Ok I'm trying to use my normal maps in UDK and even though I apply them to my material and I can see the normals in the material editor, they aren't showing up in the world or when I choose to play in it.

I've tried using the vector/multiply tool to strengthen the normals because I thought they may have been too weak. But no results.

I went into the world settings and whacked up the Normal influence option inside the lightmass section to 0.8 etc and still no results.

I'm not sure what the problem is, does anybody have any suggestions?

Do the normal maps in UDK assets seem to be working in the level?

One thing is that you may have got into the unlit mode by mistake. You can change the render mode with the buttons on the bar above the viewport. It should be lit(alt+4).

EDIT: This shouldn't be the case when you play as it should render in lit mode already.

does the object have a light near it?

Does the same issue happen with the default UDK objects that come bundled with the program?