Epic Releases Unreal Development Kit

Rob Williams · 11-05-2009, 12:55 PM

From our front-page news:

In what should please up-and-coming game developers everywhere, Epic today announced the release of the "Unreal Development Kit", a full-blown toolset based around Unreal Engine 3, for free. That's right... the same tools that were used to develop such games as Batman: Arkham Asylum, BioShock, Borderlands, Gears of War, Mass Effect and of course, Unreal Tournament 3, can now be had to anyone looking to utilize the tools to either learn, or develop their own non-profit game.

That last point is the main caveat. Although Epic is kind enough to release its robust tools for free, publishing games developed with the tools is restricted to non-profit games or applications. For commercial software, you'll need to refer to Epic's licensing page. Depending on the number of game developers, the prices given could be manageable even if a modest fee for the game was made, but there are far too many angles to look at things from, to say the least.

Even though this kit is to be used for non-commercial / educational use, its release is a huge win for game developers who have wanted to experiment and learn the tools but were previously unable to. This should help give developers exactly the experience they need with such a mainstream engine, and hopefully land them a good job. It's also a great thing for hobbyists, or mod-builders, who do intend to release their product for free.

What the entire kit includes is the Unreal Engine 3 engine itself, and its editor, the Content Browser that makes searching and using game assets a breeze, UnrealScript, an OOP-based programming language, Unreal Cascade, an advanced editor for particle physics and environmental effects, and even support for NVIDIA's PhysX, should you want to take advantage of it. There's much, much more to this, so I recommend reading through the press release, and then going to download the UDK.

An unprecedented milestone in game development, the release of UDK awards free access to the same world-class tools and technology used by many of the world’s best video game developers and publishers. Unreal Engine 3 is a constantly evolving game engine, and UDK contains all the most recently added features and technological enhancements, including many that have yet to be seen in an Unreal Engine game. Furthermore, Epic Games will release ongoing, upgraded builds of UDK for free.

Source: Epic Press Release

Doomsday · 11-05-2009, 04:46 PM

Ooh! must try it! gotta come in handy once i graduate in BS Computer Sciences!

Doomsday · 11-15-2009, 04:11 PM

downloaded it and was doing some messing around..didnot get anything ofcourse.. watched a tutorial on youtube and finally got something.....can u make ur own games with this thing?!?

can ONE man do it all?!?
can ONE man make the difference?!?

Rob Williams · 11-18-2009, 03:53 AM

You sound ambitious, which is great. Can one man create a great game? Of course, but as far as I'm concerned, not one that's built with the Unreal Engine. The engine is designed for huge focus on graphics, audio, and other complex features, and one man just can't handle all this. It depends on the size of the game, but where game development is concerned, there's no such thing as someone who excels at it all, and even if there was, that person could work 24/7 and still not have enough time to product a quality title.

Doomsday · 11-18-2009, 07:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rob Williams

You sound ambitious, which is great. Can one man create a great game? Of course, but as far as I'm concerned, not one that's built with the Unreal Engine. The engine is designed for huge focus on graphics, audio, and other complex features, and one man just can't handle all this. It depends on the size of the game, but where game development is concerned, there's no such thing as someone who excels at it all, and even if there was, that person could work 24/7 and still not have enough time to product a quality title.

yeah, that be true! well, i'll keep working on small stuff..mostly coding..

Rob Williams · 11-18-2009, 02:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doomsday

mostly coding..

Ahh, the most fun part, huh?

Doomsday · 11-18-2009, 05:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rob Williams

Ahh, the most fun part, huh?

lol! it sure is.........

11-05-2009, 12:55 PM	#1
Rob Williams Editor in Chief Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Atlantic Canada Posts: 8,926	Epic Releases Unreal Development Kit From our front-page news: In what should please up-and-coming game developers everywhere, Epic today announced the release of the "Unreal Development Kit", a full-blown toolset based around Unreal Engine 3, for free. That's right... the same tools that were used to develop such games as Batman: Arkham Asylum, BioShock, Borderlands, Gears of War, Mass Effect and of course, Unreal Tournament 3, can now be had to anyone looking to utilize the tools to either learn, or develop their own non-profit game. That last point is the main caveat. Although Epic is kind enough to release its robust tools for free, publishing games developed with the tools is restricted to non-profit games or applications. For commercial software, you'll need to refer to Epic's licensing page. Depending on the number of game developers, the prices given could be manageable even if a modest fee for the game was made, but there are far too many angles to look at things from, to say the least. Even though this kit is to be used for non-commercial / educational use, its release is a huge win for game developers who have wanted to experiment and learn the tools but were previously unable to. This should help give developers exactly the experience they need with such a mainstream engine, and hopefully land them a good job. It's also a great thing for hobbyists, or mod-builders, who do intend to release their product for free. What the entire kit includes is the Unreal Engine 3 engine itself, and its editor, the Content Browser that makes searching and using game assets a breeze, UnrealScript, an OOP-based programming language, Unreal Cascade, an advanced editor for particle physics and environmental effects, and even support for NVIDIA's PhysX, should you want to take advantage of it. There's much, much more to this, so I recommend reading through the press release, and then going to download the UDK. An unprecedented milestone in game development, the release of UDK awards free access to the same world-class tools and technology used by many of the world’s best video game developers and publishers. Unreal Engine 3 is a constantly evolving game engine, and UDK contains all the most recently added features and technological enhancements, including many that have yet to be seen in an Unreal Engine game. Furthermore, Epic Games will release ongoing, upgraded builds of UDK for free. Source: Epic Press Release __________________ Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 @ 3.20GHz, ASUS P5K Premium WiFi-AP, OCZ 8GB PC2-6400, EVGA GTX 285 1024MB Seagate 500GB, 750GB & 1TB, Pioneer 22x ODD, Corsair 1000HX, Thermalright Ultra-120, CM Storm Sniper Dell 2408WFP 24", ASUS Xonar Essence STX, Ultrasone PRO 750, Gentoo Linux (KDE 4.3.2, 2.6.31 Kernel) "Take care to get what you like, or you will be forced to like what you get!" - H.P. Baxxter Profiles: Last.fm \| Xbox Live \| Steam

11-05-2009, 04:46 PM	#2
Doomsday Partition Master Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: KHI, PAK Posts: 353	Ooh! must try it! gotta come in handy once i graduate in BS Computer Sciences! __________________ XFX 780i. E8400@ 3.0GHz. Corsair DHX DDR2 2GB-800MHz XFX GeForce 9600GT Cooler Master Centurion 590 + 5 120mm Blue LED fans Cooler Master 460W Extreme PSU Maxtor 250GB + Seagate 320GB + WD Caviar Green 640GB SAMSUNG 2333SW High Glossy Black 23" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor Razer DeathAdder + Razer Goliathus Alpha Gaming Mouse Mat Creative Inspire M4500 4.1 Speaker System 'But we never answered the question, why? Why are we as a people worth saving? We still commit murder because of greed, spite, jealousy. And we still visit all of our sins upon our children. We refuse to accept the responsibility for anything that we've done.' Commander Adama

11-15-2009, 04:11 PM	#3
Doomsday Partition Master Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: KHI, PAK Posts: 353	downloaded it and was doing some messing around..didnot get anything ofcourse.. watched a tutorial on youtube and finally got something.....can u make ur own games with this thing?!? can ONE man do it all?!? can ONE man make the difference?!? __________________ XFX 780i. E8400@ 3.0GHz. Corsair DHX DDR2 2GB-800MHz XFX GeForce 9600GT Cooler Master Centurion 590 + 5 120mm Blue LED fans Cooler Master 460W Extreme PSU Maxtor 250GB + Seagate 320GB + WD Caviar Green 640GB SAMSUNG 2333SW High Glossy Black 23" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor Razer DeathAdder + Razer Goliathus Alpha Gaming Mouse Mat Creative Inspire M4500 4.1 Speaker System 'But we never answered the question, why? Why are we as a people worth saving? We still commit murder because of greed, spite, jealousy. And we still visit all of our sins upon our children. We refuse to accept the responsibility for anything that we've done.' Commander Adama

11-18-2009, 03:53 AM	#4
Rob Williams Editor in Chief Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Atlantic Canada Posts: 8,926	You sound ambitious, which is great. Can one man create a great game? Of course, but as far as I'm concerned, not one that's built with the Unreal Engine. The engine is designed for huge focus on graphics, audio, and other complex features, and one man just can't handle all this. It depends on the size of the game, but where game development is concerned, there's no such thing as someone who excels at it all, and even if there was, that person could work 24/7 and still not have enough time to product a quality title. __________________ Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 @ 3.20GHz, ASUS P5K Premium WiFi-AP, OCZ 8GB PC2-6400, EVGA GTX 285 1024MB Seagate 500GB, 750GB & 1TB, Pioneer 22x ODD, Corsair 1000HX, Thermalright Ultra-120, CM Storm Sniper Dell 2408WFP 24", ASUS Xonar Essence STX, Ultrasone PRO 750, Gentoo Linux (KDE 4.3.2, 2.6.31 Kernel) "Take care to get what you like, or you will be forced to like what you get!" - H.P. Baxxter Profiles: Last.fm \| Xbox Live \| Steam