Boot Flow / Game Flow template / Starter Questions

[taxial]

Hey there, I've been researching the iOS / UDK stuff and I'm really seeing the potential here. I'm a bit overwhelmed though and am having a difficult time trying figure out where to start. I've read through and watched a bunch of tutorials, and have gone back to the UT3 tutorials as well but still am not finding any great info on how to help me create the full package. I'm hoping I'm just looking in the wrong places and somebody here can help me out. Here is what I'm trying to accomplish:

Create the structure of a game for iOS

Game Launcher - exists by default thanks to UDK?
Boot Flow - Legal Screens - etc.
Front End - Menus - Save / Load - Options
Level / Game loader
Level progression (load level, show scene, gameplay, once level is done show menu, unload, and load the next level, show scene, rinse and repeat)
End Game - Menu - Restart - Return to FE.

My understanding is that this is all done for me thanks to UDK, but it's not obvious.

I'm not looking for insight into what goes into the FE / Legal Screens / Levels / etc. I'm just a bit foggy how I can make this into a template package that won't just be good for my first time through. I'd like to reuse my flow. I think Kismet is my friend here. But I'm just not sure. I really don't know where to start.

Once that is complete then I want to start looking into working on the actual game. No rush on that. My apologies in advance if this core information is right under my nose and I'm just not seeing it. If you get where I'm coming from and have the time to point me in the right direction on how I can learn to create a game flow structure it'd be great!

Thanks

[aZzy]

Yea most of this is done by UDK for you, you just have to 'make' UDK do it for you. The packager packages all the files it needs and makes an installer for your game and from that makes the launcher.

Menues, Save/load all have to be programmed in but it really isnt that hard if you cotton on to some tutorials.

Level loader, not sure what you mean but you can make it to hit a trigger and it closes one level and spawns you on the next.
Level progression is same as previous sentence.

UDK is an amazing engine. It is daunting for beginners at first but i have found it one of the most friendly engines out there. The community here is great and are always willing to help you out if you want to help yourself.(not just ask for code all day long)

I would start by making the basics of your game and then move onto the menus etc later. Get to know the engine by doing the basics or get some tutorials and twist the tutorials to see what you can do. My theory, the more errors you get at the start, the more knowledge you'll have in the end.

Good luck and i hope i covered some of your questions. There are ALOT of more experienced guys on these forums and they will help you out more then i can.

Take it easy,
aZzy

[tegleg]

for this game flow structure you need to have an idea of what you want to achieve.
if its just changing levels kismet can do that (level streaming).
a lot can be done with kismet for level specific things, like doors and what have you.
but you will have to do some scripting if you want a different game to UT.
for menus you will have to learn the pain that is called flash, if you want to use scaleform. or you can use canvas if you value your sanity.
cut scenes are done with matanee.
packaging and everything is done for you through the FrontEnd.

this is a good tutorial to familiarise yourelf with the engine, do this one first.
http://www.hourences.com/an-entire-simple-udk-game/

and this one is ios specific
http://forums.epicgames.com/showthread.php?t=754555

when i first started messing around with udk it seemed easy, but the more you dig into the engine, the more complex it becomes.
have at least a vague plan and take it 1 step at a time.
the very best of luck.

[SwizzleFish]

if its just changing levels kismet can do that (level streaming).

Quick check, Does level streaming work in the Mobile build? Same workflow?

for menus you will have to learn the pain that is called flash, if you want to use scaleform.

This does not work in the iOS/mobile build, correct? I was under the assumption that you had to use a different method. (Only brought up due to this being in the IOS section)

[cybser]

Correct, You'll need to use Canvas. iOS doesn't support Flash..

[aZzy]

You can wait a bit for the next scaleform to come out. It is for iOS and I'm pretty sure it uses AS3.0 which is much much better then 2.0

[gotthorm]

Hi.

I'm brand new to UDK.

I am also looking for a good explanation or example on how to set up the high level framework for an IOS game. I have been digging through the forums and reading some online docs and I will relate my best guess, anyone that can correct or build on this please do.

You build a map as your front end. You use Kismet to control the flow through the front end: Splash => MainMenu <=> Credits <=> Settings
Not clear on this, but should you use the level streaming mechanism to transition back and forth from one screen to another, or a simple on off control handled by Kismet? ie all screens simutaneously exist but are invisible until activated?

When the user chooses to play the actual game, Kismet transitions to a new map? Can Kismet do this? What functionality can be used to create a loading screen?

From what I understand, kismet code is stored in each map. If you had 10 maps, would you duplicate common code like pausemeu mechanism? Or would you have one master map that uses the level streaming support to load the appropiate portion, thereby allowing you to use one kismet code base for all world data?

On a side note, one thing that is bugging me about UDK is, it seems you have to modify global configuration files like default.ini How do people handle working on multiple games at once? Is there some way to setup the environment so that the configurations of multiple games will not conflict with each other?

Cheers.

Sean

[Shykat_Games]

The best way I have found to look at it is that your UDK installation IS your game. If you are really needing to work on 2 different games, use 2 installs. If you use SVN, you could store your UDK changes and additions for each game in their own branch.

-E