http://www.epicgames.com/technology/epic-citadel http://www.udk.com/download Epic Citidel FAQ Features
What I want to know is how Apple can feature a UDK demo in their keynote while at the same time saying in their developer agreement that games must be written in Objective C on a Mac. Right now UDK is Windows only and the code is written in UnrealScript.
That clause only exists in there to cockblock Adobe. Multiple people at Apple have told me they have no intention of blocking out Unity, Unreal Engine 3, the Rage engine, etc.
I just saw it needs OpenGL ES 2.X. I guess that counts out a few people, doesn't it? At least at the moment...
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/30223/Interview_Epics_Capps_On_Bringing_Hardcore_Flavor_To_iOS.php
The Unreal Engine violates the Apple app policy in at least two ways: 1. It's a game engine (as mentioned below) 2. It makes HEAVY use of a non-apple interpreted programming language Or did Epic remove #2 for the iOS version of UE?
Because Apple are two-faced, it's as simple as that. Like Hodapp has already said: the rules are in place to screw over Adobe and that is all, any other big players are free to violate the rules at their will.
Apple's fine with most engines now. They've had no problem with Unity. Devs, start learning your way around Unreal Engine and wow us with graphics close to a modern console game.
Because that is not what Apple says: ...only code written in C, C++, and Objective-C may compile and directly link against the Documented APIs (e.g., Applications that link to Documented APIs through an intermediary translation or compatibility layer or tool are prohibited). The above being somewhat vague, and "everyone" knows its geared against Flash. (Which makes a lot of sense to Apple for a variety of reasons). It does not say everything has to be written in Objective-C on a Mac. Apple clearly does allow game engines as Unity-games are still being allowed.
Love this kind of market-talk: "A small team of Epics programmers, artists and testers created Epic Citadel in just eight weeks of development time." So, what does a "small team" mean? 5, 6, 7 people sounds like about a years worth of man hours...
I'm still not sure that Unity does comply with the ToS, but because Apple doesn't want to stop Unity made games making their way to the app store they are choosing to turn a blind eye. Up until the new ToS came into effect even Unity Tech itself had no idea if they would pass the test. I don't know how this UDK is going to work but if it isn't written in one of the C's I doubt it complies either but Apple won't do anything to stop them. I think Adobe will be watching all these developments very closely and considering their legal options. That is if they can interpret the deliberately vague ToS Apple have written in order to build a viable case against Apple. Oh and that UDK demo looks pretty fantastic on the iPad, can't wait to see how people put it to use
Interesting. Either way, we are going to see some sick games coming down the pipe with these engines.
Potato potahtoh. You know full well that I was simplifying the text of the Apple developer agreement to make a point. If you've read it, you also know that the UDK, Unity, Corona, iPhone Wax and others violate the terms of the agreement and should not be allowed, but Apple just chooses to look the other way. I don't mind that they look the other way, because I want these tools to be available. I just find it odd I guess that they so blatantly parade obvious violators in public, like repeatedly slapping Adobe in the face. I guess the lesson here is "Don't get on Steve's bad side!"
If a game can hit the top of the charts on iphone I think it can support a man-year or two of development. With the kind of hype this game is going to generate; it could do that. Its very hard for big game companies to keep costs down to that level though.
Well, if by "simplifying" you mean "slightly change to fit my preconceived notion of Apple's behavior" then by all means... I'm not sure the Epic constitutes an obvious violator. It depends on what level their scripting language is implemented I guess. The finished executable might frankly be straight compiled C++ for all I know.