What is Unreal Engine’s Lyra? Explained
Create your own game with Lyra.
Kristi Jimenez 
Image via Epic Games
Shown off at Epic Games’ State of Unreal conference, Lyra was revealed to be the starter project for Unreal Engine 5. It’s a multiplayer shooter video game that serves as a foundation for creators to build upon, rather than forcing users to build a completely new project from scratch. This project uses Epic Games’ multiplayer servers as well as is able to be played across all platforms: PC, consoles, and even mobile devices.
The gameplay is simple. You’re on either the red or blue team and it’s your goal to reach a certain level of points to win the match. While the gameplay of Lyra seems simple, that’s to be expected as players will be able to take this simplistic game and make it their own.
The project comes with three different levels. One that was shown off at the conference was the Expanse level, a small, brightly-lit arena with white walls and flooring. This level shows off the shadows and incredible lightning that creators can expect to see when they use this program to build their games in. The team begins to show off the little ways that the game can be customized to make your own. For example, you’re able to move the lightning and change it, seeing how it reflects off of not only the walls and flooring. The color of your levels, whether it’s the flooring, walls, or objects, will be reflected in the lightning. So, if you change Lyra’s white flooring to red or green, you will see red or green light bouncing off the surrounding environment.
You can download the demo for Lyra from the Unreal Engine page for free right now.
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