Chapter 113How to do it...
One of the largest contrasts you'll find between the Dungeon Defenders source and that of
UDK is their use of cameras and the player controller, as that game utilized a third person
perspective. Take a few moments to sift through the code and understand the path that
Trendy Entertainment took.
It's well documented too, so even a novice should be able to sift through the code and see
how things are connected. Even better, Epic's UDK forums are filled with questions from
other developers asking questions about that particular set of code, in addition to code
from other resources, so there are chance that many of your questions have been previously
answered there. Take a look at http://forums.epicgames.com/forums/367-UDK-
Programming-and-Unrealscript and see for yourself. The search bar can prove to
be an invaluable tool when sifting through the forums as well, considering they are rather
dense and filled with subforums from a number of Epic's properties, such as Gears of War.
Moreover, some of their programmers are extremely active in the UDK forums and often
provide a bit more introspection on the code and how it is used.
How it works...
As license holders, Trendy Entertainment utilizes a custom version of the Unreal Engine,
thereby allowing the developers of the DDDK to have far more control of the engine than
we could without the license. This wasn't always the case however, so much of the original
UDK code is still in place. With the DDDK you can either create modifications for Dungeon
Defenders, or total conversions to the entire game.
See also
So why did Trendy Entertainment release their source code for free? Well, publicity could
be one reason. Epic heavily promoted Dungeon Defenders at launch and lauded it as an
excellent example of how to utilize the engine to create something different from what
they created it to do.
Copies of the game are very affordable nowadays, sometimes running even as low as a few
dollars during a Steam sale, and the original demo is still free. So I'd suggest picking up a
copy and seeing how it compliments all of that code you've just sifted through. Even if you
don't own the game, the source is still available as free DLC through Steam or can be found
at http://www.unrealengine.com/showcase/udk/dungeon_defense/.