Synopses & Reviews
These days, the games industry is a multi-billion-dollar business. In this competitive marketplace, developers seek to gain an advantage over the competition by using ready-made, third-party tools and engines that enable them to quickly design high-powered games. One such tool is the Unreal Development Kit, or UDK, created by Epic Games. With the freely downloadable UDK, game developers can turn their existing graphics, sounds, ideas, concepts, and plans into fully working and cohesive games. UDK™ GAME DEVELOPMENT is written with newcomers to the UDK in mind. It is arranged so that each of the core foundational UDK components is considered in depth and one by one, in the best order in which to tackle them. Reading this book, you'll explore such key topics as meshes, materials, textures, sounds, and lights. As you do, you'll discover how to build a number of levels, or mini-games, that feature music, animated characters, weapons, destructible scenery, lighting effects, particle systems, and more. After reading this book from cover to cover, you'll have a firm grasp of UDK essentials. A companion Web site contains all the UDK levels constructed in this book, source code for the UnrealScript language, and material and mesh files.
Synopsis
Discover the versatility and simplicity of the highly popular, powerful Unreal Development Kit (UDK) game development engine with the clear, project-based approach in UDK GAME DEVELOPMENT. This comprehensive, step-by-step book assumes the reader has no previous experience with the UDK engine. The book's thorough presentation guides readers from an initial introduction to the capabilities of this suite of professional-grade tools to proficiency, confidence and mastery of the UDK technology.Readers learn to maximize the capabilities of this increasingly popular game engine that powers so many of today's high powered games for a variety of popular platforms. The book uses a clear writing style to present all of the details necessary to develop confidence with the UDK, including the world editor and its user interface -- Unreal Script -- importing geometry from third-party applications, managing game assets, real-time lighting, and cinematics. The book also focuses on project-based training by walking readers through the implementation of a game using the UDK. This concise and approachable introduction helps readers jumpstart their careers as they learn to develop outstanding UDK-based games that stand apart.
About the Author
Alan Thorn is a London-based game developer, freelance programmer, and author with more than 13 years of industry experience. He founded the game studio Wax Lyrical Games in 2010 and is the creator of the award-winning game Baron Wittard: Nemesis of Ragnarok. He is the author of ten video training courses and thirteen books on game development, including Practical Game Development with Unity and Blender and UDK Game Development. Alan has worked freelance on more than 500 projects, including games, simulators, kiosks, serious games, and augmented reality software for game studios, museums, and theme parks worldwide. He is currently working on an upcoming 2D-adventure game, Mega Bad Code, for desktop computers and mobile devices.
Table of Contents
Part I: GETTING STARTED. Introduction. Introducing the UDK (Unreal Development Kit). Getting to know the User Interface. Building a Simple First Project. Part II: UDK ESSENTIALS. Beginning with Unreal Script. Taking Unreal Script Further. Managing Game Assets with the UDK. Geometry - Building Game Worlds. Lighting - Creating Atmosphere. Materials - Giving Spark to Geometry. Sounds - Feedback and Details. Particles - Creating Special Effects. User Interfaces - Responding to User Commands. Part III: BUILDING A PROJECT (THE NEXUS GAME). Designing and Planning The Nexus. Importing Assets and Designing Worlds. Cinematics and Physics. Scripting the Nexus with Unreal Script. Finalizing and Testing. Conclusion. Glossary. Index. Appendices.