Unreal University: Unreal Development Kit Overview

Unreal University: Unreal Development Kit Overview by James Tan and Markus Arvidsson is a presentation on UDK overview for game programmers, game level designers and 3D game artists. Watch the video for the presentation slides and complete video tutorial presentation on UDK overview at Montreal International Games Summit MIGS 2011 for more details.

UDK Overview

• Unreal Editor is a fully featured level editor which can build everything needed in a level.
• Content Browser is used to import content e.g. 3D models, textures, sounds, etc.
• Material Editor is a WYSIWYG visual editor used to create materials, create shaders, create master materials, material functions.
• Area lights, directional lights, point lights, spot lights and sky lights to add lights and shadows - static shadows and dynamic shadows, light functions.
• Kismet is a visual scripting language built on top of UnrealScript.
• Kismet Debugging is now supported in UDK.
• Landscape is the UDK advanced terrain toolset.
• Cascade Editor creates particle effects.
• Nvidia PhysX is the physics engine integrated into Unreal Development Kit.
• APEX is also integrated into UDK.
• Cloth simulation, constraints, rigid body physics, soft body physics, vehicles are all available.
• Networking and replication is built into UDK.
• Steam and GameCenter is built into UDK.

What kind of UDK games can you make?

• Side scrolling games
• Action RPG games e.g. Vida
• Racing games e.g. Unwheel 2
• Mech games e.g. Hawken
• Puzzle games e.g. The Ball, Qube
• Space combat games e.g. Angels Fall First

Get UDK Unreal Development Kit Download for FREE now!

Unreal University is an academic initiative sponsored by Epic Games in association with Autodesk. It offers professional, hands-on guidance to people interested in applying its award-winning Unreal Engine 3 (UE3) technology, including the Unreal Development Kit (UDK). Topics include level design best practices, mobile game development tricks and tips, and more. The sessions are free.

More than 900,000 3D video game developers have installed Epic Games' free edition of Unreal Engine 3 - the Unreal Development Kit or UDK. This 3D game engine powers independent games like "Save Our Sheep" and "The Dark Meadow" for iOS, and "Sanctum" and "Hawken" for PC. The UE3 feature set evolves continuously to prepare for the next generation of video games. Epic Games continues to release major new improvements and functionalities to the Unreal Development Kit, with several important features integrated recently. So check out and download the Unreal Engine 3 tools for free today.