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An intermediate, fast-paced UDK guide for game artists
The quickest way to face the challenges of game design with UDK
All the necessary steps to get your artwork up and running in game
Part of Packt´s Cookbook series: Each recipe is a carefully organized sequence of instructions to complete the task as efficiently as possible



Who This Book Is For

This book is meant for game artists who are getting used to UDK but may feel the need for guidance on matters of implementation. It also targets brave beginners who are struggling to find an all in one package for getting started with UDK, and want a ready to hand reference. Level designers can use this book to gauge their understanding of the editor, check for specific problems, and discover gems they may not have come across before.

Table of Contents

1: HEADS UP-UDK INTERFACE ESSENTIALS
2: NOTES FROM AN UNREAL WORLD-CONSTRUCTING GAME WORLD ELEMENTS
3: IT LIVES!-CHARACTER SETUP AND ANIMATION
4: GOT YOUR WIRES CROSSED?-VISUAL SCRIPTING OF GAMEPLAY IN KISMET
5: IT IS YOUR DESTINY!-SCRIPTING COMPLEX GAMEPLAY FLOW IN KISMET
6: UNDER THE HOOD-CONFIGURATION AND HANDY TWEAKS FOR UDK
7: HI, I´M EYE CANDY!-WAYS TO CREATE AND USE PARTICLE EFFECTS
8: THEN THERE WAS LIGHT!-MANIPULATING LEVEL LIGHT AND SHADOWS
9: THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS!-MAKING THE MOST OF MATERIALS
10: THE WAY OF THE FLASH UI-SCALEFORM, CLIK, AND FLASH INTERFACES
What You Will Learn

Insights on essential editor functionality
Handling of custom assets
Assigning properties to level content
Determining the best approach to lighting
Setting up custom character assets
Implementing classes that handle your character´s behavior
Required steps to configure UDK to work well for your game
The functionality of Kismet to drive events and actions
Ways to use Cascade to create impressive visual effects
The essentials of UI design with Scaleform and Flash
Handling of material editor networks
Ways to introduce animation into your level design


In Detail

UDK is a free, world class game editing tool and being so powerful it can be daunting to learn. This guide offers an excellent set of targeted recipes to help game artists get up to speed with game designing in UDK.

Unreal Development Kit Game Design Cookbook contains everything you need to jumpstart your game design efforts. The lessons are aimed squarely at the artist´s field of production, with recipes on asset handling, creating content within the editor, animation and visual scripting to get the content working in gameplay.

Unreal Game Development Kit Game Design Cookbook exposes how real-time environments are built using UDK tools. Key features are examined - assets, animation, light, materials, game controls, user interface, special effects, and game interactivity - with the view of making UDK technically accessible so users can transcend technique and focus on their creative design process. The book has well prepared recipes for level designers and artists of all levels. It covers core design tools and processes in the editor, particularly setting up characters, UI approaches, configuration and scripting gameplay. It is a technical guide that allows game artists to go beyond just creating assets, and it includes creative, extensive demonstrations that extend on mere functionality.

Authors

Thomas Mooney

Thomas Mooney grew up in New Zealand. He now lives in a jungle with squashed frogs, mosquitoes, and regular thunderstorms and power cuts. He is a lecturer in design and also works as an artist. You can learn more about his work at www.tomofnz.com. Tom tends to work, play, teach, and sit around all day with computers, and also likes to do comics, films, maps, screenplays, novels, storyboards, and iPad doodles. His book Unreal Development Kit Game Design Cookbook, Packt Publishing was published earlier in 2012.