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Geek Culture / Unreal Engine 4 Licensing Announced

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Dar13
16
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Joined: 12th May 2008
Location: Microsoft VisualStudio 2010 Professional
Posted: 20th Mar 2014 17:56
Unreal Engine 4 was announced yesterday to have an astonishing licensing policy.

$19.99 a month, with the ability to stop the subscription at any time while still maintaining your use of the engine. Basically the 19.99 a month allows you to keep your version up-to-date but if you don't need updates, you can stop your subscription.

Also, that $19.99 (whether you keep the subscription going or it's a one-time thing), gives you full access to the engine source code on GitHub. The only catch of the low payment (the astronomically low price in all honesty), is that you owe Epic Games 5% of your gross revenue.

Currently supported platforms:
Windows
Mac
iOS
Android

Upcoming platforms:
Oculus Rift VR
HTML 5
Linux

This is really really cool, I think I'm going to pick it up within the next month.

The Zoq2
14
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Joined: 4th Nov 2009
Location: Linköping, Sweden
Posted: 20th Mar 2014 18:14
20$ a month is pretty cheap to begin with if you are serious about your project, and if you can stop the subscription and still keep your current version, I might even consider it for my small hobby projects

When the linux version arrives, im really tempted to pick it up now...

Say ONE stupid thing and it ends up as a forum signature forever. - Neuro Fuzzy
Matty H
15
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Joined: 7th Oct 2008
Location: England
Posted: 20th Mar 2014 19:07
This is amazing!!

Does this mean there will be no UDK4? Since most UDK users will now be able to afford UE4 I would think.

Also, can you now write your scripts with the editor open, that one quirk of UDK really put me off Oh, and needing to use different installations for different projects, another big turn off in UDK.

I am off to google now and may find the answers to my above questions, if I do I will post back and let myself know what I found

Phaelax
DBPro Master
21
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Joined: 16th Apr 2003
Location: Metropia
Posted: 20th Mar 2014 19:13
That does sound like an incredible offer. I might have to learn to use the Unreal engine.

BiggAdd
Retired Moderator
19
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Joined: 6th Aug 2004
Location: != null
Posted: 20th Mar 2014 19:39
Considering I was recently thinking of getting into Unity, this is a much more attractive offer.

mr Handy
16
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Joined: 7th Sep 2007
Location: out of TGC
Posted: 20th Mar 2014 19:55
I smell underwater stones here...

All your TGC are belong to us.
nonZero
12
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Joined: 10th Jul 2011
Location: Dark Empire HQ, Otherworld, Silent Hill
Posted: 20th Mar 2014 20:16
Wow, I'm seriously gonna think about Unreal now! It's a great offer and if/when it supports Linux, I may conaider it as I'd like to make at least 1 AAA game (yeah, I know I need a team, I'm trying to build contacts atm actually).

Btw, noticed this:
www.gamespot.com/articles/crytek-undercuts-unreal-engine-4-with-10-cryengine-subscription/1100-6418427/
which is also very tempting!

I'm glad there's some decent competitiveness from a consumer POV.

I guess my decision will ultimately be based on the state of things at the time I'm ready to begin a massive project. For now, I'm focussing on my smaller projects and working my way up. Gotta crawl before you can fly (unless you're not a caterpillar).



You're a bad man!
Dar13
16
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Joined: 12th May 2008
Location: Microsoft VisualStudio 2010 Professional
Posted: 20th Mar 2014 20:42
Quote: " Wow, I'm seriously gonna think about Unreal now! It's a great offer and if/when it supports Linux, I may conaider it as I'd like to make at least 1 AAA game (yeah, I know I need a team, I'm trying to build contacts atm actually)."

The Linux code is already in the engine code apparently, it just needs to be finished up. The main backbone of the engine, the OpenGL, must already be done because the Mac part is done.

The Zoq2
14
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Joined: 4th Nov 2009
Location: Linköping, Sweden
Posted: 20th Mar 2014 21:24
That's even more exciting It's really nice that more engines are getting linux support

Say ONE stupid thing and it ends up as a forum signature forever. - Neuro Fuzzy
nonZero
12
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Joined: 10th Jul 2011
Location: Dark Empire HQ, Otherworld, Silent Hill
Posted: 21st Mar 2014 14:35 Edited at: 21st Mar 2014 14:36
Awesome Linux will be definitely supported! The more Linux support, the better as I believe that Linux is truly the future of consoles. So once all consoles were running Linux-based systems it would reduce the hassle of porting to PC and we'd actually be seeing console games on Linux before Windows. But, way more awesome, imagine just developing for a console from your Linux box with no special libraries. Hell, imagine if consoles shipped with GCC. Code your own games and apps, shove the source on a usb drive with applicable libs and make it (pun intended).



You're a bad man!
The Slayer
Forum Vice President
14
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Joined: 9th Nov 2009
Playing: (Hide and) Seek and Destroy on my guitar!
Posted: 21st Mar 2014 18:55
Well, from my personal experience with UDK, it is a great engine no doubt about that, but for one man projects or small group (2 or 3 people) projects, it's much too featured. What i mean by that is, even with 2 or 3 persons, you'll be learning months (if not years) before you start to 'master' the engine. Actually, i don't think anyone could ever 'master' UDK. There's tooooons of things that you need to know/learn before you can actually start a project. True, there's toooons of great tutorials, but you'll be spending a large amount of time on getting to know the engine.
By the time you'll 'know' the engine, new things will have come out, or things will have changed.
Don't get me wrong though...i mean...UDK is simply awesome in every way...!
The thing is...because of it's awesomeness...be prepared to learn a loooot before you'll be able to use the awesomeness of UDK.

Speaking of which...Unity 5 is coming soon also! And the new features are very appealing. I agree, Unity (Pro version) isn't cheap...but, imo better suited for small indie teams. And, there's always the free version to get you started. Even with the free version you're able to create great looking games on many platforms.

Quote: "Close those quotes before they start to spread!...too late! Aaaaaagh!!!
Mobiius
Valued Member
21
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Joined: 27th Feb 2003
Location: The Cold North
Posted: 22nd Mar 2014 13:08 Edited at: 22nd Mar 2014 13:09
This is a great idea, but it IS essentially only the unfinished demo version, so features may not work. (Plus hardware requirements are through the roof!)

Even still, $20 a month for the industry leading game engine?! No brainer!

Rampage
16
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Joined: 4th Feb 2008
Location: New Zealand
Posted: 23rd Mar 2014 04:11
Considering I spent $20 on my lunch today this seems like a really good offer!

CryTek also announced CE3 for $10 and no royalty fee.

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- Graduate Application Engineer at the University of Auckland ITS department
- Microsoft NZ Windows Dev Division
Blobby 101
17
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Joined: 17th Jun 2006
Location: England, UK
Posted: 23rd Mar 2014 11:45
This does seem awesome, I just really hope Unity decides to do something like this soon as well. At the moment (for the pro version) you either shell out $1500 up front to own it, or you pay $75 per month (for at least 12 months) and you'd still need to pay the $1500 if you wanted to actually own your license.

I love Unity, but they're just gonna get left behind if both CryEngine and Unreal 4 are more affordable options for indies.

The Zoq2
14
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Joined: 4th Nov 2009
Location: Linköping, Sweden
Posted: 23rd Mar 2014 14:24
Quote: "CryTek also announced CE3 for $10 and no royalty fee. "


That does not give access to the source code and does not allow you to cancel the subscription and still keep the current version though (based on what I have heard). Still, just like unreal, it's a great deal

Say ONE stupid thing and it ends up as a forum signature forever. - Neuro Fuzzy
Yodaman Jer
User Banned
Posted: 23rd Mar 2014 19:55
I guess you could say that this deal is... unreal.


HEEEEYYYYYY OHHHHHHHHHH


But seriously, I think this just might have killed Unity... Unity is JUST now (in version 5) getting 64-bit support, it should have had that since version 3.5 to begin with... Not to mention it's in need of upgrades elsewhere.

IF I hadn't just given up game design as a career, this would be a steal for me!


Come check out my new website!
nonZero
12
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Joined: 10th Jul 2011
Location: Dark Empire HQ, Otherworld, Silent Hill
Posted: 23rd Mar 2014 22:27
Glad I got put off Unity now after seeing that price tag


You're a bad man!
Jeku
Moderator
20
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Joined: 4th Jul 2003
Location: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Posted: 24th Mar 2014 07:43
Well I signed up and downloaded it. It's pretty cool so far, and I'm interested to know when some books will be coming out for it.

Senior Developer - CBS Interactive Music Group
Dark Java Dude 64
Community Leader
13
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Joined: 21st Sep 2010
Location: Neither here nor there nor anywhere
Posted: 24th Mar 2014 10:37
Quote: "I guess you could say that this deal is... unreal."
You are officially my favorite. Well done, sir.

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