Unreal Engine: Beyond Chaos | Antonio Lattanzio | NZGDC 2025

Item: Unreal Engine: Beyond Chaos | Antonio Lattanzio | NZGDC 2025
Rating: 4
Author: PostSingularity Institute

by Antonio Lattanzio

Applied Sciences & Engineering Computing & Cybersecurity UMComputer programming UMKGames development and programming

🎙 Antonio Lattanzio 👥 1K 📅 October 9, 2025 ⏱ 45 min 👁 2K 📄 expert opinion 🧭 2026-08-16

Available in: English (current) Français

Keywords

Unreal EngineChaosdestructionproceduralPhysX

Summary

Antonio Lattanzio, Lead Engineer at Blind Squirrel Games, presents a technical session on developing a hybrid destruction system in Unreal Engine that combines Chaos physics with custom real-time solutions. He begins by explaining his motivation: frustration with the limitations of pre-baked destruction in games. He critiques Chaos for being cinematic-focused and unsuitable for large-scale gameplay destruction, citing issues like memory usage and lack of determinism. He proposes a hybrid approach that uses Chaos where it shines but overrides it with custom procedural methods for terrain deformation, debris, and cracking. He demonstrates prototypes showing real-time destruction without pre-baking, including a plugin that runs PhysX inside Unreal Engine 5, countering claims that it’s impossible. He discusses tools like Geometry Scripts and Voxel Pro, and mentions games like Red Faction and The Finals as examples of effective destruction. He provides technical insights into using C++ for performance and addresses challenges like hitching. He concludes with takeaways: Chaos alone is insufficient, Epic is working on Chaos 2.0, and encourages programmers to innovate.

168 words

Critical Evaluation

Value of the Information & Strength of the Argument

The talk provides valuable practical insights into implementing real-time destruction in Unreal Engine, offering a clear rationale for a hybrid approach. The speaker’s argumentation is based on personal experience and demonstrations, which adds credibility. However, the presentation is somewhat informal and lacks rigorous comparative analysis or benchmarks. The value lies in the conceptual framework and the encouragement to explore custom solutions, but the lack of detailed code or performance data limits its depth.

82 words

Title / Content Match

The title accurately reflects the content, which focuses on extending Unreal Engine's destruction capabilities beyond the built-in Chaos system.

Quality & Reliability

7/10

The speaker is a lead engineer with nearly 30 years of experience, and the talk is based on practical implementation and personal testing. However, the presentation is largely anecdotal and lacks formal citations or peer-reviewed sources, and some claims (e.g., about PhysX being open source) are accurate but not deeply verified.

Key Moments

Markers derived by PSI from the transcript: the creator did not define chapters.

Cited Sources

Unreal Engine Chaos documentation — Referenced as the official documentation for Chaos.
Voxel Pro plugin — Mentioned as a tool for voxel-based destruction.
PhysX open source — Referenced as the open-source PhysX library.
The Finals game — Cited as an example of a game using PhysX instead of Chaos.
Red Faction — Cited as an early example of destructible environments.

Concurring Sources

Unreal Engine Chaos documentation — Supports the description of Chaos features and limitations.
PhysX open source — Confirms that PhysX is open source, as stated in the talk.

Dissenting Sources

DICE lead tweet about Unreal Engine — The speaker mentions a tweet from a DICE lead claiming Unreal Engine cannot do destruction, which he disagrees with. No URL provided.

Contribution & Novelties

The talk presents a novel hybrid approach to destruction in Unreal Engine, combining Chaos with custom procedural methods. The speaker demonstrates a working prototype and a plugin that runs PhysX inside UE5, challenging the notion that it’s impossible. The main contribution is the conceptual framework and the encouragement for developers to explore custom solutions.

Pour aller plus loin :

Unreal Engine Geometry Scripts — Official documentation on Geometry Scripts, which are central to the talk.
Voxel-based destruction — Concept of voxel-based destruction, relevant to Voxel Pro.
PhysX — Open-source physics engine, relevant to the plugin demonstration.

96 words

Radar Profile

The radar profile shows high scores in technical level and information quality, but lower in reliability due to the anecdotal nature. The speaker's expertise is evident, but the lack of formal citations and benchmarks reduces the overall reliability score.

Reliability 6/10

💬 No comments were provided for analysis.