Rapid Prototyping using UDK Munjuluri Chaitanya Game Architect Sierra Atlantic – A division of Hitachi Consulting Corporation

About this talk Broadly introduce various tools in UDK Share experiences Not a tutorial on UDK/Unreal Engine Talk about specific productivity gains Talk about the disclaimer

Agenda Introduction Various tools Timelines Pros and Cons Suggestions/Hints

Introduction About Sierra Atlantic About Gaming Vertical About the game Sierra Atlantic is a division of Hitachi Consulting Gaming Vertical within SA is 150 strong. We have made multiple games on multiple platforms – NDS, iOS and Android, Facebook The game is a playable demo for making high end games on mobile devices (currently iPad) The game is not yet balanced Motivation: Share experiences and provide you with an alternative What is UDK?

That’s the name of the working prototype

Concept Art

The mandatory graph Don’t we all want to do things faster? Isn’t that the graph everyone wants to see? Communication is the biggest hurdle Then why don’t people invest in tools (keeping costs within the range)? Took us a total of 4 weeks to get this game up and running (including training and learning) Typically an idea takes 5-6 hrs to implement

Tools of trade

Kismet Quick fire idea prototyping Visual Coding Eliminates the need for programmers to listen, understand, develop an Quick fire idea prototyping Visual Coding Technical Artist Friendly Complete game play implementation

Material Editor Material editor generates a shader for the target platform Incredibly useful when generating target specific shaders (cooking) Incredibly useful for artists Material editor generates a shader for the target platform Incredibly useful when generating target specific shaders (cooking) Incredibly useful for artists

Matinee Material parameter’s controllability. Building animated sequences such as sliding doors, pop ups etc… Camera sequences Linking with kismet for execution

Audio Editing Flexibility Enriched Audio experience. Easy snap and link Script control. Easy kismet linking.

Unreal script High-level programming language Java like syntax Perfect for state machines Tight integration with editor and Kismet Serialization Network integration Execution speed The only programming interface for UDK Execution speed is as much as 20x slower compared to C++ Having said that, go and implement a state machine in C++ - all the best and have fun

Compiling, Cooking, Packaging and Deploying Save packages in an optimal format Packaging for distribution Packaged game to connected mobile devices

Pitfalls Too much “stuff” Starting point Platforms and computing power Facebook Quality pressures Competition – Unity, CryEngine

Suggestions Use Unrealscript when you want a new node Use Kismet to rapidly develop/rule out your ideas Multi sub-object materials Shader complexity Dynamic vs Static Lighting The “foreach” trap Single vs grouped objects (collision, render calls) Fill rate issues with particles Number of objects (cull distance, visibility range) Design level in UnrealEd, model/texture objects elsewhere

My colleagues are available to answer them offline too Thank you & Questions My colleagues are available to answer them offline too Haven’t we all heard – “I have a brilliant idea I want someone else to develop it for me”. Now you have one less excuse