Unreal Engine 4, etc.

Community Community & Industry Discussion
1

Sorry I couldn’t think of a better title for the topic.

I have lots of questions about Unreal Engine 4. I was told to post it in public for the benefit of . I think General Discussion is the correct place to talk about it?

#1. I know Unreal Engine 4 does not support XP and DirectX 9 right now. Will Epic Games be adding support for XP and DirectX 9, preferably DirectX 9.0c support someday in the future? I know Microsoft will stop updating XP in April 2014. I have 5 PC’s 1 PC has XP installed on it, my 2nd PC has Vista installed on it, my 3rd PC (Which is my main PC.) has 7 installed on it, my 4th PC has 8 installed on it, and my 5th PC will have 9 installed on it in 2015.

#2. If I don’t subscribe to pay $19 dollars (USD) a month to get the full source code and video game engine can we still get the source code to the video games that run on Unreal Engine 4 that will be released for sale in the future? Like Daylight it runs on Unreal Engine 4. I purchase Daylight from Steam and if Zombie Studios decides to put the source code for Daylight on github.com so anyone can download the source code for Daylight can we? Like how iD Software does to the PC versions of the video games that they develop and release for sale. You have to purchase DOOM 3, Doom 3: BFG Edition to be able to download the source code. Is Epic Games ok with this? What are the plans in the future for this stuff?

#3. Will Epic Games released the full source code for every single PC version of video games that you guys develop and release for sale in the future like Fortnite, etc. So we PC gamers who are modders and PC gamers who are modders and programmers to be able to mod the PC versions of the video games? Please don’t kill modding with this business model .

#4. Since Epic Games is releasing the full source code and video game engine for the PC version of Unreal Engine 4 with a $19 dollar (USD) a month subscription payment. Will Epic Games ever release the full source code and video game for the PC versions of Unreal Engine, Unreal, Unreal Tournament Game of the Year Edition, Unreal Engine 2, Unreal Tournament 2003, Unreal Tournament 2004: Editor’s Choice Edition, Unreal Engine 3, Unreal Tournament 3 Black Edition, and Bulletstorm?

#5. Since Epic Games added DirectX 11 support for Unreal Engine 3 in 2011. Will Epic Games add support for DirectX 12 and 9 in 2014 or 2015 or whenever 9 and DirectX 12 gets released fully? Will Epic Games support Unreal Engine 3 more? Or will Epic Games stop supporting Unreal Engine 3? I believe Unreal Engine 3 should still be supported for a long long time because it’s got a lot of good life left in it for many years left to come. Will Epic Games also get rid of that annoying texture pop in in Unreal Engine 3 ever?

I know Microsoft will stop supporting XP in April of this year. The bet choice to avoid malware and viruses is to not share your PC in a public place and have a firewall 24/7 running. I want to develop PC versions of video games to run on XP and I want to add DirectX 9.0c, DirectX 10, DirectX 11, DirectX 11.1, DirectX 11.2, and DirectX 12 in the options menu. The PC version of Metro 2033, Saints Row: The Third, Red Faction Armageddon all let you chose DirectX 9, DirectX 10, and DirectX 11 in the options menu. XP is still about 29% of the market if you add Steam it’s 35% of the Market. I still think XP has years of life left in it.

Thank You.

2
  1. Unreal Engine 4 is a next-gen game engine, and with XP being retired in a few days, I don’t see any new game engines supporting DirectX 9.
  2. You can’t release the source code to your game, from what I understand. Only licensed developers can access the source code. I’m also guessing that no Unreal Engine 4 games will have their source code made available.
  3. Not sure.
  4. Same as 3rd question?
  5. Almost guaranteed?

You are still able to use UDK if you require XP support.

3

[=Acenth;7415]

  1. Unreal Engine 4 is a next-gen game engine, and with XP being retired in a few days, I don’t see any new game engines supporting DirectX 9.
  2. You can’t release the source code to your game, from what I understand. Only licensed developers can access the source code. I’m also guessing that no Unreal Engine 4 games will have their source code made available.
  3. Not sure.
  4. Same as 3rd question?
  5. Almost guaranteed?

You are still able to use UDK if you require XP support.
[/]

  1. I know Unreal Engine 4 is a next-gen video game engine. There are quite a few next-gen video game engines I seen that added support for XP and DirectX 9 as well as DirectX 11 support. Epic Games should be able to do it as well. Think of Metro: Last Light which released in 2013 for sale. It is one of the best looking PC version of a video game if you play on DirectX 11.

  2. So if I develop a video game and release it for sale I cannot release the source code for my video game for PC gamers who are programmers to tinker withe my video game? iD Software knows how to do it right Epic Games should follow in their footsteps. For example I can download the source code for Doom 3: BFG Edition but in order to be able to use the source code I have to purchase Doom 3: BFG Edition otherwise I cannot use it.

  3. Not same as 3rd question. Question #4 is about Epic Games releasing the source code for their video games like iD Software does. Question #3 is about other AAA video game development companies and indie video game companies releasing the source code for their video games. I guess you can tie #3 and #4 together?

4

You can releases source code of your game, but you can’t release source of rest of the engine.

5

[=;7426]
You can releases source code of your game, but you can’t release source of rest of the engine.
[/]
Wonderful. Thanks for the answer. I absolutely love you Epic Games :).

6

Does UE4 support DX9? What about ?

UE4 does not currently support DX9 or . We plan to use OpenGL to run on in the future. Most of our features are supported on OpenGL3 as you can see on Mac OSX today and we have been working with NVIDIA to support our full feature set on OpenGL4.

** Will UE4 support DX12?**

Yes. Epic will be working closely with NVIDIA and Microsoft to create a world-class implementation of DX12 in Unreal Engine 4.

7

[= Ellis;7433]
Does UE4 support DX9? What about ?

UE4 does not currently support DX9 or . We plan to use OpenGL to run on in the future. Most of our features are supported on OpenGL3 as you can see on Mac OSX today and we have been working with NVIDIA to support our full feature set on OpenGL4.

** Will UE4 support DX12?**

Yes. Epic will be working closely with NVIDIA and Microsoft to create a world-class implementation of DX12 in Unreal Engine 4.
[/]
I know Unreal Engine 4 will support DirectX 12. I am talking about Unreal Engine 3. I saw Microsoft’s GDC 2014 DirectX 12 speech where said Unreal Engine 4 will add support for DirectX 12.

It would just be nice to see a low-level access API added to Unreal Engine 3 so we can do more on the PC versions of video games that already run on Unreal Engine 3. Imagine Unreal Tournament 3 having DirectX 12 support and seeing what modders would do with Unreal Tournament 3. Did I word question #5 wrong and it’s difficult to read?

8

#1 Unlikely, XP support in gaming is very low.
#2 No. It’s very rare for any game to release source code for their games. Also, that isn’t something Epic would be able to do anyways, although they would have to give permission since it would contain their code.
#3 No, there’s no reason to.
#4 No, there’s no reason to.
#5 UE4 will likely get updated to support DirectX 12 very quickly once it’s available since all DX11 cards can take advantage of it. UE3 will still be supported by them, there are still cases why people would use UE3, like for last gen systems. UDK might not get any more updates, though they will continue to support UE3 because they have licensees still using it.

UE4 relies a great deal on DX11 features and it’s not likely they will adjust the engine to support DX9.

9

[=;7442]
#1 Unlikely, XP support in gaming is very low.
#2 No. It’s very rare for any game to release source code for their games. Also, that isn’t something Epic would be able to do anyways, although they would have to give permission since it would contain their code.
#3 No, there’s no reason to.
#4 No, there’s no reason to.
#5 UE4 will likely get updated to support DirectX 12 very quickly once it’s available since all DX11 cards can take advantage of it. UE3 will still be supported by them, there are still cases why people would use UE3, like for last gen systems. UDK might not get any more updates, though they will continue to support UE3 because they have licensees still using it.

UE4 relies a great deal on DX11 features and it’s not likely they will adjust the engine to support DX9.
[/]
#1. I see over 70+ video games on Steam that have support for XP, Vista, and 7.

#2. I take it you didn’t carefully read question #2?

#3. Why not? As a PC gamer who is both a modder and programmer I want every single PC versions of video games to have their source code released. In order to get them though you have to purchase the video games.

#4. Why not? Same as #3.

#5. Unreal Engine 4 will get DirectX 12 support.

10

TONS of people still run around the World because it’s still the best and fastest OS M$ made, and a lot of them game on XP too.

Businesses still run XP because they have no justification of paying for an upgrade to something that gives them no benefit at all.

With that sentiment, I would say that we shouldn’t write off as of yet. :slight_smile:

11

[=Ballowers100;7453]
#1. I see over 70+ video games on Steam that have support for XP, Vista, and 7.

#2. I take it you didn’t carefully read question #2?

#3. Why not? As a PC gamer who is both a modder and programmer I want every single PC versions of video games to have their source code released. In order to get them though you have to purchase the video games.

#4. Why not? Same as #3.

#5. Unreal Engine 4 will get DirectX 12 support.
[/]

#1 Yes because Steam has been around for a while and XP was still a widely used OS when alot of those games were getting released but the industry is moving on.

#2 You realise how long it took for the source to come out for those? And that they also had to change some of it due to a licensing conflict or something.

#3 Epic doesn’t need to release the source for its commercial titles. Come on you’re getting the full source to the engine as it is. Modding tools can still be implemented. You don’t need source access for that.

#4 No Unreal Engine 3 is essentially defunct at this point and the source for those couldn’t be released due to licensing restrictions with middleware.

Also why do you need a separate pc for each OS?

[=amigo;7548]
TONS of people still run around the World because it’s still the best and fastest OS M$ made, and a lot of them game on XP too.

Businesses still run XP because they have no justification of paying for an upgrade to something that gives them no benefit at all.

With that sentiment, I would say that we shouldn’t write off as of yet. :slight_smile:
[/]

How many business’ or or gamers do you think are going to stop around once the malware and virus floodgates open. XP is dead and it’s time people moved onto a 64-bit OS. Business’ didn’t upgrade because it cost money to show staff the differences and make sure of compatibility with existing software but they will move on once support for XP ends most likely to 7.

12

[=amigo;7548]
TONS of people still run around the World because it’s still the best and fastest OS M$ made, and a lot of them game on XP too.
[/]

I really hate hearing this statement. still requires DOS to run. It still writes all OS related graphics from COM and Win32 libraries(DLL-Hell Anyone?). There are more viruses and malware targeted at XP than any other OS in the world. The list goes on and on. Limited driver support, old kernel and file writing system, etc etc. And, unless you live under a sound-proof rock and never connect to the internet then you’re a target for blackhats.

Stating that is STILL one of the best OS’ is nothing but a nostalgia trip for those that are too uneducated to know the difference. The sole reason that is still widely used is due to that of the business industry, relating to the costs of upgrading infrastructure, not because it’s some god OS…that’s about it.

13

[=Ocid;7589]
#1 Yes because Steam has been around for a while and XP was still a widely used OS when alot of those games were getting released but the industry is moving on.

#2 You realise how long it took for the source to come out for those? And that they also had to change some of it due to a licensing conflict or something.

#3 Epic doesn’t need to release the source for its commercial titles. Come on you’re getting the full source to the engine as it is. Modding tools can still be implemented. You don’t need source access for that.

#4 No Unreal Engine 3 is essentially defunct at this point and the source for those couldn’t be released due to licensing restrictions with middleware.

Also why do you need a separate pc for each OS?

How many business’ or or gamers do you think are going to stop around once the malware and virus floodgates open. XP is dead and it’s time people moved onto a 64-bit OS. Business’ didn’t upgrade because it cost money to show staff the differences and make sure of compatibility with existing software but they will move on once support for XP ends most likely to 7.
[/]
#1. Who cares if Steam has been around for 10 years. There are new PC versions of video games released every day for sale on Steam that have support for either XP, Vista, 7, 8, and 8.1 or XP, Vista, and 7 or XP and 7 and missing Vista.

#2. It took Doom 3 BFG Edition about 1 year to get it’s source code released. Doom 3 BFG Edition released for sale in 2012 and got it’s source code released in 2013. I know there are also middleware software licenses that get in the way I am hoping Epic Games talks with the middleware software development companies to get a deal.

#3. I know you can get mod tools but the source code for the video game lets you change up a lot of stuff. I will be have if mod tools get released or the source code or both either way is fine for me but I like to tinker with the source code.

#4. I don’t think Unreal Engine 3 is defunct it had a small update I think in February 2014. I don’t know if the update was big or small but it had a update in February 2014. Which was 1 month ago. I have seen very few old games that god new DirectX versions support added. I have to look for then names of those video games because I don’t remember the names of those video games but I read about those video games from sometime in 2011-2013.

#5. Why do I have a separate PC for each Operating Systems (OS’s)? Because I can have and purchase as many PC’s as I want, I can have and purchase as many Operating Systems (OS’s) installed on my PC’s as I want, and I can purchase as many PC versions of video games as I want. It’s my money. It’s my freedom to have and purchase as many of these things as I want.

I also want to develop video games for XP still. I know Microsoft will stop XP support in April 14, 2014. XP supports 64-bit in Service Pack 2 which released in like 2005. To not get malware and viruses just have a firewall running 24/7.

XP still has years of life left in it. The only things XP cannot do is tessellation, etc that only DirectX 11 can do and DirectX 11 is not supported on XP. You can still develop PC versions of video games that look very good running on DirectX 9 even if you don’t have DirectX 11’s , sub surface scattering,tessellation or whatever else and support 64 bit XP you can achieve very nice graphics with 64 bit. I don’t want to see 32 bit XP supported that’s for sure.

14

[=Elynole;7614]
I really hate hearing this statement. still requires DOS to run. It still writes all OS related graphics from COM and Win32 libraries(DLL-Hell Anyone?). There are more viruses and malware targeted at XP than any other OS in the world. The list goes on and on. Limited driver support, old kernel and file writing system, etc etc. And, unless you live under a sound-proof rock and never connect to the internet then you’re a target for blackhats.

Stating that is STILL one of the best OS’ is nothing but a nostalgia trip for those that are too uneducated to know the difference. The sole reason that is still widely used is due to that of the business industry, relating to the costs of upgrading infrastructure, not because it’s some god OS…that’s about it.
[/]
I used and I sure do not want to see those 2 Operating Systems (OS’s) supported only from XP to 9. It might be nostalgia but XP has a few more years of life left at least 5+ years.

15

To not get malware and viruses just have a firewall running 24/7.

[/]

I’m not really sure you understand the concept of a firewall.

I used and I sure do not want to see those 2 Operating Systems (OS’s) supported only from XP to 9. It might be nostalgia but XP has a few more years of life left at least 5+ years.
[/]

Based on what? Pulling shelf life numbers out of thin air, especially considering that you’re not the product owner, is quite ignorant. The shelf life is ending with end-of-life support by Microsoft. The only reason XP has lasted as long as it has is because of that life support that Microsoft has given it.

If you want to develop games for , use Unreal Engine 3.

16

[=Elynole;7625]
I’m not really sure you understand the concept of a firewall.

Based on what?
[/]
Based on that I know a lot of PC gamers on a bunch of websites on the internet and a lot of my real life friends who will not switch from XP any time soon because they purchased all of the PC versions of the video games that they want to play on XP and since a bunch of indie video game development companies and indie video game developers releasing the PC versions of their video games for sale on Steam still having support for XP. Today on Steam I saw like 6+ PC versions of video games get released for sale and have XP supported.

I have a real life friend who spends $400 dollars (USD) on PC versions of video games a year as long as they have XP supported.

I purchase PC versions of video games that have support for XP, Vista, 7, 8, and 8.1 only.

17

[=Ballowers100;7628]
Based on that I know a lot of PC gamers on a bunch of websites on the internet and a lot of my real life friends who will not switch from XP any time soon because they purchased all of the PC versions of the video games that they want to play on XP and since a bunch of indie video game development companies and indie video game developers releasing the PC versions of their video games for sale on Steam still having support for XP. Today on Steam I saw like 6+ PC versions of video games get released for sale and have XP supported.

I have a real life friend who spends $400 dollars (USD) on PC versions of video games a year as long as they have XP supported.

I purchase PC versions of video games that have support for XP, Vista, 7, 8, and 8.1 only.
[/]

What you’re asking for, and what you’re stating are two entirely different things. You’re looking to develop games specifically targeted towards the OS. How many of those game developers are specifically making games for , compared to those that are just adding support for . Obviously, when creating a game you want to try and reach the largest target market possible while still maintaining focus on your project. If is easily supported then it’s a no-brainer to shove backwards compatibility into your product. However, Microsoft is dropping support for Forms, COM and Win32 libraries are beginning to be phased out (Though WinRT is easily comparable to older COM libraries based on it’s API calls for things such as 3D Printers, Web Cams, etc.). It becomes a logistics issue when continuing to develop the Unreal Engine because, quite soon, newer iterations of Visual won’t offer such support - and it will be more of a headache to maintain backwards-compatibility than it’s worth. This is called ROI analysis btw.

18

[=Elynole;7632]
What you’re asking for, and what you’re stating are two entirely different things. You’re looking to develop games specifically targeted towards the OS. How many of those game developers are specifically making games for , compared to those that are just adding support for . Obviously, when creating a game you want to try and reach the largest target market possible while still maintaining focus on your project. If is easily supported then it’s a no-brainer to shove backwards compatibility into your product. However, Microsoft is dropping support for Forms, COM and Win32 libraries are beginning to be phased out (Though WinRT is easily comparable to older COM libraries based on it’s API calls for things such as 3D Printers, Web Cams, etc.). It becomes a logistics issue when continuing to develop the Unreal Engine because, quite soon, newer iterations of Visual won’t offer such support - and it will be more of a headache to maintain backwards-compatibility than it’s worth. This is called ROI analysis btw.
[/]
I will just bring the PC version of Metro: Last Light up again.

4A Games, A4 Games or whatever the name of the video game development company that developed Metro: Last Light is said they developed the PC version of Metro: Last Light to have next generation graphics in mind and it supports XP. For Minimum system requirement it says XP (32- bit only), Vista, 7, and 8. I am asking for XP 64 bit support only from Service Pack 2. No 32 bit XP support for Unreal Engine 4. 32 Bit needs to disappear permanently from PC versions of video games. I read 8.1 support will come or probably has it I don’t know I still have not purchased Metro: Last Light yet all I know is I read 8.1 support will come months ago. It also supports DirectX 9.0c, DirectX 10, and DirectX 11.

19

XP support, if it ever happens is unlikely to be worthwhile:
A) UE4 is mostly orientated towards the DirectX11 feature set, which XP does not support.
B) XP is a declining operating system that will shortly no longer be supported. Chances are anyone hanging on has hardware that is equally as old and can’t run modern games anyway.
C) XP’s 64-bit version has really **** driver support from 3rd parties.

20

[=;7720]
XP support, if it ever happens is unlikely to be worthwhile:
A) UE4 is mostly orientated towards the DirectX11 feature set, which XP does not support.
B) XP is a declining operating system that will shortly no longer be supported. Chances are anyone hanging on has hardware that is equally as old and can’t run modern games anyway.
C) XP’s 64-bit version has really **** driver support from 3rd parties.
[/]
A) I know this I explained it many times I also explained many times that the PC version of Metro 2033, Red Faction: Armageddon, Saints Row: The Third, Metro: Last Light and a few other PC versions of video games support DirectX 9, DirectX 10, and DirectX 11 as well as XP, Vista, 7, and 8. Metro: Last Light released for sale in 2013 and is one of the best looking PC versions of video games in DirectX 11 and has Nvidia’s PhysX physics engine support and yet still has support for XP and DirectX 9.

B) XP will not decline to 10% or even 5% any time soon I don’t think even in the next 10 years. There are a lot of PC gamers who are refusing to purchase new Operating Systems (OS’s). I personally want to develop PC versions of video games on Unreal Engine 4 and have them have support for XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, and 9 as well as DirectX 9.0c, DirectX 10, DirectX 11, DirectX 11.1, DirectX 11.2, and DirectX 12. XP is still 29% of the market if you count Steam’s survey it’s 35% on Steam it says 5% of PC gamers run XP. XP all in all is 29% of the PC gamer market because not every single PC gamer who has XP has Steam installed. A lot of PC gamers hate Digital Rights Management (DRM) and prefer to purchase the PC versions of their video games from gog.com or 100% Digital Rights Management (DRM) free physical boxed versions of the PC versions of video games from brick and mortar retailer stores. As I said many times when Microsoft stops supporting XP in April, 2014 just run a firewall 24/7 so you don’t get malware and viruses.

C) XP 64-bit runs fine on my PC.

I can keep coming up with lots and lots of good reasons to support XP and DirectX 9. DirectX 9 also runs on Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, and will run on 9