Online


 

  • Internet and LAN play has been a hallmark of action games as demonstrated in Epic's Unreal Tournament series. The Unreal Engine has long provided a flexible and high-level network architecture suitable to many genres of games, as well as simulation projects, and is fully supported on PC and all high-end console platforms.
  • Integrated voice communication on all platforms.
  • Unreal Engine gameplay network programming is high-level and data-driven, allowing UnrealScript game code to specify variables and functions to be replicated between client and server to maintain a consistent approximation of game state. The low-level game networking transport is UDP-based and combines reliable and unreliable transmission schemes to optimize gameplay, even in low-bandwidth and high-latency scenarios.
  • Client-server model supporting up to 64 players as provided. Also supports listen server (server+client at the same time).
  • Supports network play between different platforms (i.e., dedicated PC serving console clients; Windows, MacOS and Linux clients playing together).
  • Game code writes to one API that works across all online platforms.
  • All gameplay features are supported in network play, enabling vehicle-based multiplayer games, competitive team games with NPCs or bots, cooperative play in a single-player focused game, and so on.
  • Support for auto-downloading and caching content, including cross-platform compatible UnrealScript code. This feature enables everything from user-created maps, to bonus packs, to complete game mods to be downloaded on the fly.
  • In-game server browser GUI for finding and querying servers, keeping track of favorites, in-game chat, etc.
  • Party system: the ability for a group of players to meet in a networked lobby and transition from match to match as a group.
  • Supports Games for Windows LIVE, Xbox LIVE, and GameSpy (PC and PS3) network platforms.
  • Support for Microsoft’s LIVE Server Platform (LSP).
  • Networked Title Updating system: allows for modification/customization of game features via downloaded files from an LSP so updates can happen without a TU.
  • Support for PS3 downloadable games via Sony’s Game Content Utility: UE3 games can be run as retail disc games, downloaded from the PlayStation Store, or even a patch, all without the need for recompiling the code.
  • Integrated network profiler