Epic Games has launched the Unreal Development Kit (UDK), a free edition of Unreal Engine 3 that provides community access to the game development toolset. The software is available to game developers, students, hobbyists, researchers, creators of 3D visualizations and simulations, and digital filmmakers. Anyone interested in using the Unreal Engine 3 toolset can download it now at www.udk.com. The site also offers detailed product features, technical documentation, commercial licensing terms, support resources and more.
There is no charge for noncommercial or educational use of UDK. Over 100 campuses are already using Unreal Technology as part of teaching game development-related courses. Colleges planning to incorporate UDK into their curriculum include the University of Pennsylvania, North Carolina State University, The Art Institute system of schools, Drexel University, Westwood College, DeVry University and Atlantic College, with many others to be announced.
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Shadow Complex now on Xbox Live Arcade
Epic Games’ Chair Entertainment and Microsoft have released Shadow Complex on Xbox Live Arcade today - along with a trial version of the game. If you don’t buy the whole game you at the very least should check out the trial. Shadow Complex is a modern take on the classic side-scrolling shooter with cutting-edge gameplay provided by Unreal Engine 3, an original story set in the world of Orson Scott Card’s bestselling Empire novel. Comic book author Peter David, whose has worked on such franchises as Incredible Hulk, Spiderman, Star Trek, and X-Factor, developed the game’s original new story, which runs parallel to Card’s Empire novel and sets up the events in the sequel Hidden Empire.
In the game players collect power-ups and weapons, discover new abilities and evolve their character to be more agile, strong and dangerous. Besides the single-player adventure, there are a series of time-based side-challenges in Proving Grounds, which allow players to hone their skills as they compete for top placement on the leaderboards.
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Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad announced
1C Company and Tripwire Interactive have teamed up for the sequel to Red Orchestra, the popular multiplayer WWII shooter for the PC that began as a Half-Life mod. Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad will take the Red Orchestra franchise into the next generation of gaming with the promise of cutting edge graphics and audio built using the Unreal Engine 3 new features and streamlined realism will deliver an unrivalled WWII experience.
Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad will focus on the Battle of Stalingrad from both sides - German and Russian, from July 1942 to February 1943. The game allows the player to experience one of the most brutal battles in all of human history. The game consists out of two campaigns - the Red Army and German missions.
New features include all new multiplayer game types like Firefight and Countdown, persistent stat tracking and player progression (grow in rank, earn medals, improve abilities, etc.), become a hero (players with hero status inspire troops, cause fear in the enemy ranks and have access to the best and rarest weapons and equipment), a new first person cover system, squad commands, rfined WWII weaponry, and a new morale system.
Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad will be shown at Gamescom 2009 (Cologne, Germany) in 1C’s booth located in Hall 4 booth C-021.
For more information check out www.HeroesofStalingrad.com.
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Huxley headlines ijji.com’s E3 line-up
ijji.com will be at E3 in the first week of June showing off its latest slate of titles, if you’re interested in Eastern-themed massively multiplayer games. The most notable of its titles is Huxley: The Dystopia. The Unreal Engine 3-powered Huxley combines the twitch-based fast-action game play of a shooter with the character development and persistent world of an MMO. Visitors to ijji.com’s booth will be able to experience Huxley: The Dystopia for the first time with a hands-on demo.
In addition to hands-on time with Huxley: The Dystopia, ijji.com’s E3 presentation will include Soul of the Ultimate Nation - a fantasy massively multi-player online role-playing game, and a sneak peek at a new multiplayer online FPS with an alternate World War II storyline set in a Europe t still in the grip of WWII and under German control.
Executives from NHN USA/ijji.com and project managers for each game will be on hand at E3 to take meetings June 2-4 in the company’s meeting room, #4533 in the West Hall of the Los Angeles Convention Center.
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CrimeCraft beta test launches
Those interested in participating in Vogster Entertainment’s CrimeCraft closed beta program can begin signing up now at www.crimecraft.com. The first public hands-on test drive of CrimeCraft, a persistent world, gang-based shooter for PC, officially kicked off this week for all registered users. Additional beta slots will open on an ongoing basis throughout the summer to registered and participants. CrimeCraft is slated to ship for PC on August 25, 2009.
CrimeCraft blends a shooter experience with community and role-playing elements found in massively multi-player games. CrimeCraft is set in a fictional city of the near future, following an ecological disaster, where the price of life is far less valuable than one’s reputation. Well that’s the story anyway. The game, like many other persistent world shooters on the market or heading to market later this year, is powered by unreal Engine 3. This engine seems to be the top choice for those trying to enter into this sub-genre of pseudo MMOs.
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Dark Void Composer Interview
G4tv.com has an interesting video interview with music composer Bear McCreary about his work on the music for Capcom’s Dark Void. If the name doesn’t sound familiar, don’t worry - the music he’s helped create for such TV series as Battlestar Galactica and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles should be.
Dark Void is being developed by Airtight Games and published by Capcom. The game is an action title being developed using Epic’s Unreal Engine 3 and will be released for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Windows. Check the interview out below:
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Huxley Closed Beta Sign-Ups Opened
You may have assumed that the first person MMO shooter Huxley, was dead. The game was under the Webzen banner before that company had some troubles and the developers moved on the greener pastures. But Huxley hasn’t gone away at all - the game has been in development for quite some time and is now heading into the closed beta phase on NHN USA’s game portal ijji.com. Those interested in checking out this Unreal 3 engine powered shooter should visit the aforementioned link and sign up now.
Huxley: The Dystopia is a combination of massively multiplayer online (MMO) game character development elements and the twitch-based action of an Unreal Engine 3-based first person shooter (FPS). Players are thrust into a world where they must align themselves with one of two races, Sapiens or Alternatives, in the battle to harness meager resources in a war-torn land. Game play is endlessly peppered with attacks from and against the Hybrid, a mysterious third group born of the two races.
We wish them luck with this game, but first-person shooter-based MMO’s seem to be cursed. Games like PlanetSide and Tabula Rasa have failed to capture the hearts and minds of gamers. One thing Huxley and other emerging shooter MMO’s have going for it is a free-to-play model with micro-transactions. But will the game being free be enough to bring players in and keep them playing. That I’m not sure of.
The games we're pulling together in this feature won't appear on any of those best-of lists and get confused looks when you mention them in conversation. Just because time has forgotten these titles, though, doesn't mean you should forget them, too.
