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  1. Admin

    Data Loss Announcement

    By Admin,

    First, so you don't have to read through all my rambling, the website database is set back to November 2010, and there is no way around it.
     
    I was working with the forum software on Sunday, 4-17, and I was just very pleased with how things were working. I saw there was an update for the bug tracker application, and the change list just mentioned some bug fixes, so I felt okay installing it. The new version removed custom issue fields, which we use extensively for listing hardware, drivers, operating systems, etc.
     
    It's not very easy to revert to previous software versions. I had performed a full website backup earlier that day, so I figured the best way to revert the tracker app would just be to have the IT admin revert the server to the backup I had made. I'd downloaded it to my local hard drive and it was intact, and also still available on the server. I also had an earlier full website backup I made on April 2. I figured this would be a minor inconvenience that would take the forum offline for a few hours.
     
    Here's the interface in CPanel:

     
    I also talked to the IT admin and they assured me that the full website backup does includes MySQL databases. I sent the following message to them Sunday afternoon:
     
    My caution in this email might indicate I had a suspicion something was wrong. Did I somehow know something would go wrong? Should I have? This thought is nagging me right now.
     
    I've been on the phone with tech support for a couple days, but you don't need the whole story. The outcome is the server was erased and repopulated with the contents of the backup archive. All files were intact, but the databases were not saved when the backup was performed. The previous backup I had was from April 2, which would not be a terrible loss. It appears the same occurred then. In fact, since I have been dutifully saving full website backups since November, thinking I was making extra effort to be on the safe side, the databases were never being saved in the archive. So the last copy of the forum database I have is from November 2010. I've been quite diligent with backing the site up, but that doesn't mean anything if the backups aren't working. The host automatically backs up sites under 10 gb every 24-36 hours, but that size excludes us.
     
    Although it was easy to bring the forum software up to date, all forum data since November 2010 is gone forever. The loss of this is staggering. To me, and to others here.
     
    You can get your screenshots here in a single package. They're randomly named, but if you really need something you can find it, and it's divided up by month:
    http://leadwerks.com/werkspace/index.php?/topic/3098-screenshot-archive/page__pid__28584#entry28584
     
    I still have all the attached files from posts, blogs, downloads, etc., but they are randomly named and I don't know how possible it is to go through them.
     
    The thing that really hurts is the lost documentation that was created after November. That's going to take time to recover from. We'll recover, but the loss is still sinking in for me. Jorn worked really hard on that at a reasonable pay rate and I feel really bad about it.
     
    I have records of all registered users. If you registered for your Leadwerks account after November of 2010, your account will be recreated and your password will be set to your registration key you received.
     
    The wiki and old forum are fine.
     
    The new forum skin is fine, but not installed at the moment.
     
    This must never happen again.
     
    First, a better backup protocol is needed. The most important thing is that the backups actually be valid backups. Obviously, I've learned that MySQL databases must be backed up individually and that a full website backup from CPanel is not reliable. Data is saved to a 2 TB external hard drive. Additionally, I am opening a safe deposit box where code and site data are regular deposited. I already thought I was doing everything right, so at this point I feel like I can't be too careful.
     
    Second, I am locking the forum software at the current versions, unless a critical vulnerability is discovered. In 2009, all we had was an installation of PHPBB. The idea for Werkspace was something Annika came up with and gradually sold me on. We listed all the features we wanted and found forum software that would allow it. Customizing the look and feel of the software to fit in with the theme of Leadwerks was a long process, but we finally got a suitable skin made. I am satisfied with the features and functionality of the system, and now we can just leave it be, indefinitely. The data loss does not affect the skin we had developed. The skin will continue to get minor improvements, but those kind of changes are easily performed and rolled back, if need be.
     
    Third, semi-annual tests are needed to make sure data can be restored successfully to a test server. Backups don't help if you wait until you need them to find out they don't work. A test server will be used to install the latest backup on every six months, or before any restoration takes place. Maybe this is overkill, but nothing was supposed to go wrong before, and we found out otherwise.
     
    It seems redundant to say I'm sorry about this occurrence. I know we'll get back to normal, but it hurts pretty bad. The key point is my data backup technique was flawed, so all the backups I've been performing were worthless.
     
    -Josh
  2. Admin
    Leadwerks Game Engine 4.6 is now available on Steam! This free update adds Steam peer-to-peer networking, lobbies, voice chat, and more. A new multiplayer game template makes it easy to get started with your own multiplayer games, adding new depth and interactivity to the fun.

    We've also added over 100 bug fixes, making this the most stable release ever to build your game on!
    New classes:
    Lobby P2P Voice Other changes:
    New parameters for better control over physics springs. World::Update() now has an optional parameter for number of sub-steps, can be used for improved physics precision. Model editor view range is calculated from model extents, so if you load a model that is huge it won't be invisible. Model editor displays number of limbs as well as vertices and triangles. Settings file is now saved any time changes are made in the options editor. Menu item added for Leadwerks Marketplace. Menu item added for Discord chat. Linux version of engine now built on Ubuntu 18.04.
  3. Admin
    A few years ago, some folks at NASA asked for my help with some VR projects they were working on. They had switched to Leadwerks and were getting better performance with that, but it still wasn't fast enough for what they were trying to do. I flew from California out to Goddard Space Flight Center to meet with them. When I saw what NASA was doing with my software, my jaw hit the floor.

    Goddard Space Flight Center
    Rendering performance in VR is critical because if the framerate drops, it creates a discontinuity between what your visual and vestibular (sense of balance) systems perceive. This causes instant and severe motion sickness and can result in nausea, vomiting, and dizziness. The work NASA was doing with VR involved loading engineering CAD models with tens of millions of polygons and thousands of articulated sub-objects, and displaying them in VR. Naturally, the VR rendering performance for these types of models absolutely crawled. If we were making a VR game we would just optimize the models and design everything to fit within a polygon budget, but engineering requires complex models with many fine details. We couldn't just "optimize away" important details the engineers wanted to inspect in VR.

    NASA model of International Space Station
    I came away from that meeting thinking it was an impossible problem to solve, and I flew home to California. Over the next weeks I started thinking "I know this is impossible, but if it were possible, what would it look like?" This lead to the development of a new game engine designed specifically to maximize performance for VR.
    Today I am happy to reveal performance benchmarks of the new Ultra Engine compared to Leadwerks and Unity. These tests reveal different performance bottlenecks that can occur in real-time applications that would cause slow performance. Testing was performed on Windows 10 with an Nvidia GEForce 1080 GPU.
    Instanced Geometry Test
    In this test, a 3D grid of 32,768 instanced cubes is created. This evaluates how the renderer handles a large number of objects with CPU frustum culling enabled. Frustum culling on the CPU is important because it allows the engine to discard large parts of the scene from processing in the rendering loop. It also allows the engine to skip animation for offscreen objects.

    In this test, Ultra Engine outperforms both Leadwerks and Unity by 20x, with 95% GPU utilization:

    Animation Test
    In this test, 1024 animated characters are displayed. Each character has a unique skeleton and is animated independently with no instancing.

    In this test, Unity outperforms Leadwerks, but Ultra Engine is still more than 18x faster, with much higher GPU utilization:

    Lighting Test
    This test renders a scene made up of 1000 instanced boxes and 25 point lights. This provides a measure of how efficiently each engine handles the interaction between lights and objects, and simulates the lighting overhead of a complex scene.

    In this test the Leadwerks renderer has a significant performance advantage over Unity, but again Ultra Engine is much faster than either:

    Unique Geometry Test
    In this test 4096 unique (not instanced) boxes are created and drawn onscreen. This simulates a complex scene with many unique objects.

    Unity and Leadwerks both struggled to render this scene in real-time, but Ultra Engine ran at an astounding 6000+ frames per second:

    As you can see, a variety of scenarios that would cause the Unity or Leadwerks renderer to bottleneck run with absolutely no problems in Ultra Engine. This technology is being developed into a full game engine with a visual editor, complete with a plugins and extensions system. Ultra Engine will deliver order-of-magnitude faster performance, to eliminate motion sickness and lower hardware costs for VR applications, as well as general game development. There's no need to spend hours and days optimizing your game, because when you use Ultra Engine your game is already optimized.

    New editor work-in-progress
    If you're in Orlando the last week of November, stop by booth #2341 in the small business pavilion during the I/ITSEC 2021 expo to see a live demo of our game-changing new technology.
    If you would like to be notified when Ultra Engine becomes available, sign up for the mailing list.
    Update
    Benchmarks are now available for download.
  4. Admin

    4.5 Beta Now Available

    By Admin,

    A beta build of version 4.5 is now available on the beta branch on Steam.  This updates the engine to the latest Newton 3.14.  Versions 4.5 and 5 beta are now compiling side-by-side with the same source code.  Because of major engine changes in version 5, some bugs may need to be resolved before the final release.  Some preliminary information on updating C++ projects can be found in this thread.
    Version 4.5 is planned to include official support for VR (both Vive and Oculus) and a new improved vehicle system.

  5. Admin
    Leadwerks 3 is a new game engine purpose-built for mobile. By building the entire platform on pure native code, Leadwerks aims to bring a new level of performance and flexibility to 3D mobile games.
     
    After two years of development, the team is now beginning a closed beta test. Select members of the community will provide feedback and testing so that final bug fixes and refinements can be made.
     
    You can sign up to our mailing list for up to date information as we finish up development of the new Leadwerks. Visit www.leadwerks.com to learn more.
  6. Admin

    Leadwerks Levels Up

    By Admin,

    Leadwerks has been accepted into the Sacramento State University Center for Entrepreneurship. The mission of the Center for Entrepreneurship in the College of Business Administration (CBA) is to develop and nurture innovative business ideas and to capitalize potential entrepreneurial opportunities, both from CSUS and local entrepreneurship communities.
     
    The Center will provide entrepreneurs with the skills and resources needed to launch a venture and to identify and cultivate solutions to entrepreneurial problems, the network structure to bring the plan to fruition, and the technical training to grow the enterprises.
     
    This means Leadwerks now has a physical office right here in California and a vital link to the local technology and business communities as we complete the last leg of Leadwerks3D, our upcoming game development software for iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows, and Mac.



  7. Admin
    An update for version 4.4 beta is now available. The Newton Dynamics library has been updated to the current version. Vehicles are temporarily unavailable, but everything else should work. The Newton DLLs have been moved into external DLLs, which allows the author of Newton to debug his own physics code in Leadwerks from Visual Studio.
     
    You can get the update by opting into the beta branch on Steam.
  8. Admin
    Steam Workshop was a compelling idea to allow game asset authors to sell their items for use with Leadwerks Game Engine. However, the system has turned out to have some fundamental problems, despite my best efforts to work around it.
    Free items are not curated, causing the store to fill with low quality content. Some people have reported trouble downloading items. The publishing process is pretty tedious. The check-out process requires adding funds to Steam Wallet, and is just not very streamlined. At the same time, three new technologies have emerged that make it possible to deliver a better customer and seller experience through our website.
    Amazon S3 offers cheap and reliable storage of massive amounts of data. Paypal credit card tokens allow us to safely store a token on our server that can't be used anywhere else, instead of a credit card number. This eliminates the danger of a potential website hack revealing your information. Invision Power Board has integrated both these technologies into our commerce system. it would not have been possible to build a web store a few years ago because the cost of server space would have been prohibitive, and storing hundreds of gigs of data would have made my website backup process unsustainable. So at the time, the unlimited storage of Steam and their payment processing system was very appealing. That is no longer the case.
    To solve the problems of Steam Workshop, and give you easy access to a large library of ready-to-use game assets, I am happy to introduce Leadwerks Marketplace.

    The main page shows featured assets, new content, and the most popular items, with big thumbnails everywhere.

     
    When you view an item, screenshots, videos, and detailed technical specifications are shown:

    How does Leadwerks Marketplace improve things?:
    Easy download of zip files that are ready to use with Leadwerks. You can use File > Import menu item to extract them to the current project, or just unzip them yourself. All content is curated. Items are checked for compatibility and quality. Clear technical specifications for every file, so you know exactly what you are getting. Cheap and reliable storage forever with Amazon S3. Any DLCs or Workshop Store items you purchased can be downloaded from Leadwerks Marketplace by linking your Steam account to your profile. Easy publishing of your items with our web-based uploader. We're launching with over 50 gigabytes of game assets, and more will be added continuously. To kick off the launch we're offering some items at major discounts during the Summer Game Tournament. Here are a few assets to check out:
    Get "The Zone" for just $4.99:
    Or download our Mercenary character for free! Just create your free Leadwerks account to gain access.
    Other items will be featured on sale during the Summer Game Tournament:
    After purchasing an item, you can download it immediately. All your purchased items will be shown in the Purchases area, which you can access from the user menu in the top-right of this the website header:

    Here all your purchased items will be available to download, forever:

    If you are interested in selling your game assets to over 20,000 developers, you can upload your items now. Sellers receive a 70% royalty for each sale, with a minimum payout of just $20. See the content guidelines for details and contact me if you need any help. If you have a lot of good content, we can even convert your assets for you and make them game-ready for Leadwerks, so there's really no risk to you.
    Browse game assets now.
     
  9. Admin
    Leadwerks Engine 2.43 is now available. This version features improved raycast performance, a new DRAWEACH entity callback, and a few small bug fixes. Registered developers can download the update by running the Leadwerks Updater.
  10. Admin
    Following the successful debut of Leadwerks Game Engine: Indie Edition on Steam, Leadwerks Software today announced the launch of Leadwerks Standard Edition. This DLC on Steam adds support for programming in modern C++11 with Microsoft’s Visual Studio 2013.
     
    C++ is the game industry’s leading programming language, due in large part to its superior performance and flexibility. However, the language is sometimes considered to be too complicated for indie developers to take advantage of. Leadwerks solves this problem by focusing on a useful subset of the C++ language, and providing a simple command library that works the same in C++ and Lua. This makes C++ game development fast and easy to control.
     
    Adding C++ support to Leadwerks Game Engine unlocks access to a massive amount of free third-party game libraries, which are typically written for C++. Indie game developers can include new libraries for physics, AI, and virtual reality into their Leadwerks projects without having to wait for the developers to add an official bridge. This lets indie developers take advantage of the newest technologies and provides a degree of control other languages can’t match.
     
    Leadwerks is designed to make game development easy for Steam’s 75 million users. A new renderer built on OpenGL 4.0 provides advanced graphics at an affordable price. Built-in level design tools make map design easy for users who don’t happen to be expert artists. Game code can be written with Lua, an easy-to-learn script language, or modern C++11. Finally, the royalty-free license means game developers can publish commercial games and keep 100% of the profits, with no additional payments due, ever.
     
    The Leadwerks Game Engine: Standard Edition DLC can be purchased on Steam for $99.
     
    About Leadwerks Software
    Leadwerks Software was founded in 2006 to build game development tools that are powerful and easy to use. The company launched Leadwerks 3, their first multiplatform product, at GDC 2013. Last summer, the company conducted a successful Kickstarter campaign to being Leadwerks to the Linux operating system, reaching over 200% of their goal in just six weeks. A concurrent Greenlight campaign for Steam was also successful, making Leadwerks the first 3D game engine approved for distribution on Steam.
  11. Admin
    Now that you've had time to get acquainted with Leadwerks, it's time for the Summer 2016 Game Tournament.

     
    WHEN: The tournament will start Monday, July 25, and end Sunday, August 21th at 11:59 P.M. (Pacific Standard Time).
     
    HOW TO PARTICIPATE: Publish your summer-or-other-themed game to Steam Workshop or upload it to the games database before the deadline. You can work as a team or individually. Use blogs to share your work and get feedback as you build your game. If you need models for your game, we've got a summer model pack for you to use for free from Leadwerks Workshop.
     
    Games must have a preview image, title, and contain some minimal amount of gameplay (there has to be some way to win) to be considered entries. It is expected that most entries will be simple, given the time constraints.
     
    PRIZES: Rather than a competition, this tournamant is a "co-opetition". Everyone who participates gets a prize!
     
    If this is your first game tournament entry, you will receive a cool Leadwerks sticker in the mail.
     

     
    If this is your second game tournament entry, you'll receive a collection of three limited-edition professionally printed postcards featuring beautiful Leadwerks screenshots. Send them to a friend or put them on the wall.
     

     
    If this is your third game tournament entry, you'll receive a rockin' Leadwerks T-shirt in the mail. Wear it to show how cool you really are.
     

     
    If this is your fourth game tournament entry, you'll receive the new Leadwerks hoodie! This gorgeous garment makes you look like a Silicon Valley startup geek. This light jacket is perfect for air-conditioned spaces that are just slightly chilly.
     

     
    If this is your fifth game tournament entry, you will receive a Steam Controller. The Steam Controller lets you play your entire collection of Steam games on your TV—even the ones designed without controller support in mind.


    Bonus Prize
    All participants will receive an 11" x 17" printed poster for the Summer Games 2016 Tournament! This limited-run item will be printed only once, only for this event. This is your only chance to get this poster, ever. 

     
    Make games and have fun!
  12. Admin
    The first Leadwerks Winter Games tournament has begun!
     


    How to Enter
    Submit your playable game to the Leadwerks Games Catalog, before January 15th. You can use any Christmas or non-Christmas related ideas. You can work together in teams or on your own. On the day of January 15th, a review of submitted games will be posted.
    Prizes
    Rather than a competition, this tournament is a "co-opetition". The community is encouraged to help one another make fun playable games. Everyone who participates in the tournament will receive a prize. 
    If this is your first official game tournament entry, you will receive a Leadwerks sticker in the mail.

     
    If this is your second tournament entry, you will receive a Leadwerks T-shirt in the mail.

     
    If this is your third tournament entry, you will receive a rockin' Leadwerks beanie to keep your head warm. (Image not available yet.)

    Getting Started
    To help kick off the contest, we've released the Christmas Props Pack by Rich DiGiovanni for free in the Leadwerks Workshop. Feel free to use these models to get started with your game idea. You can participate by posting blogs about your game's development, or just post some work-in-progress screenshots. (Also, if you need more models, Rich is available and does great work at a reasonable price.) 

     
    If you've got a serious project in development, this is a great opportunity to take a break and make a simple fun game, or you can even make a simplified teaser of your game to drum up a fan base. Here are a few entries from past tournaments.
     
    Most of all have fun, and watch out for reindeer!
  13. Admin
    At last, it is time for the 2016 Leadwerks Winter Games Tournament! This is going to be a big one, for a few reasons.
    We're very likely to reach 100 games in Leadwerks Game Launcher, which means it will be ready to move out of early access mode and be an official release on Steam.
    As an experiment, you're getting two extra weeks to polish your games, with an extended deadline lasting until January 15th.

     

     
    WHEN: The tournament begins Monday, December 5, and ends Sunday, January 15th at 11:59 P.M.
     
    HOW TO PARTICIPATE: Publish your wintery-or-other-themed game to Steam Workshop or upload it to the games database before the deadline. You can work as a team or individually. Use blogs to share your work and get feedback as you build your game. If you need models for your game, we've got a Christmas props model pack for you to use for free from Leadwerks Workshop.
     
    Games must have a preview image, title, and contain some minimal amount of gameplay (there has to be some way to win) to be considered entries. It is expected that most entries will be simple, given the time constraints.
     
    PRIZES: Rather than a competition, this tournamant is a "co-opetition". Everyone who participates gets a prize!
     
    If this is your first game tournament entry, you will receive a cool Leadwerks sticker in the mail.
     

     
    If this is your second game tournament entry, you'll receive a collection of three limited-edition professionally printed postcards featuring beautiful Leadwerks screenshots. Send them to a friend or put them on the wall.
     

     
    If this is your third game tournament entry, you'll receive the new Leadwerks USB stick, which is perfect for storing projects, code and artwork! The items will be printed with the Leadwerks logo for a distinctive look.
     

     
    If this is your fourth game tournament entry, you'll receive a rockin' Leadwerks T-shirt in the mail. Wear it to show how cool you really are.
     

     
    If this is your fifth game tournament entry, you'll receive the new Leadwerks hoodie! This gorgeous garment makes you look like a Silicon Valley startup geek. This light jacket is perfect for air-conditioned spaces that are just slightly chilly.
     

     
    If this is your sixth game tournament entry, you will receive a Steam Controller. The Steam Controller lets you play your entire collection of Steam games on your TV—even the ones designed without controller support in mind.


    Bonus Prize
    Everyone who participates also gets this bonus prize: an 11x17" poster mailed to your door! These posters will be printed only once, only for this event. This is your only time ever to get one, so make it count!
  14. Admin
    Today we are pleased to announce the release of Leadwerks Game Engine 4.5.
    Version 4.5 introduces support for VR headsets including the HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, and all OSVR-based hardware, allowing developers to create both room-scale and seated VR experiences. The Leadwerks virtual reality command set is robust yet incredibly simple allowing you to easily convert your existing 3D games into VR titles. To help get you started the source code for our Asteroids3D game has been updated for VR and is now freely available in the Leadwerks Games Showcase.

    Leadwerks Game Engine is uniquely well-suited for VR because of its fast performance, ease of use, and the availability of C++ programming for demanding VR games. Several optimizations for VR have been made including combining the rendering of both eyes into a single culling step. The stability and accuracy of Newton Game Dynamics means we can have in-depth physics interactions in VR.
    A new VR game template has been added to provide common VR features including teleportation locomotion and the ability to pick up and interact with objects in the environment.
     
    Visual Studio 2017
    We've also upgraded Leadwerks Professional Edition to build with Visual Studio 2017 so you can take advantage of the very latest Visual Studio features. Instructions for upgrading C++ projects from version 4.4 to 4.5 are available here.

    Other Improvements
    Added fog settings in editor and into map file format. New joint scripts and enhancements. Updated to Steamworks 1.41 You can pick up Leadwerks Game Engine with a discount during the Steam Winter Sale.
  15. Admin

    Ultra App Kit Released

    By Admin,


    Articles
    Built to power a new generation of game development tools, Ultra App Kit provides an easy-to-use C++ programming SDK for creating desktop GUI applications.
    Unlike other alternatives like Dear ImGui, the Ultra App Kit GUI renders in retained mode rather than immediate mode, and is specifically designed for desktop GUI applications. This makes applications snappy and responsive when resizing or refreshing a window.
    DPI scaling is baked into the design for resolution-independent graphics on any screen.
    The GUI can be combined with an embedded OpenGL viewport, or combined with a 3D game engine to make custom editors and game development tools.
    Check out the video tutorials and read the documentation to learn more.
    Ultra App Kit can be purchased in our store.

    API Design
    C++ shared pointers everywhere Extensible widgets system Extensive documentation with examples for each command UI Features
    Resolution independent for any DPI scale Load SVG vector images Set widget icons Change mouse cursor Custom color schemes stored in JSON files Supported Widgets
    Label Button (push, checkbox, radio, and toggle styles) ProgressBar TextField TextArea ComboBox ListBox Slider (scrollbar, trackbar, and stepper styles) Draggable multi-select TreeView Create your own custom widgets Additional Features
    File I/O File system watcher Memory allocation and management Image loading, saving, processing Package system for loading files from compressed / encrypted archives Plugin system Thread management String manipulation (split, search, conversion, etc.) Message boxes and file / folder requester
  16. Admin
    The Leadwerks team will be hosting our first Google Hangout on Sunday, July 1, at 17:00 GMT (that's 10:00 AM in California). We'll spend 30 minutes talking about all the cool things happening in the community, and answer your questions about our upcoming new game engine.
     
    Follow us on our Google+ page before Sunday and check back to join the Hangout. We're limited to ten participants, so first come, first serve. See you then!
  17. Admin
    Summer is here, and you know what that means! Yes, it is time for another LEGENDARY game tournament. This year the theme is "Retro Gaming". Create a modern take on an arcade game hearkening back to the days of NES, Neo Geo, Sega, or just make anything you want. Either way, you get this totally radical poster as a prize!

    How does it work?  For one month, the Leadwerks community builds small playable games.  Some people work alone and some team up with others.  At the end of the month we release our projects to the public and play each other's games.  The point is to release something short and sweet with a constrained timeline, which has resulted in many odd and wonderful mini games for the community to play.
    WHEN: The tournament begins Thursday, June 21, and ends on July 31st at the stroke of midnight.
    HOW TO PARTICIPATE: Publish your retro-or-other-themed game to the Games Showcase before the deadline. You can work as a team or individually. Use blogs to share your work and get feedback as you build your game.
    Games must have a preview image, title, and contain some minimal amount of gameplay (there has to be some way to win the game) to be considered entries. It is expected that most entries will be simple, given the time constraints.
    This is the perfect time to try making a VR game or finish that idea you've been waiting to make!
    PRIZES: All participants will receive a limited-edition 11x17" poster commemorating the event. To receive your prize you need to fill in your name, mailing address, and phone number (for customs) in your account info.
    At the end of the tournament we will post a roundup blog featuring your entries. Let's go!
  18. Admin
    Leadwerks Engine 2.5 has been updated with a few small fixes and added commands.
    -Added GetModelLODEntity(), CountModelLODEntities().
    -Added vegetation index in pick structure.
    -Improved vegetation terrain coloring.
    -Fixed terrain color map.
     
    You can download the update by running the Leadwerks Engine sync tool.
  19. Admin
    Leadwerks Game Engine on Steam and standalone versions have received a major update that include enhancements to the workflow and new features.
     
    The FBX model importer will now auto-generate materials for imported models, and select the appropriate shader to use. This even works with animated models that use GPU skinning, so it's super easy to get new models into Leadwerks. Other enhancements include support for multi-track animations and animation sequence names.

     
    Lua script post effects are now supported in the editor. This allows a greater range of plug and play post-processing effects. Scripts and shaders can be modified in real-time and the results are instantly visible, allowing you to fine tune the look and feel of your game.

     
    Physics shapes can now be built into models for easy creation of physics. More advanced physics shapes can be created from constructive solid geometry brushes or auto-generated, but the new feature simplifies the task of defining physical geometry for most models.

     
    A sharpen filter has been added to the built-in texture editor. Unlike paint programs like Photoshop and Gimp, the filter operates at every level of the mipmap chain. This means that fine details aren't washed out as the image is downsampled, and makes far away objects still look crisp and clear. Blurry stock photos can be easily transformed into beautiful game-ready textures, and the effect is adjustable so you can view the results instantly to get just the right look.

     
    Controls for texture compression have been added, allowing you to select which DXT compression format to use, as well as support for the new DXTn compression format. This swizzles the blue and alpha channels in the texture to provide greater resolution for normal maps and eliminate the blocky artifacts compressed normal maps can experience.

     
    Finally, the Linux build has received a refresh to update it to the visual style of Ubuntu 14.04. A new icon set makes Leadwerks for Ubuntu look sleek and professional just in time for its release in the Ubuntu Software Center:

     
    All of these features help make Leadwerks the easiest way to make games that look amazing. Thousands of developers worldwide are using Leadwerks to create a diverse range of games, including first-person shooters, strategy games, and flight simulators.
     
    About Leadwerks
    Leadwerks Software was founded in 2006 to build powerful game development tools that are easy to use. The company launched Leadwerks 3, their first multiplatform product, in April at the GDC 2013 expo. Last summer, the company conducted a successful Kickstarter campaign to being Leadwerks to the Linux operating system, reaching over 200% of their goal in just six weeks. A concurrent Greenlight campaign for Steam was also successful, making Leadwerks the first 3D game engine approved for distribution on Steam.
  21. Admin
    Winter has descended upon the land, and with it comes the frost. The nights are long and the days are cold and grey. How long it shall last we do not know. But we do know it is time for another Leadwerks game tournament!
     

     
    WHEN: The tournament will start Monday, January 18, and end Sunday, February 21th at 11:59 P.M. (Pacific Standard Time).
     
    HOW TO PARTICIPATE: Publish your winter-or-other-themed game to Steam Workshop or upload it to the games database before the deadline. You can work as a team or individually. Use blogs to share your work and get feedback as you build your game. If you need models for your game, we've got a bunch of new content coming out in Leadwerks Workshop for you to use.
     
    Games must have a preview image, title, and contain some minimal amount of gameplay to be considered entries. It is expected that most entries will be simple, given the time constraints.
     
    PRIZES: Rather than a competition, this tournamant is a "co-opetition". Everyone who participates gets a prize!
     
    If this is your first game tournament entry, you will receive a cool Leadwerks sticker in the mail.
     

     
    If this is your second game tournament entry, you'll receive a collection of three limited-edition professionally printed postcards featuring beautiful Leadwerks screenshots. Send them to a friend or put them on the wall.
     

     
    If this is your third game tournament entry, you'll receive a rockin' Leadwerks T-shirt in the mail. Wear it to show how cool you really are.
     

     
    If this is your fourth game tournament entry, you'll receive the new Leadwerks hoodie! This gorgeous garment makes you look like a Silicon Valley startup geek. This is the fashionable way to stay warm until summer!
     

     
    Go forth and make games, for the good of the kingdom!
  22. Admin
    The beta branch on Steam is now updated. Version 4.6 introduces peer-to-peer multiplayer capabilities with a new multiplayer game template. Check out the new features in the documentation:
    P2P Lobby Voice The physics library is updated to the latest version of Newton.
    The editor has some enhancements as well:
    Model editor view range is calculated from model extents, so if you load a model that is huge it won't be invisible. Model editor displays number of limbs as well as vertices and triangles. Settings file is now saved any time changes are made in the project manager or the options editor. Menu added for Leadwerks Marketplace. Paid Workshop items are no longer accepted. Menu item added for Discord chat. Please test this out and report any errors in the bug reports forum, as this is pretty close to the final version 4.6.
  23. Admin
    After a wild week at GDC 2013, it's nice to be back doing what I do best...writing code!
     
    A new build of Leadwerks 3 is now available. We've added light vector maps so that lightmapped surfaces can display normal mapping effects. Lightmapped materials with normal maps should use the texture "Common/lightvectormap.tex" in slot 4. (If you create a new lightmapped material, this will be done automatically.)

     
    This technique works by calculating the average light vector that influences each luxel in the lightmap. Each vector is weighted by the light's intensity and range to get an overall vector representing the direction most light is coming from. The light vectors are encoded in a secondary light map that looks like this:

     
    This effect will even work with specular reflection, as seen in this totally over-the-top screenshot:

     
    We also made about a dozen small fixes to the engine and editor. For more detail on recent issues resolved, visit the bug reports forum. Like any new software, we've had some teething problems, but it's pretty easy to resolve those issues as they arise. Bugs can be fixed as they are identified, but bad design is forever. Fortunately, I think we've got a great design and a good and stable development system.
  24. Admin
    The foundation of our new game development tools is here, with a close-to-the-metal framework for building desktop applications.
    Close-to-the-Metal Framework for Desktop Applications
    We're approaching the end of a loooooooooong cycle of research and development...several years, in fact, have been spent building the fastest game engine in the world. A great game engine needs a great user interface, and Ultra App Kit provides exactly what we need. This will provide the backbone of our new game editor, as well as a mechanism for user-created extensions. You can get your hands on this technology and start building your own desktop applications by backing our new crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter. (You have the option to purchase through IndieGoGo or directly through our website at a later date.)

    Usage

    Supported Widgets
    Label Button (push, checkbox, radio, and toggle styles) ProgressBar TextField TextArea ComboBox ListBox Slider (scrollbar, trackbar, and stepper styles) Draggable multi-select TreeView Create your own! API Design
    C++ shared pointers everywhere Extensible widgets system Extensive documentation with examples for each command Can be made to interface with C# and Lua UI Features
    Resolution independent for any DPI (16K+) Load SVG vector images Filter and sort widget items by name Set widget and item image Change mouse cursor Custom color schemes stored in JSON files Other Features
    File I/O File system watcher Memory allocation and management Image loading, saving, processing Package system for loading files from compressed / encrypted archives Plugin system Thread management String manipulation (split, match, conversion, etc.) Message boxes and file / folder requester Stretch Goals
    $20,000: C# and Lua programming support $50,000: Linux and Mac support $80.000: Visual UI Designer Other Ways You Can Help
    Some people just can't contribute, but that doesn't mean you can't help. Get the word out and make some noise about this campaign!
    Thank you for your support!
    About Leadwerks 5
    Leadwerks Game Engine 5 is in development, with an initial release scheduled 2021, with Vulkan graphics and 64-bit floating point support, Join our community and help shape the final design of our most advanced technology yet.
  25. Admin
    Leadwerks Software today announced the release Leadwerks Game Engine 3.2, the newest version of their game development software on Steam. This update brings integration with Workshop, Steam’s system for user-generated content. The Leadwerks Workshop gives developers a head start by launching with more than 50 free packages of content ready to be used to make games.
     
    “Leadwerks was created to give people who love games the freedom to create something of their own”, said Leadwerks CEO Josh. ”With version 3, we basically nailed the workflow. There’s always more features you can add, but we basically have the technology problem solved. Once you get to that point, the next thing that comes up is content. Developers need lots of content to choose from. The Leadwerks Workshop on Steam leverages our community so we can all collaborate more effectively.”
     
    The Leadwerks Workshop has some features similar to existing stores like Turbosquid or the Unity Asset Store. You can browse and install various third-party model and texture packs. However, the Leadwerks Workshop takes collaboration a step further. Derivative works are supported, meaning items in the Workshop can be used to make new items that can be published. For example, it’s possible to take a gun from one author, mount it on a vehicle someone else made, and publish the assembly as a new item. “With traditional content stores, artists are always worried about people ripping off their work,” explains Josh. “This kind of flips the equation. Now you want people to reuse your work, because any derivative items they publish always link back to your original.”
     

     
    Game content isn’t the only thing that can be distributed through the Leadwerks Workshop. Games themselves can be published to Steam via the Workshop, with no waiting period and no approval process. This allows developers to get their game in front of an audience and build a following, without going through the Greenlight process.
     
    Leadwerks Game Engine 3.2 costs $99.99 on Steam, with a 25% discount during the 2014 Steam summer sale.

    About Leadwerks Software
    Leadwerks Software was founded in 2006 to build powerful game development tools that are easy to use. The company launched Leadwerks 3, their first multi-platform product, in April 2013 at the GDC expo. Last summer, the company conducted a successful Kickstarter campaign to bring Leadwerks to the Linux operating system, reaching over 200% of their goal in just six weeks. A concurrent Greenlight campaign for Steam was also successful, making Leadwerks the first 3D game engine approved for distribution on Steam.
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