Unreal Engine 3 now for free

Feel free to chat about non-Chaos stuff in here.
Post Reply
neolith
Chaotic Dreams Team
Posts: 1594
Joined: Wed Jan 15, 2003 10:05 am
Location: Düsseldorf, Germany

Unreal Engine 3 now for free

Post by neolith »

To make a long story short: They don't charge you for it unless you earn money with what you create.
http://www.udk.com/
–The biggest trick the devil ever pulled, was convincing the world he didn't exist.–
R.Flagg
Chaotic Dreams Team
Posts: 8460
Joined: Thu May 09, 2002 2:55 pm

Post by R.Flagg »

Interesting. Guess my first question is about it's limitations.

When UT3 first came out, I was excited. Not necessarily by what I saw in the game itself, but what I saw in my mind of what CUT3 could be. It was only later, after hearing from knowledgeable coders..., that those visions could not be realized, due to all the limitations that UT3 had. Ya know, stuff about too much source code hidden and not available to modders.

So, are the same limitations in place for this? Can we still not do some of the same things we couldn't do for CUT3? Or is it a completely different story now? Can we accurately reproduce the functionality of previous versions of Chaos, and even add additional (something we could not do with CUT3)?

These are the questions.
neolith
Chaotic Dreams Team
Posts: 1594
Joined: Wed Jan 15, 2003 10:05 am
Location: Düsseldorf, Germany

Post by neolith »

Well, if I understood the announcement and the paragraphs on the UDK site correctly, UDK is the complete Unreal Engine development kit. The very same that did cost you more than a few 100k earlier.

You can make everything with it, no limitations at all.
To quote the FAQ:
Can I create any kind of game with UDK?
Absolutely. UDK is the perfect solution for any kind of virtual world you wish to create, from racing games to simulations. Visit our Showcase to see some of the amazing creations our users have authored with UDK.

Will my UDK program run on Mac, iPhone, PS3 or Xbox 360?
As of right now, UDK is a Windows-only program. Please see our licensing page if you would like to discuss using UDK for cross-platform use.

I’ve been making mods for Unreal Tournament 3. How does UDK differ from the UT3 editor?
You can create standalone applications with UDK. This means that users will be able to install and run your game without owning a copy of Unreal Tournament 3.
So you don't have to build upon an existing game like UT3, you can do your very own from scratch. The Whizzle Demo seems to be a pretty good example.

Furthermore the engine has enchanced significantly. Global illumination via Lightmass, integrated SpeedTree, destructible enviroments, multi-threaded HDR rendering and (and this is by far my favorite) distributed computing are part of the package.

I've been searching for a flaw in the deal for three days now. If there is any, I haven't found it.
All in all it might just be a knee jerk reaction after two months ago Crytek started offering special lowpriced versions of the brand new CryEngine targeted at graphics artists and architectsand a few weeks ago Unity3D also went free. But hey - if that meens there are now three complete middleware engines competing at the level of almost for free, I am not judging... ;)

edit: I am downloading the UDK right now. Maybe I'll have a chance to take a look at it over the weekend.
–The biggest trick the devil ever pulled, was convincing the world he didn't exist.–
R.Flagg
Chaotic Dreams Team
Posts: 8460
Joined: Thu May 09, 2002 2:55 pm

Post by R.Flagg »

Well, for what it's worth, I'm always tossing around Chaos-y FPS ideas, of course.

But nothing has changed - because none of these ideas would be easy, by any means. They would not be worth undertaking without a very experienced coder.
Post Reply