Uploaded January 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
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In an age where PC games were transitioning into the 3D accelerated era, Epic MegaGames' Unreal was a truly spectacular experience, pushing graphics to new heights. It's a very special game for John Linneman, here revisiting Epic's history, the evolution of Unreal up until its 1998 release date, how the game presented via its various rendering methods and how the game looks set to enter the path-tracing age via a remarkable work-in-progress RTX Remix mod.
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00:00 - Introduction
02:23 - The Road to Unreal - 1995
05:30 - Unreal Prototypes
07:28 - Amazing Visuals on 3DFX
11:56 - PowerVR vs Unreal
13:57 - Software Rendering
17:06 - Unreal RTX
25:07 - Unreal's Soundtrack
27:50 - Reflecting on Unreal as a Game
Digital Foundry is now fully independent! Join the DF Supporter Program and support the team: bit.ly/3jEGjvx
In an age where PC games were transitioning into the 3D accelerated era, Epic MegaGames' Unreal was a truly spectacular experience, pushing graphics to new heights. It's a very special game for John Linneman, here revisiting Epic's history, the evolution of Unreal up until its 1998 release date, how the game presented via its various rendering methods and how the game looks set to enter the path-tracing age via a remarkable work-in-progress RTX Remix mod.
Go here to check out DF merch! store.digitalfoundry.net
Subscribe for more Digital Foundry: bit.ly/DFSubscribe
00:00 - Introduction
02:23 - The Road to Unreal - 1995
05:30 - Unreal Prototypes
07:28 - Amazing Visuals on 3DFX
11:56 - PowerVR vs Unreal
13:57 - Software Rendering
17:06 - Unreal RTX
25:07 - Unreal's Soundtrack
27:50 - Reflecting on Unreal as a Game










