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Learn about game development technology

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Beta update available

An update to 4.3 is available on the beta branch. This fixes it so the editor is not DPI-aware and will be scaled correctly if scaling on Windows is used. This build is also built with a fresh install of Windows 10 and Ubuntu (but it shouldn't make any difference).   This is a full build for Windows and Linux, with C++ libraries included. Game Launcher is also updated on its beta branch.   If there are no problems with this, it will go onto the default branch in a couple days.
Josh

Josh

1

Beta Update Available

A full update for Windows and Linux is now available on the beta branch which addresses several small problems: http://www.leadwerks.com/werkspace/topic/15772-standalone-build-wont-launch/ http://www.leadwerks.com/werkspace/topic/15761-entity-gets-has-stopped-working-error/ http://www.leadwerks.com/werkspace/topic/15766-crash-anything-since-last-update-object-already-deleted/   The version of the VC redistributable has also been updated in Steam and will fix this problem if you are having t
Josh

Josh

1

Beta update available

An update is available on the beta branch on Steam. Fixed missing fall damage: https://www.leadwerks.com/community/topic/17005-i-dont-get-fall-damage/ Fixed LoadAnimation bug: https://www.leadwerks.com/community/topic/16982-modelviewer-load-animation/ May have fixed VR player script and tracking on Oculus Rift. If you have an Oculus Rift please try creating a new project from the VR template project and tell me your results. If there is still a problem I will go buy
Josh

Josh

4

Beta update adds per-project AddOns management

An update is available on the beta branch. This fixes the picked triangle always returning 0 bug, and it adds a new dialog for managing Workshop add-ons on a project by project basis.   I tried to keep the addon management dialog unobtrusive, but I still didn't want the user to be confused if they subscribed to a new Workshop item and didn't see it show up. The dialog appears automatically if you have added a new item, but otherwise it will stay hidden unless you open it with the Workshop &g
Josh

Josh

2

Beta branch update: Tons of art pipeline enhancements

I'm happy to say I nailed the design of the Leadwerks 3 workflow overall, but there are a couple of places where there's still some friction. Because the community is going to soon be moving a lot of content into the Steam Workshop, now is a good time to take a look at those issues. It's also smart to address them before the Blender exporter is written.   A new update has been pushed out to the beta branch on Steam that contains a lot of improvements in this area. However, both the map and
Josh

Josh

10

Beta branch update

The Workshop interface will now more closely match our website. Item pages will now display videos, multiple images, and other information about the items.  
Josh

Josh

0

Beta branch update

The beta branch on Steam is updated with a new build. This uses the refactored Window class, on Windows and Linux. The GUI and Widget class are also added, although they are highly experimental and still in development. Both the engine and editor are using the refactored Window class, so please report any erroneous behavior your detect.   Leadwerks is now using GDI+ for some GUI drawing commands, on Windows. You need to update your existing project by modifying the "Linker \ Input \ Additi
Josh

Josh

2

Beta 4.3 available

I've uploaded a full build of version 4.3 on the beta branch. Version 4.3 will be released in short order and simply contains performance enhancements, OGG support, and bug fixes.   Version 4.4 is due out in the spring and will include the new in-game GUI system. This will coincide with the first Leadwerks / itch.io Game Jam.
Josh

Josh

2

Best classic start menu for Windows 7

If you prefer the classic start menu like I do, there are several solutions available to get the classic start menu in Windows 7. My favorite is Classic Shell.   Classic Start Menu is a clone of the original start menu, which you can find in all versions of Windows from 95 to Vista. It has a variety of advanced features: Drag and drop to let you organize your applications Options to show Favorites, expand Control Panel, etc Shows recently used documents. The number of documents t
Josh

Josh

6

Beginning with Particles

I wanted to work on something a bit different, and this sure is different. I've got a framework of a new particle system worked out. What's really special about this system is the amount of interactivity the particles will allow. Particle-world collisions. Particle-particle collisions (repulsion) Particle-particle cohesion (fluids with surface tension) Instead of just being a visual effect, I want our new particles to be fully interactive with physics so that particl
Josh

Josh

3

Beefing up the Script Editor

Along with vegetation, Leadwerks 3.7 is planned to include new features that turn the script editor into a powerful IDE. Auto-completion makes it easier to remember the command you are looking for and greatly enhances coding productivity. A built-in project explorer is also being added to make it easy to quickly navigate to and open any script or shader file in your project.     These and other planned enhancements provide a powerful coding environment built seamlessly into Leadwerks Edit
Josh

Josh

7

Basis Universal Texture Support

Last year Google and Binomial LLC partnered to release the Basic Universal library as open-source. This library is the successor to Crunch. Both these libraries are like OGG compression for textures. They compress data very well into small file sizes, but once loaded the data takes the same space in memory as it normally does. The benefit is that it can reduce the size of your game files. Crunch only supports DXT compression, but the newer Basis library supports modern compression formats like B
Josh

Josh

4

Basic Scene Benchmarks

I did some work optimizing the new renderer to discrete cards and came up with a new benchmark. This scene is interesting because there is not much in the scene, so the culling does not benefit much xrom multithreading, since there is so little work to do. The screen is filled with a spotlight in the foreground, and in the background a point light is visible in the distance. Both engines are running at 1280x720 resolution. This is really a pure test of deferred vs. forward lighting. AMD R9 
Josh

Josh

3

Banding and Dithering

I came across a very interesting presentation that talks about how to avoid "banding" artifacts in game graphics. The author uses dithering to add noise to an image and break up the visible lines your eye can detect. This even works with audio. When noise is added to the mix, the original tune appears to become more high-fidelity than it actually is:     I was able to use this concept to improve the appearance of banding in shadow acne in a low-resolution spotlight with a large volum
Josh

Josh

4

Back to Werk

In my last development blog, I wrote about some design problems I faced, and why I wasn't sure how to proceed. I've resolved these issues by building the debugger and game output display close to where they will be most likely to be used, the Script Editor.   I was pleased to find that my Lua debugger code I wrote about a year ago works perfectly. This allows breakpoints, code stepping, and the display of variable values in your game. It works with any Leadwerks3D executable, so you can e
Josh

Josh

4

Back to the Art Pipeline

It's pretty amazing how long the materials, textures, and shader system is taking, but it encompasses a lot of areas: Automatic asset reloading, autogenerated shaders, GLSL syntax highlighting, texture conversion options, and more. All this attention to detail is shaping up to create what I hope will be the best art pipeline, ever.   The Asset Browser displays all files in your project directory. You don't have to use Windows Explorer at all anymore. You can rename, move, copy, cut, paste,
Josh

Josh

7

Back in Action

So, most of December was eaten up on some NASA VR projects. There was a conference last week in Seattle that I attended for a couple of days. Then I had meetings in northern California and Arizona. Unfortunately, I can't really talk much about what I am doing with those. Rest assured I am working on a plan to grow the company so we can provide better products and support for you. I'm taking a hit on productivity now in order to make a bigger plan happen. Today is my first day back home
Josh

Josh

2

Automate your social media accounts with the Steam web API

Keeping your social media accounts active with screenshots, videos, and updates is important, but as an indie developer you probably don't have time to post on there every day. In this blog I will show you how to easily automate your social media accounts so that a constant stream of new content is going out to your fans.   First, you will need to create a free account with dlvr.it. Connect your social media accounts to it. Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ are the important ones.   Now you
Josh

Josh

0

August 13, 2011

Once again, I like to attack the things I haven't done in the past first. I know how to make a CSG editor. What I haven't done in the past is a visual editor for gameplay and logic.   In the shot below, you can see the properties editor, with the "Scripts" tab selected. I moved the name and angle editor outside the tabbed panel, with the idea that these are so important they belong in the main window, but the real reason was to break up the boredom of a full-window tabbed panel. Under the
Josh

Josh

3

Assets product section now open

We're finally offering our first product in the new assets section of the site. I have wanted for a long time to have a means where assets can be produced and sold in a sustainable manner. I am very interested in working with third-party sites that produce game artwork. Orders are still processed by hand, but we're working on a system to automate things. You can be sure I won't let anything into the product listing unless it is 100% game-ready for Leadwerks Engine.
Josh

Josh

9

Asset Loader Class

There's a discussion on the forum that sort of veered into talking about Khronos' GLTF file format specification: Some of this gave me some ideas for changes in the art pipeline in Turbo Game Engine. I was not feeling very concentrated today so I decided to do some easy work and implement a loader class: class Loader : public SharedObject { public: std::vector<wstring> extensions; virtual bool Reload(shared_ptr<Stream> stream, shared_ptr<SharedObject> o, const int f
Josh

Josh

3

Artwork production

Our all-purpose action figure concept is complete, and he looks fantastic.     I am reminded of the great artwork on the packaging of GI Joe action figures from the 80s.     Rich has had some difficulty modeling a higher-detail pickup truck, inspired by the design of a Dodge Ram. According to him, curved vehicle bodies are much more difficult to get right than more angular designs. So that tells me in the future, we can get a jeep or something done much more easily than a Corvette, f
Josh

Josh

4

Artificial Stupidity

I'm testing the Leadwerks3D AI navigation and getting some interesting results. I'm not sure why it's acting this way, but we'll get it figured out soon. It seems like the navigation gets "stuck" on corners, fails to enter some tiles, and likes to take the scenic route to some destinations. B)  
Josh

Josh

8

Art

Three things I am working on right now: We need a high quality default skybox. I'm pretty happy with the results I got, after a lot of experimentation and different programs. This will be a whole huge blog post itself. Commissioning development of one high-end character model. I'm going with a fairly expensive option this time. My goal is to just get ONE character I am happy with, with the idea that if we can do it once we can do it again. More on this later. Investigating a better
Josh

Josh

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