Epic Games, Inc. has released the March 2010 UDK Beta, an updated version of the Unreal Development Kit (UDK), the free edition of Unreal Engine 3 that provides uncompromised access to the award-winning game development toolset.
Epic is committed to providing the UDK community with regular software releases at no charge, and the latest beta is available now at www.udk.com/download.
An extensive list of new additions and improvements included with this version is available at:
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/DevelopmentKitBuildUpgradeNotes.html#March 2010: UDKInstall-2010-03-BETA
March 2010 Beta
Improved UDK Features and Tools
• Autodesk FBX format support (FBX version 2010.2)
o Static meshes, skeletal meshes and animations can now be imported from FBX files
o The FBX format is supported by many 3D modeling packages
- including 3ds Max, Maya, and MotionBuilder.
o Download FBX plug-ins from Autodesk
- http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/FBXImporting.html
• Interactive Static Meshes
o Static meshes can now be configured so that all instance of that mesh placed in a level can become dynamic and react with physics when shot or pushed, giving the environment a more interactive feel.
o The advantages of this implementation are:
- Consistent behavior
• all objects using that mesh will be interactive, instead of it depending on level designer set up.
- Transparent to meshing
• L.D.s don’t have to do anything special, but they can prevent specific objects from being able to become dynamic when necessary.
- These meshes are lit like any other static meshes until they move so there is no visual impact to using this system.
- No additional performance or memory cost to these meshes except during the short period when a mesh is being physically simulated.
o This system is intended for use with small decorative meshes that don’t have any gameplay implications.
- The interactivity is client-side and is not replicated.
o http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/InteractiveStaticMeshes.html
• New Attachment Editor
o For displaying and modifying object relationships
o Lets you view and edit the attachment graph for a selected set of actors
o http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/AttachmentsBrowserReference.html
• mipmap sharpening
o Increases perceived resolution of textures w/o memory or performance impact
o http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/ContentBlog.html#MipGenSettings
• Property window favorites
o Simply mark a property as a favorite and it will always be displayed at the top of your property window.
o Combined with the search capability, this will greatly stream-line data access in the Unreal Editor.
o http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/PropertyWindows.html#Property Window Favorites
New UDN documentation
• http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/UDKCommunityLinks.html
• http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/EditorPackageSaveProcedure.html
• http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/CharacterEncoding.html
• http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/AttachmentsBrowserReference.html
• http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/ColorPicker.html
Updated UDN Documentation
• http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/LevelBrowserReference.html
• http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/UnrealUnits.html
• http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/AnisotropicLighting.html
• http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/CascadeUserGuide.html
• http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/InstancedMaterials.html
• http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/InstancedMaterials_TimeVarying.html
• http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/PhysicalMaterialSystem.html
• http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/UnrealScriptReference.html
• http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/SCCIntegration.html
• http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/LevelOptimization.html
• http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/UIDataStore.html
• http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/AudioSystem.html
• http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/UsingWaypoints.html
• http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/CrowdSystem.html
• http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/LitTranslucency.html
• http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/DebuggerInterface.html
• http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/MainEditorToolbar.html
• http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/UE3MinSpecs.html
• http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/CreatingHairUsingAlpha.html
• http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/MaterialsTutorial.html
• http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/CreatingNormalMaps.html
• http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/MassiveLOD.html
• http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/CustomLighting.html
• http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/VisibilityCulling.html
• http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/ParticleExamples.html
• http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/ShadowingReference.html
Additional documentation, code samples and more are available at the Unreal Developer Network (UDN):
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/DevelopmentKitHome.html
Community links:
UDK LinkedIn user group: www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2493123
UDK on Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/UDK/183744733429
