unreal-engine-3 posts

The indie game development company Hi-Rez Studios looks like they are getting closer to releasing their long-in-development sci-fi FPSMMO title Global Agenda. This week the game's official web site gave us more info on when closed beta testing for the Unreal Engine 3 powered game will happen.

According to the update, "Closed Beta Testing Phase 1 (CBT-1) is expected to begin in July." People who have been invited to test the game during its Alpha stage will get the first crack at the Beta test and more people will be admitted into the beta in several "waves" over the next few months. The game is expected to officially launch before the end of the year.

[Via Massively]

NHN USA, the company that is handling the US launch of the free-to-play FPS MMO Huxley later this year, has just announced plans for another Unreal Engine 3-based FPS. The game is called Alliance of Valiant Arms and takes place in a alternate present day World War.

The game's two sides are the European Union (EU) and the Neo Russian Federation (NRF) and the press release states that players will be "tasked with picking a side and squaring off in an unprecedented battle." The game is due for launch in late 2009 on the ijji.com web site.. There is currently one lone screenshot (shown above) and we hope to get more info on the title during E3 2009 this week.

It's rare to read an interview with Epic Games co-founder Tim Sweeney that isn't all about the latest Unreal Engine 3 features. Yet that's what Gamasutra gives us in a new chat with the man. Indeed the vast majority of the lengthy chat is about Sweeney's early days as he co-founded Epic, early game programming, their first games like ZZT and more.

In fact it's only the last page of the Interview where the tone shifts to more present day matters such as the topic of when PC game graphics will look 100 percent photo realistic. Sweeney states that in terms of just looks, "Probably 10-15 years for that stuff, which isn't far at all. " However there are other factors such as animation and AI that are much further away. Sweeney states, "We simulate character facial animation using tens of bones and facial controls, but in the body, you have thousands. It turns out we've evolved to recognize those things with extraordinary detail, so we're far short of being able to simulate that." Maybe one day . . .

Memorial Day weekend is winding down but if you are still seeking a new PC game deal Amazon.com has made the PC version of The Last Remnant their "Deal of the Day" today. The Square Enix fantasy RPG can be bought at Amazon.com today for $26.98.

At the moment that price is 33 percent off its normal price tag of $39.99. The Unreal Engine 3 based game got slammed when it was released for the Xbox 360 in 2008 due to lots of technical issues. However the PC version has gotten much better reviews thanks in part to the fact that the tech issues found in the Xbox 360 port are not evident in the PC port.

[Via Joystiq]

Real Time Worlds has been working hard on their urban-themed MMO All Points Bulletin for years now but so far all we have actually seen of the game is some concept artwork. Now the first real in-game screenshot (using Epic's Unreal Engine 3) has been revealed via a post on the fan site APB Evolved.

The site was sent the screenshot by Real Time Worlds who promises the game will be on display at E3 2009. They also stated that "this will mark the start of lots more news, activities and information coming out about APB: All Points Bulletin." We certainly hope so.

[Via Joystiq]

E3 2009 isn't just for game publishers showing off new titles. Epic Games is using the show to show off some new features for their Unreal Engine 3 game development technology. The company sent word today that they will be taking appointments from game developers, publishers and others to check out a demo of the new features.

Epic has already announced a number of new features for Unreal Engine 3 at GDC. They include a number of new lighting technology upgrades and the Tron-sounding Master Control Program (MCP) which is a back end solution for all sorts of stats tracking. There's no word if Epic will be making any game announcements during E3.

[Via email press release]

Tripwire Interactive is getting ready to release their next game Killing Floor later this month but apparently even they were taken aback by news that the new issue of the PC Gamer print magazine has leaked out info about their next project; the next game in their WWII shooter series Red Orchestra.

The game, titled Red Orchestra: Heroes of Stalingrad is apparently using Epic's Unreal Engine 3 (both the original Red Orchestra and Killing Floor were made with Unreal Engine 2. Even with this info, Tripwire is apparently not ready to talk about the game publicly yet. In a post on their official message boards they state, "To put it quite bluntly we thought this would hit after the release of Killing Floor. As such we'll be doing a bit of a scramble to get our PR efforts in order while we are in the middle of getting another game ready to ship." They are even asking folks to not post text from the article on the forums, saying " We'll let the article speak for itself."

Other web sites have posted up scans from the article, including NoFrag, which reveal that the game will have a true single player campaign (the battle of Staingrad from both sides of the conflict) as well as a 10 player co-op mode called Skirmish. The game is due out sometime in 2010.

[Via Blue's News]

American McGee's Grimm may have just released its final episode last week but it looks like publisher Playlogic will be taking up where that game left off in terms of new spins on classic children's stories. Today the company announced their plans for Fairytale Fights, a new hack-and-slash platform action-adventure game for the PC and other platforms.

Using Unreal Engine 3 as its basis, Fairytale Fights has players take on the role of an unnamed fairy tale character who is trying to save their mythical kingdom from disasters. The game's levels are "filled to the brim with action-packed combat and fairytale-style storylines" and Playlogic claims the game will be able to "dynamically slice through 3D models in real-time." Unfortunately no screenshots of the game have been released but we will certainly post them up when Playlogic releases them. In the meantime, the game is due for release this holiday.

Mirror's Edge was an interesting design for a game that didn't really fullfill its expectation. However one of the cool things about the first person action game was its more surreal time trial levels that were released as downloadable content after the main game shipped to stores. Now a few enterprising folks at the Beyond Unreal forums have figured out a way to create a Mirror's Edge level editor.

Basically the procedure is coping a few Unreal Tournament 3 editor files into Mirror's Edge which is obviously not approved by either Epic Games nor the game's developer Digital Illusions. The move does seem to work well enough that a few new Mirror's Edge levels had been made. However messing with game files is always a risk so don't blame us if your game is broken afterwards.

We've seen a number of mod teams try to make the leap into making full commercial games. Some have succeeded. Now comes word of another game that is starting out as a Unreal Tournament 3 mod but is looking to become a full-fledged downloadable commercial game. It's called Ghetto Golf and MTV's Multiplayer site has a look at the game based on a demo presentation at GDC last month.

Ghetto Golf comes from the newly launched game developer Illfonic, co-founded by R&B artist Raphael Saadiq. Apparently he liked to play golf on the streets of Oakland, CA with impromptu golf holes. Ghetto Golf takes that premise several steps further as players will have to not only make their shots but deal with guns, explosions and other threats on the streets. The developers were hoping to score a publisher to continue development and release the game via Steam and other downloadable outlets. No release date has been revealed.