Epic Games Brings Unreal Engine 3 to iPad, iPhone and iPod touch
‘Epic Citadel,’ world’s First UE3-Powered iOS App, Now Available on App Store
Cary, NC, September 01, 2010 — CARY, N.C. – September 1, 2010 – Epic Games, Inc. today announced its “Epic Citadel” App is now available from the App Store. The app showcases the technical capabilities of Epic’s award-winning Unreal Engine 3 on iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. In “Epic Citadel,” players navigate a fictional castle realm using simple controls and the innovative Multi-Touch user interface. “Epic Citadel” also features stunning visuals and special effects, with an environment inspired by “Project Sword,” Epic’s newest game.
“Project Sword” is the codename of the all-new action role-playing adventure game exclusively for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch developed by Epic’s critically acclaimed studio, Chair Entertainment, creators of the Xbox LIVE Arcade games of the year “Undertow” and “Shadow Complex.” Scheduled for release later this year, “Project Sword” will bring unrivaled visual fidelity and a highly accessible gameplay experience to the iOS platform.
“This is a testament to the sheer power of iOS devices as up until now, Unreal Engine 3 has typically been used to create high-end gaming experiences on game consoles and computers,” said Epic Games President Dr. Michael Capps. “And we’re not just keeping it to ourselves. We’re putting Unreal Engine 3 technology into the hands of game developers all over the world, and we can’t wait to see the apps they make next.”
A small team of Epic’s programmers, artists and testers created “Epic Citadel” in just eight weeks of development time. Unreal Engine 3 is scalable yet packed with the same tools hundreds of thousands of users work with to create games, simulations and animated content. Features include:
- Amazing visuals. “Epic Citadel” pushes the envelope for stunning visuals on iOS devices. Through the latest advances in Unreal Engine 3 technology, the application delivers unrivaled graphics and special effects that immerse players in the kingdom’s grounds.
- Bump offset mapping. Also known as parallax mapping or relief mapping, bump offset mapping enhances the visual appearance of stone walls and rocks providing intricate textures.
- Normal mapped architecture. Brings stunning detail to bricks and ground surfaces within the environment.
- Texture blending with painted weight maps. Refines nuances on roads and terrain, making them rich and lifelike.
- Global illumination. Unreal Engine 3’s built-in global illumination system, Unreal Lightmass, provides realistic lighting and shadows with minimal development resources.
- Dynamic specular lighting with texture masks. Helps create authentic cobblestone roads and vivid reflective marble surfaces, while lens flares and light coronas add dramatic emphasis when panning across light sources.
- Real-time reflections and animation. Environment mapping enables real-time reflections on objects such as the statue inside the cathedral. Dynamic movements of trees and banners are made possible through the use of vertex deformation and skeletal animation.
- Free tools. Epic’s Unreal Development Kit (UDK), available for free download at http://www.udk.com/download, ships with the same tools and technologies used to create Epic Citadel.
“Epic Citadel” is available for free from the App Store on iPad, Phone and iPod touch. For more information about “Epic Citadel,” visit
http://www.epic-citadel.com.
About Unreal Engine 3
The award-winning Unreal Engine is known for its cutting-edge graphics and best-of-breed toolset. Unreal Engine 3 maintains those features in addition to multi-core processor support, Xbox 360® and PlayStation®3 optimizations, massive world support and a highly mature tool pipeline. Unreal Engine 3’s consistently evolving toolset is designed to accelerate developers’ productivity for PC and console games, mobile games and applications, training simulations, visualizations and real-time 3D animation. Additional information on Unreal Engine 3 can be obtained through the Unreal Technology website at
http://www.unrealtechnology.com.
About Chair Entertainment
Founded in 2005, Chair Entertainment Group is a video game production company committed to creating blockbuster entertainment franchises through development of its original intellectual properties. In 2006, Chair launched its first original property, “Empire,” as a bestselling novel written by Orson Scott Card. In 2007, Chair launched “Undertow,” an award-winning underwater action shooter for Xbox LIVE Arcade. Set in the universe of “Empire,” Chair’s 2009 release for Xbox LIVE Arcade, “Shadow Complex,” was awarded Best Downloadable Game of the Year by multiple media outlets. Additional information about Chair can be obtained through the Chair Entertainment website at
http://www.chairentertainment.com.
About Epic Games
Epic Games, Inc., based in Cary, NC and established in 1991, develops cutting-edge games and cross-platform game engine technology. The company has created multiple million-selling, award-winning titles in its “Unreal” series, including “Unreal Tournament 3” for PC, PlayStation®3 and Xbox 360®. Epic’s “Gears of War” franchise has sold more than 12 million copies worldwide and won more than 30 Game of the Year awards. Epic’s Unreal Engine 3 is the four-time winner of and Hall of Fame inductee for Game Developer magazine’s Best Engine Front Line Award. Unreal Engine 3 has also been recognized as the number one game engine by Develop magazine. Additional information about Epic can be obtained through the Epic Games website at
http://www.epicgames.com.
Epic, Epic Games, Gears of War, Unreal, Unreal Development Kit, Unreal Editor, Unreal Engine, Unreal Lightmass and Unreal Tournament are trademarks or registered trademarks of Epic Games, Inc. in the United States of America and elsewhere. Chair, Shadow Complex and Undertow are trademarks or registered trademarks of Chair Entertainment LLC in the United States of America and elsewhere. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
