Unreal Development Kit- An Advanced Program

Unreal Development Kit (UDK) is a free version of a program called Unreal Engine 3 by Epic Games.  Epic Games is a popular company that has created top games like Gears of War and BioShock Infinite. They have also received attained many awards and achievements.  Epic Games uses cross-platform game technology to distribute their games to many different areas. These include Windows, Steamworks (for online), Mac OS X, and iOS.  Top gaming systems like Xbox, PlayStation, and Wii are included in these platforms.   The UDK is for more experienced game developers. The program itself is made with C++, but the game behavior is scripted in its own version of JavaScript named UnrealScript.

Picture by Epic Games

UDK is free until one wants to sell their games; Epic Games charges a $99 fee.  If a game makes over $55,000 then Epic Games claims 25% of all royalties.  If one has an interest in creating a highly advanced game with the intention of commercial use then the UDK would be a great program to learn.  The program is so advanced that it can also be used for television or theatrical animation.  It can also be used to feature architecture like in the side picture.

The UDK is advanced and may take time to learn.  There are many help forums on the UDK website.  On this website: http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/DevelopmentKitProgramming.html, you can download UDK and also find many links to get started.   If you are interested in learning more abohttp://www.unrealengine.com/en/udk/. For experienced developers, or for people who want to create the latest and state of the art games, the UDK would be a great program to use. 

ut the UDK you can also visit their main website at

Game Maker- By YOYO Games

Game Maker is a game developer that can be both utilized for beginners and experienced game developers.  It also allows for cross-platform games. It is designed to be 80% faster than regular game coding. It has drag and drop features which will auto generate code for users, or it allows users to program in Game Maker Language (GML).  GML is a scripting language specially designed for Game Maker.  Game Maker also has a neat asset of built in libraries.  These libraries offer actions that most games have.  You can also make your own libraries in the Library builder.

Game Maker is available in many different versions which offer many different features.  They have a free version called Studio so anyone can try out their product.  They also have Standard version for $49.99, a Professional version for $99.99, and a Master Collection version for $799.99.  If you are interested in downloading any of these versions they are available at: http://www.yoyogames.com/studio.

The newest version of Game Maker Studio is 1.2.  This offers the capability to easily build different cross-platform games.  It also has the capability of a new Shader which gives games an upgraded and more realistic look.  It also gives you access to YoYo Complier which lets programs run 100 time faster!  It is also just an overall upgrade which has many improvements compared to other versions. Check out the video below which shows how the Shader works.  It offers many different kinds of shades and displays the different effects it can give a game!