Mastering Unreal Technology, Volume I: Introduction to Level Design with Unreal Engine 3 [Paperback]

Jason Busby (Author), Zak Parrish (Author), Jeff Wilson (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0672329913 | ISBN-13: 978-0672329913 | Publication Date: July 31, 2009 | Edition: 1

Mastering Unreal Technology, Volume I: Introduction to Level Design with Unreal Engine 3 is your start-to-finish guide to modding and level design with the world’s hottest new gaming engine: Unreal Engine 3. Here’s everything you need to know to jumpstart your skills and create stunning new content and games for consoles and PCs alike! Your authors aren’t just the world’s #1 Unreal game development trainers: They’ve even built the training modules that shipped with Unreal Tournament 3: Limited Collector’s Edition. Now, working with the full cooperation of Unreal Engine 3’s creators, Epic Games, they introduce every facet of game development—from simple level creation to materials, lighting, and terrain...even advanced level optimization and streaming!

 

Packed with tips, hands-on tutorials, and expert techniques, Mastering Unreal Technology, Volume I is all you need to create levels that look spectacular and work brilliantly...levels that gamers just can’t stop playing!

 

You’ll find expert tips on

• Understanding the game development process from start to finish
• Planning projects for greater efficiency, faster delivery, and better quality
• Crafting worlds with stunning beauty and clarity
• Bringing amazing realism to characters, objects, and props
• Making the most of Unreal Engine 3’s massively upgraded lighting system
• Scripting complex gameplay quickly and easily with Unreal Kismet
• Building animated game assets with Unreal Matinee 
• Testing game performance during live gameplay
• Optimizing levels by improving the interaction between lights and surfaces
• Using advanced level streaming to create vast, rich, highly playable levels

Winner of the Front Line Award for best game development book of 2009!

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jason “Buzz” Busby is president and chief executive officer of 3D Buzz, Inc. For more than five years, he has taught 3D animation, programming, and game design through his website 3dbuzz.com, which has over 275,000 members. He coauthored Mastering Unreal: The Art of Level Design and Mastering the Art of Production with 3ds Max 4 and has created and overseen the production of more than 1,000 hours of video training.

 

Zak Parrish, chief of operations at 3D Buzz, Inc., has developed hundreds of video tutorials over 3D animation and game design. He helped produce training videos that shipped with Unreal Tournament 2004: Special Edition as well as those that shipped with Unreal Tournament 3: Limited Collector’s Edition. Zak also coauthored Mastering Unreal.

 

Jeff Wilson, 3D Buzz’s technical consultant for the Unreal Engine, helps develop the company’s Unreal Technology training videos. He has been studying the Unreal Engine for five years while creating modifications for Unreal Tournament 2003 and 2004. Wilson moderates the 3D Buzz forums.

Product Details

• Paperback: 912 pages
• Publisher: Sams; 1 edition (July 31, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0672329913
• ISBN-13: 978-0672329913
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7.4 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #90,486 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #91 in Books > Computers & Technology > Programming > Game Programming

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth the price of admission, January 23, 2010

By 

Rob "ActivelyX" - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Mastering Unreal Technology, Volume I: Introduction to Level Design with Unreal Engine 3 (Paperback)

I've evaluated several 3D game engines, including XNA Game Studio 3 (ok for home enthusiasts), Torque 3D (not ready for prime time as of this writing), Unity (nice), Blender3D (ok for home enthusiasts), and Unreal Engine 3. The Unreal Engine UDK blows them away, although the Unity 3D Platformer is really quite good. You can't beat what you get with the Unreal Engine UDK, especially considering that its free. Some licensing rules apply if you actually create and sell a game.

I purchased this book in order to get a "head start" on developing applications with the Unreal Game Engine. I was very pleased with its contents. The examples in each chapter really drive home the benefits of using the Unreal Game Engine. I especially enjoyed the introductory chapter, the static meshes chapter, the material creation chapter, the terrain chapter, the Kismet chapter and the Matinee considerations chapter.

I downloaded the November and December Betas of the Unreal Development Kit (UDK). So if you do the same, be aware of the following differences.

1. When you copy a chapter's map to your Content directory, change its extension from ut3 to udk.
2. You will have some problems in Chapter 4: A Universe of Brushes. Some of the UT3 features (geometry modifiers for BSP extrusion, etc) are not in the UDK. You will not be able to extrude the capital and entablature on the columns in the temple. Don't waste time trying to figure out where they are, like I did. Unreal recommends using static meshes rather than BSP brushes to build your levels. So they've removed some of the modifiers from the UDK.
3. The property names in the book use Hungarian notation, but the UDK does not. Just remove the first character and you will find your property.
4. Every map needs a Killz setting. When you build your map you will get an error that the Killz setting is not initialized (something like that). So go to View/World Properties and expand Zone Info. You will see Kill Z as the first property. Set its value to something like -10000.
5. I had some issues with the Swarm, and ended up turning it off. I don't need to build my levels on multiple machines, and I didn't want to spend the time setting it up. So I disabled it.

That's it! Most of the examples in the book work as described. I'm very impressed with Kismet and Matinee. I think Autodesk could learn something here.

I can't wait to buy Volume 2: Advanced Level Design Concepts with Unreal Engine 3.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reads like A textbook, August 1, 2009

By 

E. Southerland II (Tempe, AZ USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mastering Unreal Technology, Volume I: Introduction to Level Design with Unreal Engine 3 (Paperback)

Simply a spectacular how-to book. Covers a lot of ground, and I can't wait for volumes 2 and 3 to get released. Also, not only do you get an amazingly well written and thought out work that reads like a text book for learning the UT3 editor, you also get a DVD packed with all the examples and tutorials covered in the book, and a free copy of UT3 as a download from steam.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book!, October 12, 2009

By 

Ali Zandi - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mastering Unreal Technology, Volume I: Introduction to Level Design with Unreal Engine 3 (Paperback)

This book has been a great read and resource for helping me get my hands dirty with Unreal Editor 3.0. I am new to the engine, and honestly, this book has really helped give me the insight I need without straying off the beaten path. The information is great and the little tips are extremely helpful. I have searched and browsed through numerous tutorials and websites online, and this book has everything in it to get someone started!

My only complaint is that the illustrations are of average quality and not in color, and the problem with that is trying to see which edges or verts they have selected in the pictures. Sometimes, you can't even see what they have selected or what color they are referring to because of the black and white.

Besides that, great book!