Cryengine update 5.4 adds support for Substance, Vulkan and more

Crytek has released the latest update for the CryEngine, CE5.4. The update is the first major update in nine months, following a rocky time for the German-based developer. The last update, CE 5.3 went live in December and had its last iteration in March this year.

"We know it has been a long time in the making, but we are sure you’ll agree with us – it has been worth the wait," said the announcement on the CryEngine blog.

One major updates for the engine is integrated support for Allegoritmic’s Substance technology. The software has been used for some time by many of CryEngine’s users and the implementation now adds the Substance tools directly into the CryEngine sandbox editor.

Another update is beta support for the Vulkan API. Many developers have been moving towards using Vulkan for rendering 3D graphics due to its ability to balance CPU/GPU usage. This then helps create games with high-end visuals without the high processing cost. This joins the already implemented DirectX 12 that is already included with the engine.

There have been other updates, including improvements to the asset system and the developer has also upgraded detail blending, bringing technology created for its VR game Robinson: The Journey into the engine.

You can read more about the updates here, which includes a lovely picture of a dog giving a high-five.

Crytek has had a rough twelve months so far with the closure of all offices except its Frankfurt HQ and its Kiev office in order to focus on developing the CryEngine. So far this year, two games have been released that use the CryEngine. Arkane Studios Prey and Aporia: Beyond the Valley by Investigate North are already released with Automaton’s Deceit also available. Alessandro Guzzo’s The Land of Pain also recently released and was developed using the CryEngine.