Epic Games' UDK

[kynt]

Don't know if anyone knows this, but Epic Games has released an Unreal Engine 3 development kit. Just wanted some input from the main people involved with HDTP and OTP in general.

Would this be a viable way to "port" DX to Unreal 3?

Sorry, I lurk much, much more than I post. I've been following the HDTP project for quite some time.

Here's a link: http://www.udk.com/index.html

Thanks!

[Jetsetlemming]

Would this be a viable way to "port" DX to Unreal 3?

No, the UDK doesn't come with source code access, and working in UE3 to recreate a full commercial game is lightyears beyond what any fan group could actually pull off.

[Trestkon]

Would this be a viable way to "port" DX to Unreal 3?

No, the UDK doesn't come with source code access, and working in UE3 to recreate a full commercial game is lightyears beyond what any fan group could actually pull off.

That's not quite true. As far as I know there's no reason you'd need the source code. Of course, it would indeed be a massive amount of work, but it could, technically, be done.

[DaveW]

Would this be a viable way to "port" DX to Unreal 3?

No, the UDK doesn't come with source code access, and working in UE3 to recreate a full commercial game is lightyears beyond what any fan group could actually pull off.

Deus Ex Reborn?

Not that UE3 is really a viable option for that, seeing as pretty much all the code would need re-doing - but still.

[justanotherfan]

The maps, textures, models, etc. AFAIK can be imported. The audio can be converted and imported. It takes coding to create a Unreal mod what adds functionality like the security camera panels, flags, dialogs, nanokeys, and other interface stuff.

I had seen this UDK thing in the news, and wondered how it would facilitate a DX port myself.

Akerfeldt said that Deus Ex Reborn _could_ be ported to Unreal 3, but it would require rewriting most of the code anyway. In 2008 "If I were ever to port DX again, I'd likely port it to crysis over ut3. This is very likely to be the last port I ever do though". Going to be the fourth anniversary of DXR soon.

[Hashi]

sounds good, i shall start on it immediately

[Jetsetlemming]

That's not quite true. As far as I know there's no reason you'd need the source code. Of course, it would indeed be a massive amount of work, but it could, technically, be done.

Deus Ex required source code access to be changed from UT99.
I have no idea if modern Uscript is powerful enough to actually turn the game into an RPG. That'd be pretty stunning.

[justanotherfan]

You'd have to ask Akerfeldt. He seemed completely certain, and fairly far along in the development process. Last I remember, he guessed one could play Deus Ex from start to finish in DXR, though it was incomplete.

Still, he hasn't posted here since March, and not in the DXR forum since May. I've been making some questioning and even negative posts to provoke a response, but it's been quiet. I think the UScript coding for creating DX is difficult. Maybe this UDK thing would make it far easier to code in Unreal 3.

[DaveW]

IIRC, UScript has become way more powerful through the engines, you can do a lot with it with UEngine 2 so UEngine 3 is probably really powerful.

[Trasher]

UE2 Engine is enough for me. Who cares for all those nice features that UT3 can give you? All the necessary stuff you need is in UE2. Also, one thing which is good about UE2 is, that most people can play it without any problems. As for UT3, many people dont have PC that's good enough to enjoy the max of it with high frames. Besides, we already got New Vision(and HDTP) to make the game look more awesome.

I think it's too greedy to want DX imported for UT3. There's gotta be a line somewhere.



anyway, just my thoughts. Peace

[DaveW]

Actually UE3 would be a brilliant engine to port to. Those extra graphical features are just what Deus Ex needs, because in reality UE2 offers very little extra over UE1 - shadows and smoothing groups (if models are imported properly) - that's about it.

On the other hand, UE3 can offer shaders, lots of dynamic lighting, and with the UDK it'd be easier to find people who can play it.

[Jetsetlemming]

UE2 Engine is enough for me. Who cares for all those nice features that UT3 can give you?

http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/Lightmass.html

I do, I do!

[justanotherfan]

UT2004 is a huge upgrade from UT. UT is a decade old. My interest was in that UT2004 is easier to mod, so we'd see more general progress in the DX upgrade movement (HDTP, Shifter, NV...). There's tons of advantages, since it'll look better, sound better (fender2k1), and work better; I can't even play DX right now because the dualcore/speedstep fix under WINE is so hacky it doesn't work here. Beyond that, disconnecting Deus Ex from deusex.exe makes future ports easier.

I'd prefer UT3 as well. Better graphics, HDR, physics, DivX, powerful AI (AI Implant and Kynapse), and there's even FaceFX to finally get DeusEx characters to lipsync properly. UT2004 is old. I joined here in 2005. Still, I'd rather have it than a UT3 port years after. They look comparable, and gameplay is very similar. It would be a huge upgrade, but it's not crucial.

If anyone knows what they're doing in the Unreal 3 engine, maybe take a look around, and see if a port is now more feasible. I'm sure DXR would donate imported/converted artwork and assets to a serious porting project. Akerfeldt is busy now, but since new people weren't invited to join the project, a simultaneous parallel porting project couldn't hurt.

[DaveW]

I think any UT3 port would need imported HDTP assets, tweaked to work properly with new shaders (Normal maps and the like). It's a bloody big job on top of all the coding.

As cool as it'd be, I don't think anyone would go to the effort of doing it. I'd be tempted to just leave Deus Ex to UE2 if we can get it that far.

[Dead-eye]

I have looked into this before and last I checked the copyright doesn't allow for it. You need to use UT3 if you want to port Deus Ex to Unreal ED 3.