You Can Download Unreal Engine 4 For Free

[Fanghawk]

You Can Download Unreal Engine 4 For Free

Epic Games' Unreal Engine 4, and all future updates, are now completely free for anyone vaguely interested in its Triple A design tools.

Are you interested in being a game designer? While the undertaking is still a huge amount of work, getting started is far easier than ever before - thanks in large part to free engines and tools like <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/127353-Unity-Adding-2D-Development-Tools>Unity. But what if you want to work with the same cutting-edge, Triple A tech that powers EVE: Valkyrie or Street Fighter V? Now you can do that too, because Epic Games just released Unreal Engine 4 for free.

That's not an exaggeration. Right now you can download Unreal Engine 4, <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/columns/experienced-points/11371-Get-Unreal-Engine-4-For-19-Bucks>one of the biggest Triple A engines on the market, and use it to design any for-profit game or film project of your choosing. The download includes all of Unreal Engine 4's source code, support for major platforms, and additional tools to build and ship games. In exchange, Epic Games will take a 5% royalty after the first $3000 you earn per product every quarter - which considering how much licensing fees used to cost is a remarkably solid deal.

"In early 2014, we took the step of making Unreal Engine 4 available to everyone by subscription for $19 per month," Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney <a href=https://www.unrealengine.com/blog/ue4-is-free>wrote on the Epic Games blog. "We put all of our source code online, available to all who signed up. We flipped the switch and crossed our fingers.

"The state of Unreal is strong, and we've realized that as we take away barriers, more people are able to fulfill their creative visions and shape the future of the medium we love. That's why we're taking away the last barrier to entry, and going free."

While most Unreal Engine 4 games <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Unreal_Engine_games#Unreal_Engine_4>are still in development, it's still <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/134076-The-Unreal-Engine-4-Elemental-Demo-is-now-a-PC-Benchmark>an incredibly impressive engine to work with. The value for students and independent developers alone is immense, while the for-profit market will likely net a tidy sum for Epic as well. Anyone interested in producing games and films - or simply wants to see what the fuss is about - can download the Engine <a href=https://www.unrealengine.com/what-is-unreal-engine-4>right here.

Source: <a href=https://www.unrealengine.com/what-is-unreal-engine-4>Unreal Engine

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[SonOfVoorhees]

Looks likes Steam will get more early access shovel wear - though i feel there is an increased chance we will find a few more diamonds among all that shit.

 

[Vivi22]

Looks likes Steam will get more early access shovel wear - though i feel there is an increased chance we will find a few more diamonds among all that shit.

Lack of freely available engines has never hindered the assholes who release shit to make a quick buck. I doubt this will have any impact on the number of people pulling that shit.

 

[Theminimanx]

This is fantastic news. Graphics that push today's hardware has too long been inaccessible to all but the most funded projects because of the licensing costs and hoops, but maybe now we will see some more indie titles that have a different aesthetic than a children's picture book.

Indie games still won't have anywhere near the level of graphical fidelity as AAA games, even with a fancy engine. Sure, they'd be able to use some of the fancy new graphical effects, but good graphics also required lots of detailed assets, which are incredibly expensive to make. Far beyond the budget of indie devs.

 

[EndlessSporadic]

Steam will get a lot more shovelware, yes, but the default tools of UE4 are significantly better than the crap Unity gives you. Good shaders are easier to make, the lighting is significantly better, behavior trees are easier to create, animation is easier to hook up, and the stuff on the Marketplace actually has a quality barrier (unlike Steam). Even if devs rip art from the Marketplace, at least it will look somewhat decent doing so. There is also the C++ hurdle.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

I'm gonna try it out. I have zero experience but what the heck. It's free and I might learn something at least.

Indie games still won't have anywhere near the level of graphical fidelity as AAA games, even with a fancy engine. Sure, they'd be able to use some of the fancy new graphical effects, but good graphics also required lots of detailed assets, which are incredibly expensive to make. Far beyond the budget of indie devs.

This depends more on their talent than you might think. Look at Flying Wild Hog. They're not a AAA developer but their assets are amazing. On the other hand Bethesda is and graphics in their games sucks. A lot also depends on what kind of art style developers are going for.

 

[Covarr]

This is fantastic news. Graphics that push today's hardware has too long been inaccessible to all but the most funded projects because of the licensing costs and hoops, but maybe now we will see some more indie titles that have a different aesthetic than a children's picture book.

Indie games still won't have anywhere near the level of graphical fidelity as AAA games, even with a fancy engine. Sure, they'd be able to use some of the fancy new graphical effects, but good graphics also required lots of detailed assets, which are incredibly expensive to make. Far beyond the budget of indie devs.

I disagree. The single most important trait of good graphics is good lighting, not detailed assets. I mean, Gears of War was one of the most visually detailed games of its time, but the whole game looked like an overly-reflective mess because they abused specular effects. One of the big selling points on UE4 is that it's supposed to be easy to make all kinds of lighting, so that everything doesn't look covered in saran wrap the way UE3 games tended to. Yeah, a lot of developers will still go for a cartoony look, but the ready availability of softer lighting will be a huge improvement at any level of detail, and will definitely open the doors for indie devs some.

P.S. Thanks

 

[zzrhardy]

... but maybe now we will see some more indie titles that have a different aesthetic than a children's picture book.

Indie games look like sh_t because they have no artistic talent. In the western art world, a lack of actual talent just means you have to politik harder.

(In most other places in the world, they use this weird thing called "practice" to get better)

 

[Arnoxthe1]

But...

HOW are they turning any sort of profit now? This is getting silly! They're releasing UT4 for free. Now the whole Unreal Engine 4 pretty much?

 

[gardian06]

But...

HOW are they turning any sort of profit now? This is getting silly! They're releasing UT4 for free. Now the whole Unreal Engine 4 pretty much?

5% royalty after the first $3k of profits
basically if the product sells for $20 on steam then the even with a 70-net-30 model that would mean that royalty becomes due after roughly 215 sales, and given that there are well over 2 million steam users 300 sales can easily be made even for shovelware even on curiosity buys.

... but maybe now we will see some more indie titles that have a different aesthetic than a children's picture book.

Indie games look like sh_t because they have no artistic talent. In the western art world, a lack of actual talent just means you have to politik harder.

(In most other places in the world, they use this weird thing called "practice" to get better)

you should probably take a trip over to youtube and look up "extracreditz graphics vs aesthetics" and if you have seen it I would suggest actually watching to learn again.
and on your aside point: in those same places practice is synonymous with attempting. I don't know whether to call you statement naive for the assumption that "if you can't do it right then don't do it" basically stating all the stories of perseverance of 'pro-athletes" is rubbish, or putting artistry on the same level that most American employers value experience "we will train anyone, as long as you have 20 something years experience" and at the worst this is just purely rhetorical value judgment that the only games worth buying are those that cost millions of dollars, and had an art team of 20 people which is exclusionary, and altogether ignorant (which in most all places in the world is still ignorant)

OT: if this is really free licenses for even source code access that would make this even better the the latest UDK3 deal which still didn't grant source code manipulation, and had royalties of 15% after 2.5K. this means that a very high quality tool is now available to relatively everyone considering that given the previous model would even cost a small team 228 per seat plus other costs that can make things even more harsh. I might have to look back into Unreal given this turn of events though I am still apprehensive cause I don't want to have to put a seat license of Scaleforms in just to be able to get menus the work.

 

[Theminimanx]

I disagree. The single most important trait of good graphics is good lighting, not detailed assets. I mean, Gears of War was one of the most visually detailed games of its time, but the whole game looked like an overly-reflective mess because they abused specular effects. One of the big selling points on UE4 is that it's supposed to be easy to make all kinds of lighting, so that everything doesn't look covered in saran wrap the way UE3 games tended to. Yeah, a lot of developers will still go for a cartoony look, but the ready availability of softer lighting will be a huge improvement at any level of detail, and will definitely open the doors for indie devs some.

P.S. Thanks

Depends on your definition of good graphics I guess. I took Sseth's post to mean that he thought indie games were now going to come closer to the photorealistic look that AAA games are pursuing, which would require those detailed assets. But I can see where you're coming from, and you have a point.

 

[Blacklight28]

Accessibility is a double edged sword.

As far as allowing new developers in goes, I'm certain anyone with the talent and time to produce and release a competent game in Unreal has enough disposable income to drop $20 on the engine. All this is probably doing is removing the last barrier preventing the less experienced "developers" from gaining access and unleashing a torrent of garbage onto whatever distribution system they can.

 

[CrystalShadow]

Accessibility is a double edged sword.

As far as allowing new developers in goes, I'm certain anyone with the talent and time to produce and release a competent game in Unreal has enough disposable income to drop $20 on the engine. All this is probably doing is removing the last barrier preventing the less experienced "developers" from gaining access and unleashing a torrent of garbage onto whatever distribution system they can.

If they have that level of talent AND disposable income, they probably don't have the time to work on something like that, because they have a job.

Throwing together even something basic with an engine like that is not something you're going to do in a few afternoons of spare time. It's better than trying to create your own 3d engine, but it's still far from trivial, and the usual thing applies. If you have the time, you probably don't have the money, and if you have the money, you probably don't have the time.