Epic Games, Inc. has released the February 2013 Unreal Development Kit (UDK) Beta, the latest version of the free edition of Unreal Engine 3 (UE3) that provides access to the award-winning 3D game engine and professional toolset used in blockbuster video game development, architectural visualization, mobile game development, 3D rendering, digital films and more. The latest UDK beta is available now here.
New Substance Engine Integration for Smart Texturing
Starting with the February UDK, developers now have direct access to Substance, a leading toolset used for the rapid authoring of high-quality materials and dynamic textures. Substance can improve workflow by substantially reducing the iteration time for texture creation, and at the same time shrink download sizes.
The native integration, which ships with free content and tools in UDK, enables the real-time generation of Substance textures based on parameters set by users in the Unreal Editor or in Unreal Matinee. The parameters and base texture are created by an offline tool called the Substance Designer (an interface similar to UE3’s material editor) which generates a file that is then imported into the editor.
It’s easy to get started using Substance. Be sure to check out Allegorithmic’s video tutorials and Epic’s dedicated Substance documentation on UDN.
Thanks to Substance provider and Unreal Engine integrated partner Allegorithmic for the discount and also for generously sponsoring Make Something Unreal Live 2013, our student game development competition in Europe.
New Features and Functionality
AnimSet Editor - Custom Notify Buttons
- The AnimSet Editor, which allows the user to view and setup animated meshes, now offers the capability to set up to three custom buttons along with tool tips that shows what each button is bound to
- Clicking the button now will create the notify with the notify object (from defined class or archetype), with the option to set a duration, and/or a fixed start time
UnrealConsole - Reconnect Target
- There is now a menu item for the debugging tool, UnrealConsole, that allows the user to reconnect to the target at any time
Mobile Updates
- The Mobile Shader Analyzer tool, which is used for examining mobile shaders and materials cooked for an application, no longer requires the patch from the November UDK to function properly
- Learn more about the Mobile Shader Analyzer tool and functionality here
- iPhone audio updates:
- Fix to iOS audio output, now correctly outputs to stereo / 2 channels
- Added new music volume slider on iOS
- NodeSoundWave Quality Property – When this value is set to 100 sound data will stay LDPCM encoded at runtime preserving the exact quality heard on PC.
- Fixed error that could lead to random noise at the end of some sounds
- Added support for Game Center iOS Achievement Banners:
In IPhoneSystemSettings.ini
[SystemSettingsIPhone]
bShowAchievementBannerOnComplete=true - Scene capturing (optimization for scaleform screens) works on iOS for all paths. Enabled capturing with post processing disabled
- Added new commandlet “ReplaceMaterial,” for quickly pointing asset material references to new materials or MaterialInstanceConstants (MICs). This is useful for reducing overall material usage, to reduce shader keys, or to fix up old data to use MICs.
- Syntax: ReplaceMaterial <Package.Class to remove> <Package.Class to replace with> <file/wildcard> <-flag1> <-flag2>
- Flags: -ALL, -AutoCheckOutPackages
- Added texture tiling support for ribbon particles on mobile
- Extended mobile modulated shadows to support full-scene color fading
- Improved quality of mobile Depth of Field (DOF) and reduced shimmering
- Fixed quality issues with lightmap and Scaleform-packed textures. These had previously generated the PVRTC textures from DXT, instead of source art.
- Removed Depth of Field (DOF) near blur factor, which was still exposed but not being used
- Added support for disabling game rendering while full screen movie is playing:
In IPhoneSystemSettings.ini
[SystemSettingsIPhone]
bDisableGameRenderingFullScreenMovie =true - Added an EditorOnly flag for textures, which prevents the texture from being cooked into final packages
- Added Subtitle abilities into native m4v movies under iOS
- Added a –WriteTFCReport option to the cooker, will display all textures added to TextureFileCache (TFC) files to a CSV file on disk. Useful on mobile when all texture data is set to cook into TFCs to see exactly what is inside the files
- Fixed crash in Scaleform AMP code when returning from iOS application resigning to background
- Added ‘Fast compression / no resigning’ development option in the UnrealFrontend (UFE) for iOS packaging
Latest News and Showcases
Epic Games Releases "Epic Citadel" for Android
Epic Games, Inc. today released “Epic Citadel” for Android devices. The free app, which is used to demonstrate the studio’s award-winning Unreal Engine 3 technology on multiple platforms, is available now on Google Play and Amazon Appstore for Android. A new benchmarking mode and sophisticated visuals bring added depth to the popular app. Click for full story.
Zombie Studios Licenses Unreal Engine 4
Zombie Studios is excited to announce licensing of the groundbreaking Unreal Engine 4 (UE4) technology from Epic Games, Inc. The Seattle-based independent developer is working on an UE4-based psychological thriller game for the PC that will release in the second quarter of 2013. Click for full story.
IPKeys Licenses Unreal Engine 3 for Military Training Simulations
Epic Games and Applied Research Associates (ARA) have licensed Unreal Engine 3 (UE3) to IPKeys Technologies for the development of IGAME, an advanced Warfighter training simulation.
IPKeys is utilizing the Unreal Government Network (UGN), an information and support portal for government users of Epic’s award-winning Unreal Engine technology. Click for full story.
Leading Development Studios Join MSUL 2013 to Support Finalists
Epic Games, Inc., creator of award-winning games and game technology, is harnessing the services of four leading European development studios to support the finalist teams of its Make Something Unreal Live (MSUL) 2013 international game development contest. Climax Studios, Lucid Games, Ninja Theory and Splash Damage have all stepped up as MSUL 2013 mentors. Click for full story.
Epic Games’ Official Store Opens Its Doors
The official Epic Games online store, where fans can get their hands on specially designed merchandise and apparel based on the company’s renowned brands and characters, is now live. Collectible items at Epic’s store, located at http://www.epicgamesstore.com/, are exclusive and cannot be purchased anywhere else.
The Epic Store will be continually upgraded and expanded, with many more surprises planned for fans in the coming weeks and months. Click for full story.
For all the latest news and information, please visit unrealengine.com/news
Showcases
Primal Carnage
Pitting humans against dinosaurs in an all-out battle royale is no minor task for a small virtual team, so when indie outfit Lukewarm Media began work on their multiplayer first-person shooter Primal Carnage, they needed an efficient, high-performance development toolset more than anything else. The team turned to Epic’s industry-leading Unreal Engine 3. Click for full story.
DmC Devil May Cry
Dante is getting a makeover. The mercenary demon hunter is back in action in DmC Devil May Cry, a highly anticipated reboot of the franchise.
By working closely with Capcom, developer Ninja Theory stripped Dante to the bare essentials to incorporate the story of his origin into this new action adventure. The UK studio utilized Unreal Engine 3 (UE3) to bring this multi-world story to life. Click for full story.
Injustice: Gods Among Us
After exploring a hit crossover a few years ago with Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, the Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment-owned developer, NetherRealm Studios, has returned to comic book lore with the original fighter, Injustice: Gods Among Us. The game, which features iconic super heroes including the Dark Knight, the Man of Steel, Wonder Woman and Catwoman, was designed using Unreal Engine technology. Click for full story.
For all the latest showcases, please visit www.unrealengine.com/showcase.
New and Updated UDN Pages
- Mobile
- UnrealScript
- Getting Started
- Misc
- http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/APEXClothing.html
- http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/APEXDestruction.html
- http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/APEXOverview.html
- http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/CommandLineArguments.html
- http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/UsingPrefabs.html
- http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/AIAndNavigationHome.html
- http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/DevelopmentKitGemsCreatingADynamicNavMeshObstacle.html
- http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/NavigationMeshReference.html
- http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/SystemSettings.html
- http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/LogitechLEDSDK.html
- http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/PhysXProfilingHome.html
- http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/GameplayDebugging.html
- http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/ProfilingBasics.html
- http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/CommandletList.html
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