Book excerpt: Mastering Unreal Technology, Volume I: Introduction to Level Design with Unreal Engine 3 is your start-to-finish guide to modding and level design with the world’s hottest new gaming engine: Unreal Engine 3. Here’s everything you need to know to jumpstart your skills and create stunning new content and games for consoles and PCs alike! Your authors aren’t just the world’s #1 Unreal game development trainers: They’ve even built the training modules that shipped with Unreal Tournament 3: Limited Collector’s Edition. Now, working with the full cooperation of Unreal Engine 3’s creators, Epic Games, they introduce every facet of game development—from simple level creation to materials, lighting, and terrain...even advanced level optimization and streaming! Packed with tips, hands-on tutorials, and expert techniques, Mastering Unreal Technology, Volume I is all you need to create levels that look spectacular and work brilliantly...levels that gamers just can’t stop playing! You’ll find expert tips on Understanding the game development process from start to finish Planning projects for greater efficiency, faster delivery, and better quality Crafting worlds with stunning beauty and clarity Bringing amazing realism to characters, objects, and props Making the most of Unreal Engine 3’s massively upgraded lighting system Scripting complex gameplay quickly and easily with Unreal Kismet Building animated game assets with Unreal Matinee Testing game performance during live gameplay Optimizing levels by improving the interaction between lights and surfaces Using advanced level streaming to create vast, rich, highly playable levels Winner of the Front Line Award for best game development book of 2009!