The free edition of the Unreal Engine 3 development tools has been updated with a few more features, including support for indie devs to make their very own, high quality iOS app. The UDK (Unreal Development Kit) provides software designers with all the building tools and solutions they need to pump out a game or software app as if it were made in a big budget studio.
As stated in the press release…
Until now, only select Unreal Engine 3 commercial licensees have had access to the engine’s world-class mobile game development tools, which bring top of the line, triple-A visuals to handheld gaming platforms. The release of UDK with iOS support marks a major breakthrough because now anyone can work with the same toolset used to create Epic’s blockbuster “Gears of War” series of games as well as the graphically stunning iOS releases “Epic Citadel” and “Infinity Blade.”
Infinity Blade is a pretty awesome looking mobile game and I’m not one who gushes kindly over iOS apps. Gamers and game designers looking to expand their forte of software skills beyond consoles and PC can grab the UDK from Epic Games’ FTP and start working on new projects as soon as it’s finished downloading.
Mark Rein, vice president of Epic Games shared a few thoughts on the latest release, saying…
“With the tremendous success of Infinity Blade, we couldn’t be happier to put our free tools into the hands of iOS developers all over the world. We’ve proven what Unreal Engine 3 can accomplish on mobile, and we’re ready to usher in a new wave of amazing handheld games and applications,”
For a list of the new features for the UDK with iOS support, feel free to check out the features below. For more information or the option to download the kit, be sure to visit the Official Epic Games Website.
UDK’s iOS development feature set includes:
- The full source and content for “Epic Citadel,” plus an additional castle demo map;
- Support for major Unreal Engine 3 desktop features, including the award-winning Unreal Editor and its fully integrated suite of tools including Unreal Kismet, Unreal Cascade and Unreal Matinee;
- Superior rendering systems, including Unreal Lightmass global illumination supported by Unreal Swarm distributed computing;
- Content streaming functionality: Build huge, seamless environments;
- Advanced lighting and shadowing such as per-pixel lighting and real-time shadows;
- Console-quality capabilities: Make games with animations, particle effects and player collision;
- Full Unreal Kismet visual scripting functionality: Create games without having to modify program code;
- Convenient mobile previewer makes it possible to emulate games at native resolution for quick iteration;
- UDK Remote enables iOS devices to serve as wireless controllers with full touch and tilt functionality for testing games on the computer;
- New Unreal Frontend system compiles scripts and deploys builds for multiple platforms with the simple click of a button.
