This SDK is actually a newer, more recent version of the engine tech than UT3, here is a list of "new since UT3" features: http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/DevelopmentKitBuildUpgradeNotes.html 

Yeah, it's the absolute latest engine and we're going to update it every time we update the version we give out to our licensees. It's pretty bad ass! 

Willem have I told you how I've always liked Epic? :) 

This is annoying, I wish I was 17 again so I could dedicate like 6 hours of every day of my life to developing some small but cool game with a bunch of people. 

DUDE LET'S TOTALLY DO THAT JAGO 

It crashes on install. I am sad, cuz it installs at work :( 

Wait hold on, I think I figured it out.

Willem: Are you offering complete online UDK classes for us? This is practically your home now! 

I've been looking at the pages and have a question - What if one wanted to release a game built using UDK on XBLA? Is that possible? 

starbuck

I'm unsure. I don't think UDK will build for XBox but then again Shadow Complex uses Unreal Engine 3 so ... who knows?

Zwiffle

Heh. Well, I can answer questions as I wrote a lot of the editor at one time or another. Let me know if you have tech questions or 'how to' or whatever... 

that could result in some very cool things. 

This is great news to hear, but doesn't this make the MakeSomethingUnreal contest (grand prize: UE3 license) somewhat obsolete? 

I am now excpecting a quake update in the UE3 engine :) 

Oh, I am sure there will be one. It will look like the typical misinterpreted retexturing with curves, play like Half-Life and work like Painkiller.


onetruepurple: I think that prize allows any commercial exploitation without you having to pay for it. 

Yes, the UDK download is very different from a UE3 License. No C++ source code, very different licensing terms, no direct support from the Epic team, etc. 

I was just looking at the editor now, was running a full-screen fully lit preview of DM Sanctuary on a average specced, 2 year old laptop... how did you do that? Nicely optimised for sure.

Regarding the xbla licencing, say you prototype your game using UDK. If that prototype got you through the xbla approval process, what would happen when you went to make that game? Would you then need the full
Unreal3 license? Live arcade sounds like the way to go, considering the amount of piracy on PC games / iPhone / etc, and I really hope that's gonna be an option someday! 

"I was just looking at the editor now, was running a full-screen fully lit preview of DM Sanctuary on a average specced, 2 year old laptop... how did you do that? Nicely optimised for sure."

I, personally, did nothing. The engine team kicks all kinds of ass.

As for the licensing stuff, I'm really the wrong guy to ask - sorry. I don't know the ins-and-outs or the plans the future. 

Epic takes a 30% cut of your sales once you pass $5,000 in gross when using UDK for commerical use. Not bad for a small indie team considering what a full royalty-free license costs up front. 

and of course, I don't know how to read up, and noticed we were talking about incredibly different bits of the license... :D 

Not only Infinity Ward are retard fuckwits, apparently so is John Carmac/ID Software:

"id Software's John Carmack is mindful of the anger over Modern Warfare 2 dropping dedicated server support. That's why he's glad Infinity Ward is going first, because he plans to do the same thing with Rage.

"It's not cast in stone yet, but at this point no, we don't think we will have dedicated servers," he said, according to Variety. But he's glad "we won't have to be a pioneer on that. We'll see how it works out for everyone else."

News that Infinity Ward was dropping dedicated server support in favor of everyone playing online through its new matchmaking service IWNet touched, off, predictably, a petition-fueled backlash from a PC community that had long used dedicated servers to play Call of Duty games. Carmack, Variety said, indicated the felt the servers are a relic of PC gaming's early days."

So being "not shit" is a relic? Nice. What happens when the developer takes down the matchmaking service? Oh right, you are supposed to spend your money on the newest and latest sequel, we can't have people playing our old titles, that's just silly. 

I hereby officially make a commitment to: in the future, purchase every single new PC FPS that 1) is over 90 on Metacritic 2) has an SDK 3) has dedicated servers. I also make a commitment to not spend a dime on any FPS that lacks either #2 or #3. 

I srsly doubt UE3 sdk is free. You know, the way that Quakeinjector is free. 

A) The idea of dedicated servers is somewhat outdated, and is part of what holds back PC FPS games from longer lives and stronger competitive play-base. Players having to buy and support a server leads to a one way chain of self destruction in terms of player counts as players who run servers leave the game. Contrast this to RTS games, which have always been P2P systems, and the popular games can continue to have long lives and healthy communitys. Objectively speaking, a P2P system is a stronger choice.

B) Currently, P2P networking is problematic with FPS games (mostly due to player counts), Infinity Ward's very likely not solving some of the fundimental issues of networking when you're relying on the bandwidth of everyone on the server to be up to snuff. And how do you trust anyone's info they send? A fundimental part of a server/client relationship is that the server doesn't trust the client's information on anything except basic input. Now do this with client/client... or potentially server-is-a-client/client... and well, how do you trust anything? Plus, like you said, you're relying on the company's match making service to exist forever(Battle.net is running quite fine... but there aren't many companies as fornunate as Blizzard)

C) Carmack seems to be saying he's thinking about doing this (which means it's not a certainty), and if Carmack thinks about the networking limitations, he'll likely think about solving some of the problems. And if he doesn't, well, then whatever, it's their dollar they're losing by not changing things for the better. 

A) The idea of dedicated servers is somewhat outdated, and is part of what holds back PC FPS games from longer lives and stronger competitive play-base.

Do you honestly not see how you have got this COMPLETELY backwards? I mean, seriously? If you are in fact serious and not just trying to troll me, please point me to popular P2P-based multiplayer games which have survived with a healthy community and are still going strong after 10 years. And yes, this is a Quake comparison.

Players having to buy and support a server leads to a one way chain of self destruction in terms of player counts as players who run servers leave the game.

You must have missed the fuckton of games that offer free dedicated server as a separate download. 

Starcraft 

Starcraft is sort of a special case though. It's hugely successful in Korea, where there's an entire economy set up around Starcraft progaming. They also have a hugely successful Battle.net to help provide match making + community features + hosting games. So.