Unreal Development Kit Game Design Cookbook explores how real-time environments are built. Key features of UDK are examined—assets, animation, light, materials, game controls, user interface, special effects, and interactivity—with the objective to make UDK more technically accessible so that 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, based upon creative, extensive demonstrations.
Chapter 1, Heads Up—UDK Interface Essentials will get you started with UDK, discussing some very easy to follow procedures, glancing over the interface, UI conventions, level building, and even testing the level in PC or iOS, and packaging it to send it out into the world.
Chapter 2, Notes From an Unreal World—Constructing Game World Elements will discuss some of UDK's more important content generation principles.
Chapter 3, It Lives!—Character Setup and Animation shows you how to make your character's movements more life-like using ActorX and FBX, allowing you to create fully customized, animated character performances.
Chapter 4, Got Your Wires Crossed?—Visual Scripting of Gameplay in Kismet deals with Kismet, its UI, and all the wild scenarios that level designers can use to allow actors and objects to act and react in their scene with functionality driven by events and actions.
Chapter 5, It Is Your Destiny!—Scripting Complex Gameplay Flow in Kismet is more about Kismet, showing you how to do more with gameplay such as casting spells, interacting with Bots, and creating level checkpoints.
Chapter 6, Under The Hood—Configuration and Handy Tweaks for UDK contains lessons in adjusting configuration, scripts, and even supplying additional actors and Kismet actions.
Chapter 7, Hi, I'm Eye Candy!—Ways to Create and Use Particle Effects will teach you about the VFX editor Cascade and its myriad of features. You will learn how to use Emitters and Particles to enhance the artwork in your level.
Chapter 8, Then There Was Light!—Manipulating Level Light and Shadows will cover Post Process and everything to do with lighting, shadows, and how they can bring your environments to life.
Chapter 9, The Devil Is In the Details!—Making the Most of Materials unravels some of the Material Editor's deepest, darkest secrets, showing you how to create slick surfaces which radiate attention to detail.
Chapter 10, The Way Of The Flash UI—Scaleform, CLIK, and Flash Interfaces discusses ways to use Flash animation and more to make your UI more vibrant.
More on CLIK, ActionScript, dialog boxes, and menu functionality, as well as creating an animated day-to-night transition is available as a free download at: http://www.packtpub.com/sites/default/files/downloads/1802EXP_Unreal_Development_Kit_Game_Design_Cookbook_Bonus_Recipes.pdf.
A PDF file containing colored screenshots used in this book is available for download at http://www.packtpub.com/sites/default/files/downloads/1802EXP_Unreal_Development_Kit_Game_Design_Cookbook_ColoredImages.pdf.