks before Unreal Day, with great anticipation from both domestic and international audiences. It is an intriguing first-person horror adventure that pays homage to the great artists Giger and Beksinski through the unique design of the world through which the player moves.

In addition to all the interesting presentations, this showcase gave me the opportunity to see my dear people from our game development industry, as well as to meet a lot of new faces.

Unreal Day Summary

When I collect the experiences from the first domestic Unreal Day, I realize that I was literally under serious hype all day. Literally the feeling of butterflies in the stomach. 😀 And it’s very clear why. I spent four hours that day learning new tricks for rapid prototyping in Unreal Engine. I got first-hand information on how to apply for Epic MegaGrants. Obviously, these are all extremely valuable pieces of knowledge that can help me to maybe one day realize that dream and make my own video game.

In the end, I had the opportunity to see what good projects based on this technology look like and to talk in detail with people about making video games. Simple – perfect. Of course, as a fan of the Unreal Engine, I can’t wait for the next Unreal Day to learn something new and see people from our growing game dev community again.