[This unedited press release is made available courtesy of Gamasutra and its partnership with notable game PR-related resource GamesPress.]
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
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 or from
www.itunes.com/apps/epiccitadel.
For more information about “Epic Citadel,” visit
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
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
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
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.
###
PRESS CONTACTS:
Christine Hall
Capstrat (for Epic Games)
chall@capstrat.com
+1 (919) 882-1998
Dana Cowley
Epic Games, Inc.
dana.cowley@epicgames.com
+1 (919) 447-4515
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