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Unreal Engine 3 (UT3/UDK/Other) Tutorials

Note these tutorials have been written with various versions of the engine. Some things may look slightly different in your version.

• UE3 FAQ: Frequently asked questions regarding UE3 (UT3/GOW/UDK).
• Kismet And Level Snippets: Pre-made level and script setups that can be copy-pasted into the editor - good for learning Kismet!


• Creating an UDK Game: Setting up an entire game from scratch to end, for people with no programming experience or prior experience in Unreal - Note this tutorial is hosted on an external website. (UDK)


• Material Editor Basics - Part 1: Basic introduction to the new material editor plus examples on how to set up some of the most common materials.
• Material Editor - Part 2: More material examples, slightly more complex.
• Material Editor - Part 3: Complex material examples such as Cel Shading, a material based Distance Fog, and Vertex Color Texture Blending.
• Material Editor - Expressions: A list of all available material expressions and their use plus a short introduction to the math behind a material.
• Material Editor - In Depth - Water Outdoor: Advanced material tutorial on how to create a large outdoor water surface.
• Material Editor - In Depth - Water Indoor: Advanced material tutorial on how to create a small indoor water surface.
• Material Editor - Triggering Materials: How to change a material in real time plus basic Instanced Material example.


• Terrain: How to create a Terrain in the engine, control the LOD'ing, paint materials, and bump up lighting quality.
• Foliage and Deco Layers: How to add Foliage and Deco Layers to a terrain in UE3.
• The Foliage Volume: How to randomly scatter objects around on any type of surface.
• Adding Water To A Level: How to add a body of swimmable water to a level.


• UE3 Modeling - Basics: How to prepare a mesh for the engine, how to export and import it, how to batch export, and how to set up collision.
• UE3 Modeling - Advanced: Common questions/answers, and advanced tips on mesh optimization within the engine.
• Lightmapping Meshes In The Editor: How to set up lightmapping on a mesh.
• Moving Geometry Basics: How to make an elevator, a simple loopmover, a continuously rotating mover, and how to attach one mover to another.
• Fracture Meshes: How to make meshes that can be shot into pieces using the Fracture Mesh system (UDK).


• LightMass:Introduction to using the LightMass system (UDK).
• LightFunctions: What LightFunctions are and how to make one, plus an example of how to create a searchlight effect..
• Real Time Reflections And Cameras: How to create a real time reflection or camera..
• Fog: An extensive look on fog in UE3. Distance fog, fog volumes, fog planes, animated fog, and so on.
• Particle Editor Basics: Basics of the Cascade particle editor plus a smoke particle example.
• Decals: How to use the Decal Actor in UE3.
• Sound in UE3: How to add sound to an environment, plus the use of the Sound Cue editor explained.


• Streaming Basics: Basics of streaming and the various way of setting it up.
• UIScenes: Creating a basic UIScene. Used to display text and images on the screen and anything else to do with the interface.
• Cutscenes: A simple cutscene that makes use of two different cameras, triggers an event along the way, and fades in and out.
  
• Physics: How to apply physics to a model in UE3.
• Soft Physics: How to use soft physics in UE3 (UDK).


• The Final Touches: How to add a music track and a preview screenshot for the menu to your UT3 level, and how to configure the ini file, plus a sample readme file.
  
  
• The Making of Krodan: A simple tutorial showing the evolution of Krodan, an all custom content UT3 DM level.
• The Making of The Spire: A simple tutorial showing the evolution of The Spire, a Gears Of War multiplayer level.

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Games Industry Articles - Universal

• The Pros And Cons: An example extract of my book "The Hows and Whys of the Games Industry".
• The Interview: A lighting example extract from my book "The Hows and Whys of the Games Industry".

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Design/Art Tutorials - Universal/Any Game

• Texture Tutorial: Things to keep in mind when texturing a level.
• Photoshop Texture Tricks: Random Photoshop tricks, focused on texture creation.
• Source Photos For Texturing: Random tips on how to take good source photos to create tiling textures of.
• The fundamental basics of level gameplay + multiplayer floorplans: An example extract of my book "The Hows and Whys of level Design" explaining the basics of gameplay and floorplans in multiplayer.
• Understanding game environment lighting: A lighting example extract from my book "The Hows and Whys of Level Design".

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Technical/Misc. Tutorials - UT/UT2004/Other

• Cave Modeling: Step by step pictures of how the cave from DM-Sae was modeled.
• Vertex colors Texture Blending: 3DSMax and Unreal Engine tutorial on blending textures on a static mesh using vertex colors.
• Vertex Lighting basics: The workings of vertex lighting in games like UT2004.
• Mesh rendering: How many game engines draw and calculate meshes in an environment plus the importance of materials.
• Occluders and Zoning: Correct use of occluders and the principle of zoning. Mostly focused on Unreal Engines games.
• Semi Solid brushes: The way Semi Solid brushes work in the Unreal Engine. Primarily aimed at Unreal Engine 1 and 2, slightly useful for 3.
• BSP Errors: BSP problems and errors. Their causes and their fixes. Mainly aimed at Unreal Engine 1 and 2, but also useful for 3.
• The Making of Horean: A very simple picture gallery of the progress of the level Horean, an Unreal Tournament level using nothing else but BSP.
  
  

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