'Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian': What is the Unreal Engine, the technology used to create show's backdrop?
Throughout 'Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian', you will hear directors mention the "game engine" and how vital a role it plays in how 'The Mandalorian' is shot. Every single shot is done against a backdrop virtually created by the engine, not to mention how much the show's creators rely on it to render every episode in pre-visualization to aid their planning. It's strange, then, that the engine isn't mentioned by name, but it's still worth taking a look at the Unreal Engine and its history.
The engine was first created by Tim Sweeney, who founded Epic Games, the company behind 'Fortnite'. Sweeney created the engine in 1995, for a first-person shooter called "Unreal", which was released in 1998. The engine was a huge step forward in terms of visual graphics in video games, allowing game designers to filter textures, change light coloring, and have ready information on collision detection at hand. It made levels easier to alter, a huge boon to video game designers. Unreal Engine quickly beat out its main competitor, the id Engine, which was responsible for other first-person shooters like 'Doom' and 'Quake'.
