BUILD | GAME ENGINES EPIC DIARIES
WHEN Epic Games began licensing Unreal Engine 3, the thought of mobile hardware running such advanced technology was merely a dream. Over the past year, the reality of this aspiration has been demonstrated over and over again. The release of the engine’s best- in-class OS features, especially through the wide availability of the Unreal Development Kit, has enabled developers – including our own studio, ChAIR Entertainment – to reap the rewards of shipping high-quality games for Apple’s world-class gaming platform. In December, ChAIR Entertainment
released Infinity Blade II, the successor to the bestselling App Store mega-hit. At the time of writing, Infinity Blade II is enjoying critical acclaim, with more than a dozen perfect review scores from select media. Within hours of its release, Infinity Blade II became the number one paid and number one grossing app in the App Store worldwide. The first Infinity Blade game has enjoyed long- lived success, even reappearing on the list of the top 10 grossing apps a full year after launch.
THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS In addition to Infinity Blade’s success, full source UE3 licensees and UDK developers have recently emerged victorious on the App Store with commercially successful games for iOS.
Even in the midst of exciting product
launches such as Infinity Blade II, Epic’s engineering team continues to make enhancements to the Unreal Engine.
Fans of Batman: Arkham City hoping to experience its stellar visuals and gameplay on iOS need to look no further than Arkham City Lockdown. Published by Warner Brothers and
developed by NetherRealm, the same talented UE3 studio behind Mortal Kombat, Arkham City Lockdownis an incredible-looking brawler in which players deliver powerful combat moves via touch and swipe controls. Phosphor recently released The Dark
Meadow, which immediately cracked the top ten iPhone and iPad sales charts, launching as an App Store Game of the Week. Developed with UE3, The Dark Meadowis a gorgeous action game that combines exploration, dark humor and horror.
Mark Rein turns his attention to the Unreal Engine 3 and UDK-made highlights currenty fascinating iOS gamers
In addition, Uppercut Games has captured the fun of robot combat on touch-screen devices with EPOCH, which launched in November as Game of the Week on the App Store, as well. Media outlet
SlideToPlay.com even crowned EPOCH its Game of the Month, saying: “Uppercut Games has delivered a stylish, original shooter, starring a nimble, lovable robot that’s armed to the teeth.” Praised for its steampunk visuals and fun multiplayer options, Emotional Robots’ Warm Gun was developed entirely with UDK and is available on the App Store. Another gorgeous game,Desert Zombie: Last Stand for iOS, is quickly gaining popularity. Crystalised production manager Cam Phillips remarked of the free UE3 toolset: “UDK is an industry leading, triple-A games engine that’s been made accessible to smaller development houses with a royalty-based licensing deal. No other engine on the market can compete with UDK on mobile platforms.”
UE3 CONTINUES TO EVOLVE Even in the midst of exciting product launches such as Infinity Blade II, Epic’s engineering team continues to make strides with enhancements to the Unreal Engine. UE3 now ships with Scaleform 4.0, and includes support for both ActionScript 2 and ActionScript 3.
To discuss anything raised in this column or general licensing opportunities for Epic Games’ Unreal Engine, contact:
mrein@epicgames.com
FOR RECRUITMENT OPPORTUNITIES PLEASE VISIT:
www.epicgames.com/epic_jobs.html
56 | FEBRUARY 2012
The universally praised Scaleform 4.0 makes it easy for developers to create menus, UI elements and 2D graphics for modern 3D games. UI designers can quickly become
productive using familiar and mature tools such as Adobe Creative Suite. Full source licensees have access to
Scaleform 4.0 for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and Scaleform 4.0 features are available for PC to all UDK users as well. In addition, Epic is bringing Scaleform 4.0
functionality to iOS, which will equip UE3 developers with powerful SWF rendering for their iPhone, iPad and iPod touch games.
upcoming epic attended events:
DICE Summit Las Vegas, US February 8th to 10th, 2012
GDC 2012 San Francisco, US March 5th to 9th, 2012
Gadget Show Live Birmingham, UK April 11th to 15th, 2012
Please email:
licensing@epicgames.comfor appointments.
Canadian-born Mark Rein is vice president and co-founder of Epic Games based in Cary, NC. Epic’s Unreal Engine 3 has won Game Developer magazine’s Best Engine Front Line Award five times along with entry into the Hall of Fame. UE3 has won four consecutive Develop Industry Excellence Awards. Epic is the creator of the mega-hit Unreal series of games and the blockbuster Gears of War franchise. Follow @MarkRein on Twitter.
Like its hugely successful forebearer, ChAIR Entertainment’s Infinity Blade II has set a benchmark for triple-A on mobile devices
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76