Unreal Development Kit Beta (March 2012)

New Features and Functionality

Unreal Editor
- Actors will show regardless of layer visibility when in G mode
- Before using ‘autoexpandcategories,’ the property window will first check to see if layout info has been saved
- New ‘Create Sub-Archetype’ feature added to Unreal Content Browser. Right-click on Archetype assets to create sub-archetypes
- Sound Actors can now be found inside Content Browser

Material Editor
- Added a ‘WorldPosOffset’ category to the Material Editor\'s context menu
- Changed the material editor to only update the previews when the viewport’s real-time flag is toggled, or mouse over while the expression’s preview real-time radio box is toggled
- Converting a Constant 1 Vector into a Parameter now behaves correctly
- Added functionality for updating a physical material when assigning a new material interface
- Material instance parameter groups no longer show up when none of the nodes in the group are connected

Post-process editor improvements
- Node color now represents the linked status (green = linked, red = unlinked)
- Ignores node connections of different types (has to be 1 Input and 1 Output), and reorders them accordingly
- Only marks the package as dirty when the effects order has been modified

Mesh Paint: marking an actor\'s ‘bHidden’ flag will no longer prevent it from being painted on

Texture paint workflow automation will now allow you to duplicate textures and hook them up to a new material instance with a single button click

Refreshing the list in Unreal Frontend so it no longer looks just for additional devices, but all devices attached. This prevents devices used previously showing, even though they may no longer be connected

You can now use the ‘Screen Capture’ option in Unreal Console to take a screenshot
Epic Games, Inc. has released the March 2012 UDK Beta, the free edition of Unreal Engine 3 that provides access to the award-winning toolset used in blockbuster video games, 3D visualizations, digital films and more.