Book Image

Unreal Development Kit Beginner's Guide

By : Richard Moore
Book Image

Unreal Development Kit Beginner's Guide

By: Richard Moore

Overview of this book

Unreal Development Kit (UDK) is the free version of the award-winning Unreal Engine 3. It is used to create a wide variety of games ranging from amateur to professional standard next generation AAA titles. This book will show you exactly how to create an enjoyable and immersive game environment using the UDK. You will learn how to implement, level design, lighting, environmental effects, movement, terrain, map creation, item placement, kismet, materials and complex event sequences. You will work through the level design process from navigating round the editor to learning how to develop a fully playable environment. You will quickly master all of the engine’s key tools that are accessible through Unreal Engine 3. You will then start putting together your first level using step-by-step instructions. Next we will implement real world features such as dynamic lighting and shadows, particle effects, physics, terrain, item placement and advanced AI/bot pathing. Finally you will learn how to use UDK’s cutting edge high level scripting. By the end of this book you will be equipped with the skills to create an entertaining and imaginative game world.
Table of Contents (17 chapters)
Unreal Development Kit 3
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Pop Quiz Answers
Index

Content browser


Content browser is where you will find off the game's assets. Placing static meshes (models), textures, sounds, and game entities such as player starts, weapons, and so on, can all be done through the content browser. You will be using the content browser very often. To open the content browser click on the top menu bar, as shown in the following screenshot:

Packages are where you will find specific items contained within the UDK. Things such as static meshes are contained within a package. You can search for a package, or just find the package you want to use and select it as shown in the following screenshot:

The top of the content browser contains a search box as well as a filter box. This is very useful. You can sort out the content in the browser by animation sets, material instances, static meshes, sounds, and so on. This helps a lot when looking for items. The next screenshot lists full names of the items within a selected package. You can sort by clicking on the Name, Type, Tags, or Path fields, and it will re-arrange the content's preview:

The content browser is one of the most commonly used tools in UDK. Get comfortable using the content browser. Spend some time navigating around it. UDK basics covers the most essential tools and functions you need to know to get started with UDK. You'll be able to quickly jump into UDK and begin feeling comfortable using the most commonly used functions.

What just happened?

So we know how to launch the editor, how to use the Autosave function, and where to find the content browser. We are now going to look at how to move and rotate around the editor.