What are the differences between UDK and UE4?

Hi all,
I know there are two versions of the Epic’s game engine: UDK (UE3) and UE4. I would like to release my game as a commercial one, but I would like to use UDK because it requires less system requirements (U34 requires ATI 9000+!!!). What about the scripting? Do I need C++ or UScript? What about the 3D model? Could the actor’s animation be stored in a .fbx file? I ask because I was told that fbx are only static. What about ATI cards? I’ve got an ATI in my PC. Will UDK work well?
Thank you :slight_smile:

-UDK uses unreal script instead of c++
-some ui, material, light, landscape,… changes
-kismet is now more powerful in the UE4 (blueprints)

In fbx files you can store static and skeletal meshes (rigg, animation,…) -> both can be used in the UE4 and UDK. In the UE4 you can turn down the quality to get a better fps rate in the editor and game :slight_smile:

I personally would recommend you to go with the UE4, because it’s much easier, active community and more possibilities

Just get UE4.

UDK has a royalty of 25% (I think), that alone is reason enough to pick UE4 (at 5%)! From an ex UDK user (for 3 months), UE4 is better in almost every way. Just get a more powerful computer.

Yep, that’s true -> You would need to purchase the $99 license and then pay the royalties of 25% of the earnings after the first $50,000 you make. :slight_smile:

https://forums.epicgames/threads/764485-UDK-Royalty-Threshold-Raised-to-US-50-000
://udn.epicgames/Three/DevelopmentKitFAQ.html

It also depends on your target audience, most gamers have hardware that supports UE4, so you might not need to worry about low-end systems unless you’re targeting that area.

When all the eyes right now looks forward UE4, I think the answer is clear :stuck_out_tongue:

I wouldn’t even consider UDK at point if I were you… especially if the problem is system requirements.
Yes UDK technically has less system requirements but UE4 actually scales and performs better assuming you have a compatible graphics card.

Thank you.
Is it true that games created using UE4 or UDK have a bad performance due to the interpretation of UScript?
Is it true that ATI have a bad performance due to Nvidia PhysX? I would like to use UDK because I want to distribute my games for everyone, not only for people who has got a very advanced graphic cards.

In my experience UE4 runs smoother than UDK. That doesnt mean every game in UE4 will run smoother. That depends entirely on the game.

UE4 doesn’t use unreal script, and no, its not slow. Even UDK using unreal script wasn’t particularly slow.

No ATI doesn’t have bad performance due to nvidia physX. It just wont use PhysX.

Epic have specifically avoided using GPU-family-centric technologies for very reason, so that people on all platforms have the same fair at enjoying the games. Its because of things like nVidia Gameworks not being implemented, allegedly.

Not entirely true. PhysX is always used, but it is never ever run on the GPU. It will run on your CPU even if you got an Nvidia card.

But you are correct in UE4 working fine with ATI/AMD cards.

Or on a secondary card if you have one set to be dedicated for PhysX.

The reason of my interest in UDK and not in UE4 deals about the released game. I want to make my games suitable for everyone. I don’t want to make games only for people who has got an advanced graphic card.
Another there will be is the usage of Blueprint in UE4. If I would use UE4, Blueprints will be a problem because they are interpreted as UScript too. For example, Goat Simulator has been developed with UDK. I don’t know how it is because I didn’t buy it. Do you know how performant is it.
Take care, that the youtubers shows that Goat Simulator is a game with a very small world, so I suppose a game with a big world will be less performant.
Am I thinking wrong?

I just played the goat sim some hours ago and in my opinion you need a pretty good PC to run it (when you think that the level isn’t so big) :smiley: In the UE4 you can always decrease the quality of the game to increase the fps count on older PC’s + when you use culling, lod’s,… you can get a pretty good performance (but it always depends on what kind of game you want to develope ^^)

My game project would be a game with similar concepts to Unreal Tournament. I would create an “arena” game… So there will be multiple worlds, but in a match only one world will be loaded. I can run Unreal Tournament 2004 on my Ati X1550 series… I tried to install UDK but it runs very slow.
Another question: Why UDK recommend Nvidia cards for developers?

Take a look at thread: https://forums.epicgames/threads/727379-UDK-and-ATI-cards

I personally would recommend you to try out the UE4 (pay the 20$ once and then cancle your subscription) and try out if it will work well -> in my opinion it will work, but actually I dont know how good (but you can always turn down the quality settings) :slight_smile:

Btw, here you can find some specs from other UE4 users -> https://forums.unrealengine/showthread.php?20643-Official-Hardware-Performance-Survey

does UDK even have things like marketplace and stuff?

in UE4 you can download awesome free completed game projects made by EPIC. Like the robot running dude and the car racing in the desert or a top down RTS tower defense game. And you can edit it and create your own game out of it.
Its really convenient for folks like me who are so new and clueless.

Okay, but on many posts on other thread, people said that UDK runs less performant on ATI cards, and I don’t like “racism” :frowning: . People also say that UScript is compiled and runs in a Virtual Machine. As said, before, I would like to create games for everyone’s PC, and not to people who have got a 1000$-Gaming PC.
Is possible in UDK?

UDK runs fine on my HD 4870 ATI which is ancient.

Only reason to go with UDK is because you have an older PC and or you are trying to target folks with older PCs using DX 9 etc

In which case I would strongly recommend you go with Unity engine. Its free and works on the oldest most crappy PC, for modern PCs the unity engine makes absolutely no sense over UE4

not directly, but there are many assets included in UDK + you can find lots of free stuff on the internet :slight_smile:

@ I can just talk from my experience -> when you have a slow PC, UDK is the choice that you should make (or turn down the quality settings in the UE4 to run it smoothly), otherwise go with the UE4, because you can also produce games for lower specs.

Best would be when you just try out both engines and then decide which one you would like to take :wink: