Unreal Engine 5.8 MMORPG: What the Engine Means for Players in Ancient Online: Remastered

An Unreal Engine 5.8 MMORPG sounds like a promise about graphics, but for a player the engine matters for more practical reasons: how the world looks on your device, how big it can be, how alive it feels and whether it runs on your computer or your phone. Ancient Online: Remastered is a classic Eastern fantasy MMORPG that will be free to play, and its game client is built in Unreal Engine 5.8. This post explains, from the player's side, what the engine brings to the game and what it does not decide.

Ancient Online: Remastered is in development; it is currently in closed alpha and no release date has been announced. The systems described here may change before launch.

What does Unreal Engine 5.8 do in an MMORPG?

The work in an online game is split in two. The client, the program you install, draws the world, plays the sound, shows the interface and reads your input; in Ancient Online: Remastered, the client is built in Unreal Engine 5.8. The server runs the rules of the game; ours is a separate program that we wrote ourselves in C++, independent of the engine. So the engine shapes what you see and hear, while the outcome of a fight is decided on the server.

Graphics that scale from PC to phone

The same world has to run on a gaming PC and on a mid-range phone, so the settings matter as much as the visuals:

• Overall quality: Auto, Low, Medium, High, Epic and Cinematic, plus separate settings for shadows, textures, effects and view distance.
• Lumen lighting, if you want it: Unreal Engine 5.8's real-time lighting lets torches and spells light up their surroundings. It is off by default, and you can turn it on in the settings on PC; if frame rate is your priority, leave it off.
• Upscaling: TSR, FSR and DLSS render the game at a lower resolution and enlarge the image; the settings also include frame generation, NVIDIA Reflex and AMD Anti-Lag 2.
• Settings made for phones: On a phone, the desktop-only options do not appear; you choose a resolution (720p, 900p, 1080p or the screen's own) and an anti-aliasing method (FXAA, SMAA or TAA).

What each setting does, and which to choose for your device, is in the system requirements and graphics settings guide.

One big world, loaded as you move

The world of Ancient Online: Remastered is designed as a single, unified world rather than separate maps divided by loading screens. It is split into cells, and the client loads the area around you as you travel. That is also why the game needs an SSD on PC: on a mechanical hard drive, you get stuttering and long loading times when you enter new areas. The world's content is kept on the server in versions, and before you enter the game, the client checks that its world data matches the server's.

Weather, seasons, day and night

A modern engine lets the world change around you. In the development build:

• Ten weather states: From clear skies to thunderstorms, fog, snowstorms and sandstorms. The server decides the weather for each region, so everyone in the same place sees the same sky.
• Seasons and settling snow: Snow turns the ground white and melts slowly once the weather clears.
• Day and night: A moving sun and moon, and a starry night sky.
• Characters feel the weather: Clothes get wet in the rain, cloaks ripple, and trees and grass sway in the wind.

The weather also touches gameplay; in fog, for example, monsters notice you from a shorter distance. Everything is in our post on dynamic weather, seasons and the day and night cycle.

Who does what: the engine or the server?

This split is why a stronger graphics card makes the game look better but does not make you hit harder: the client shows what the server reports, and the same rules apply on every device. How the server side is built is explained in the studio's devlog #1.

One world on PC and mobile

Because the rules run on the server, the client can take a different shape on each device without changing the game. The target platforms are Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS; the development build is currently tested on Windows and Android devices. Phones get their own touch interface, gamepads are supported on PC, and the settings window only shows the options that make sense on your device. Details are in the PC and mobile cross-platform guide.

What do you need to run it?

A short summary of the published target specs:

• Windows: At least Windows 10 64-bit, 8 GB of memory and a GeForce GTX 1060 6GB, Radeon RX 580 8GB or Arc A580 class graphics card, with DirectX 12 and 50 GB of free SSD space.
• Android: At least Android 10 (64-bit), 4 GB of memory and OpenGL ES 3.1; Vulkan 1.1 is recommended.
• iOS, macOS and Linux: Target platforms; their values are on the same page.

The full tables, processors included, are on the system requirements page. These are target specs and may be updated before launch.

Frequently asked questions

Is Ancient Online: Remastered a UE5 MMORPG?

Yes. The game client is built in Unreal Engine 5.8, and the game server is our own, written in C++.

Do I need a powerful PC?

No. The minimum target is a GeForce GTX 1060 6GB, Radeon RX 580 8GB or Arc A580 class card with 8 GB of memory, and the settings scale down from there. Lumen is optional and off by default.

Is the mobile version the same game?

Yes. It is the same game in the same world, with settings adapted to phones; desktop-only options such as Lumen and upscaling do not appear there.

When can I play it?

The game is in closed alpha, and no release date has been announced. Announcements are made on this website and in our Discord community.

Where to go from here

Check your device on the system requirements page, read What is Ancient Online: Remastered? for the whole game, and join our Discord community for news about the closed alpha.