News From Epic Games - March 2012 UDK Beta Released

[rexoli]

Epic Games Releases March 2012 Unreal Development Kit Beta

Epic Games, Inc. has released the March 2012 Unreal Development Kit Beta (http://download.udk.com/UDKInstall-2012-03-BETA.exe), the latest version of the free edition of Unreal Engine 3 (http://www.unrealengine.com/) that provides access to the award-winning (http://www.unrealengine.com/news/epic_games_wins_fourth_consecutive_develop_industr y_excellence_award/) 3D game engine and professional toolset used in blockbuster videogame development (http://www.unrealengine.com/showcase), architectural visualization (http://www.unrealengine.com/showcase/visualization), mobile game development (http://www.unrealengine.com/insiderblog/unreal_engine_3_on_ios_a_rising_tide_lifts_all_the _boats), 3D rendering, digital films (http://www.unrealengine.com/showcase/film_television) and more. The latest UDK beta is available now at www.udk.com/download (http://www.udk.com/download).

Unreal Engine Showcase: Amazing One-Texture Environment

http://www.udk.com/elements/img/galleries/showcase-amazing-1.jpg (http://www.udk.com/showcase-amazing-one-texture)
What can one developer achieve with a single texture and the power of UDK? Talented 3D artist Tor Frick (http://www.torfrick.com/) explains his crafty ways in this interview. Download (http://www.torfrick.com/ScifiLab.rar) the content from this cool sci-fi lab environment (http://www.udk.com/showcase-amazing) now!


We have showcases of some of the most outstanding video game, architectural visualization, and mobile apps using UDK atwww.udk.com/showcase (http://www.udk.com/showcase) and www.unrealengine.com/showcase (http://www.unrealengine.com/showcase). Also be sure to check out the Works in Progress (http://forums.epicgames.com/forumdisplay.php?f=385) and theReleased Projects (http://forums.epicgames.com/forumdisplay.php?f=386) forums.
Latest Unreal Engine 3 features overview



At the Game Developers Conference 2012, Epic revealed the latest features and tools developers use to make award-winning games big and small with Unreal Engine 3. Check out the new trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpTSK9aBP1c&hd=1)!

http://www.udk.com/elements/img/Mar2012-features.jpg (http://www.unrealengine.com/insiderblog/unreal_engine_3_features_highlight_2012/)

'Epic Citadel' for Flash released



Originally launched for iOS devices, it’s now possible to navigate the beautiful 3D citadel realms of “Epic Citadel” on the web at unrealengine.com/flash (http://www.unrealengine.com/flash/). Flash support is available to full source, commercial UE3 licensees.

http://www.udk.com/elements/img/Mar2012-citadel.jpg (http://www.unrealengine.com/flash/)
March 2012 UDK Beta Upgrade Notes

New Features and Functionality



Unreal Editor

Actors will show regardless of layer visibility when in G mode
Before using ‘autoexpandcategories,’ the property window will first check to see if layout info has been saved
New ‘Create Sub-Archetype’ feature added to Unreal Content Browser. Right-click on Archetype assets to create sub-archetypes
Sound Actors can now be found inside Content Browser


Material Editor

Added a ‘WorldPosOffset’ category to the Material Editor's context menu
Changed the material editor to only update the previews when the viewport’s real-time flag is toggled, or mouse over while the expression’s preview real-time radio box is toggled
Converting a Constant 1 Vector into a Parameter now behaves correctly
Added functionality for updating a physical material when assigning a new material interface
Material instance parameter groups no longer show up when none of the nodes in the group are connected


Post-process editor improvements

Node color now represents the linked status (green = linked, red = unlinked)
Ignores node connections of different types (has to be 1 Input and 1 Output), and reorders them accordingly
Only marks the package as dirty when the effects order has been modified


Mesh Paint: marking an actor's ‘bHidden’ flag will no longer prevent it from being painted on
Texture paint workflow automation will now allow you to duplicate textures and hook them up to a new material instance with a single button click
Refreshing the list in Unreal Frontend so it no longer looks just for additional devices, but all devices attached. This prevents devices used previously showing, even though they may no longer be connected
You can now use the ‘Screen Capture’ option in Unreal Console to take a screenshot

New and Updated UDN Pages



Mobile

http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/MobileInputSystem.html


UnrealScript

http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/UIAndHUDHome.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/GameplayProgrammingHome.html


Getting Started

http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/RecommendedHardware.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/GettingStartedProduction.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/UserGuides.html


FBX

http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/FBXMaterialPipeline.html


Misc

http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/APEXClothing.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/APEXOverview.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/CapturingCinematicsAndGameplay.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/PostProcessAA.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/ParticleUVFlipping.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/ImportingFonts.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/PerformanceHome.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/PerfStats.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/GameplayPerformanceOptimization.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/WebHome.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/SettingUpScaleformGFx.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/ContentBlog.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/RemoteControl.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/TechnicalHome.html

[XilenceX]

hmm the last few updates where kind of hinting at it but now it sure seems like UDK updates have lost momentum. I thought that was because of the flash implementation into it but the release notes kinda suggest otherwise. heh

[Jetfire]

Hardly, the previous one to this was one of the most valueable to my team yet :)

[Black_Stormy]

Can't I just update my UDK instead of downloading the whole program again?

[collix]

Can't I just update my UDK instead of downloading the whole program again?
Nope, you have to download each version seperately, because some versions might break other versions.