First look: Unreal engine in 2003

As a part of its promotion of the GeForce FX, Nvidia has released a screenshot of a detailed Unreal-engine game environment that shows off new lighting effects built into the latest evolution of Epic Games' engine. An accompanying description says that the scene has dynamic lighting, and the high-relief bump mapping and detailed textures are clearly evident. It also points out the soft shadowing on the folds of the statue's sleeve.

Bill Rehbock, Nvidia's director of developer relations, told us last week that there are a number of games in development for next year that will used advanced versions of the Unreal engine, as evidenced by this screenshot.