Epic Games releases Unreal Development Kit

As some of you might have noticed, Epic Games has been generous and released a platform to create games independent of other UnrealEngine 3(.5) games. Step into Unreal Development Kit, the game engine to change the indie-games world.

Remember UE2 Runtime?

UDK is essentially the same as UE2 runtime, allowing developers to create their own worlds and technologies free of charge. The difference? You’re allowed to distribute and even sell games and other software made with the UDK, as UE2 Runtime is limited to educational use.

Essentially UDK is the kit Epic Games and other licensees use to create their games. You get everything they get, excluding the C++ source code (although you could create C++ “plugins” with a feature called DLLBind, which allows you to execute .dll files along side Unrealscript). You’re free to create anything you can with the engine, as long as it is fit with the EULA and you’re not using illegal assets in the software.

If you’re familiar with creating total conversions and modifications in Unreal Tournament 3 (or any other UnrealEngine 3 game), the jump to UDK isn’t that bad, as the workflow is essentially the same. You’re allowed to use the UT3 related code shipped with UDK in your projects, with no eye on whether the project is commercial or not.

The community on Epic Games community forums is already very active and projects are sprunging out everywhere. UDK is also updated with monthly builds, latest being the January beta version.

As a secret between us I have begun working on a roleplaying game prototype on UDK as an evening hobby. We’ll see how it turns out.