Jump to content
Ultra Engine Community

Admin

Administrators
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    3,209

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Blog Entries posted by Admin

  1. Admin
    Summer is here, which means the beach, barbecue, and the first Leadwerks Summer Games Tournament.
     
    WHEN: The tournament will start Monday, June 15, and end Sunday, July 19th 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.
     
    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 rockin' Leadwerks T-shirt in the mail.
     

     
    Entries will be reviewed Monday, July 20th. See the official forum thread for more information and discussion.
  2. Admin
    Leadwerks Game Engine 3.5 is now available on Steam. Along with version 3.5, we're rolling out a new tutorials to teach you everything you need to make games. A step-by-step series of lessons teaches how to use the editor, write Lua scripts, and create gameplay. No preexisting knowledge is required. Read the new material here.
     
    A new project templates system has been added. This provides different game types you can choose from to create a basic playable game in a few seconds. We're launching with a marble game and a first-person shooter, with additional game templates on the way.
     

     
    This version adds free self-publishing to Steam Workshop with Leadwerks Game Launcher. Now in beta, the game launcher allows you to distribute your game to anyone on Steam, without installers, zip files, or plugins. You can learn more about publishing to Steam Workshop here.
     

     
    Leadwerks Workshop has been upgraded to use the SteamUGC system. This allows unlimited storage space to upload your game assets for others to use, or download and use more than 140 game items from the community.
     
    This update adds CSG boolean operations carve and hollow. This makes it easier to build game levels. With these tools you can cut a window or doorway out of a wall or join two hallways. Learn more about the new features here.
     
    A new file "Main.lua" has been introduced as the entry point for your game's script program. The new approach simplifies the main program code, and existing projects will be unaffected.

    About Leadwerks Software
    Leadwerks Software was founded in 2006 to make game development fun and enjoyable. The company launched Leadwerks Game Engine 3.0 in April at the GDC 2013 expo. In July 2013, 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 third-party 3D game engine distributed on Steam.
  3. Admin
    AMD has released a new driver which fixes a compatibility problem with Leadwerks. You can download the driver from their site here:
    http://support.amd.com/en-us/kb-articles/Pages/latest-catalyst-windows-beta.aspx
     
    Resolved Issues:
    [412702] Screens may blank out when enabling a 3x1 SLS with 3 HDMI monitors
    [411847] Leadwerks : Project Manager crashes with a "Pure Virtual Function Call" error
    [413076] Second Life : Rigged mesh objects are not rendered correctly when hardware skinning is enabled in the in game settings
    [413392] Star Trek Online : Block corruption is experienced when MSAA is enabled in the in game settings
    [410367] System hangs/BSOD upon resuming from S3/S4 sleep on AMD Radeon™ R9 285 configured in AMD CrossFire™ mode
    [410293] With AMD CrossFire™ enabled, Timeout Detection Recovery (TDR) occurs during actual gameplay when YouTube Mix moves to the next song in Firefox
    [407622] Screen tearing on enabling VSync with Alien: Isolation game
    [407175] Catalyst Control Center Video Quality settings may not be available or retained if the "Enforce Smooth Video Playback" option is not selected on some AMD HD series GPU's.
    [410391] Primary display may not be retained after disabling Crossfire while in Eyefinity mode
    [409705] Enabling or disabling Crossfire may lead to one side of the 4K MST display being shown as black
    [410393] Minor stuttering may be seen in Dragon Age Inquisition on Single and Multi GPU configurations​
    [414660] Total War : Attilla - The game may hang during in game cinematics on certain Kaveri platforms with a separate discrete GPU
    [414120] The Elder Scrolls V - Skyrim : Fog / Clouds may flicker on Radeon HD 5800 series products

  4. Admin
    Today, Leadwerks Software announces the release of Leadwerks Game Engine 3.4, introducing many new features that help make Leadwerks Game Engine the easiest way to build royalty-free 3D games. With today’s free update on Steam, developers will have access to an all-new vehicle command set for building interactive cars and trucks with a physically realistic transmission model. Built-in water settings have been added in the editor to provide life-like water with the click of a button. Leadwerks Workshop, a one-stop shop for browsing and installing free game assets, is now more easily accessible with a visual interface built right into the Leadwerks editor. In addition, over one hundred small fixes and improvements have made their way into the new update.
     
    The free trial of Leadwerks has been updated to version 3.4, and is now available for Linux for the first time, in addition to Windows. A 66% discount on the indie and standard editions of Leadwerks Game Engine is being offered during the week of the launch.

    About Leadwerks Game Engine
    Leadwerks Game Engine is the easiest way to make 3D games, helping players to become content creators. The software has been designed for ease-of-use and power, combining a simple intuitive visual interface with an advanced game engine under the hood. A royalty-free license and low cost of entry give beginners easy access to get started making their own games. For more information about Leadwerks Game Engine, please visit http://www.leadwerks.com.
    About Leadwerks Software
    Leadwerks Software was founded in 2006 to make game development fun and enjoyable. The company launched Leadwerks Game Engine 3.0 in April at the GDC 2013 expo. In July 2013, 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 third-party 3D game engine distributed on Steam.
  5. Admin
    Based on the success of the recent Winter Games Tournament, and the growing number of titles posted on our site, a Greenlight campaign has been launched to put a standalone Leadwerks Game Player on Steam. This will allow free self-publishing so that any Steam user can easily and safely install and play your game.

    Play Free Games
    The Leadwerks Game Player lets you install and play free games made by other Steam users with Leadwerks Game Engine. Choose from a wide variety of simple games like Asteroids3D, Crime Closer, Hunt for Food, and many more.
    Free Self-Publishing to Steam Workshop
    If you are a Leadwerks Game Engine user, Leadwerks Game Player lets you publish your own games to Steam through the Steam Workshop. Leadwerks Game Player uses sandboxed Lua script so that malicious code can't be executed, allowing free and safe self-publishing to Steam.
    Play Your Own Games in the Living Room
    Leadwerks works with SteamOS, so you and your friends can play your own games on the PC or in the living room. Just press "Publish" and your game is instantly available to all your friends on Steam.
    VR Mode
    Check the "VR Mode" checkbox to play any game in virtual reality with your Oculus Rift headset. 

     

     

  6. Admin
    The results of the Leadwerks Winter Games Tournament are in! I think you will agree, this tournament produced some very fun playable games. You can download all of these games and more in the Leadwerks Games Listing. Each author will receive a Leadwerks sticker via mail (Gonan gets a Leadwerks T-Shirt since this is his second entry.)
     
    So without further ado, let's look at the games, in no particular order:
     
    Crime Closer
    By nick.ace
    Catch the crooks before they get away!
     

     
    Next Monday
    By MarkusR
    Shoot zombies and collect coins. The variety of scripted events make this game full of fun surprises.
     

     
    One More Day
    By xtom
    A survival horror game in the making, with an interesting inventory system and nice level design.
     

     
    The Hankinator's Fun House
    By thehankinator
    Get to the Christmas party on time! Each room is a different challenge, with a wide variety of puzzles to solve.
     

     
    Space Runner
    By darklord987
    Run through a space station without getting smashed in this fast-paced arcade thrill.
     

     
    Holiday Foot Race
    By smigergon
    Speed through a Christmas-themed track in a frantic low-friction race against the clock.
     

     
    LOSW: Last One Standing Wins
    By Gonan
    It's zombies vs. mutants in this no-holds-barred brawl to victory. Place your bets on the side you think will win!
     

     
    Crazy Present Auto Dash
    By mdgunn
    Santa has been dropping presents all over the place. Get in your car and collect all the presents before the time runs out.
     

     
    Slastraf Horror
    By Mr. Shawkly
    "Slastraf Horror" is a horror game inspired by slender and other "modern horror stories".
    This game is right now in pre-alpha and you can get it for free.
     

     
    Atomic Parkour
    By Atomic Hashtag
    This 3D jumping platformer is deceptively simple. You will die, repeatedly.
     

  8. Admin
    Our first character pack for Leadwerks has been released. The Zombie Character Pack DLC is now available on Steam for $29.99, with a 15% launch discount.
     

     
    The Leadwerks Zombie Character Pack provides you with a horde of undead monsters to slay. Fight your way through the flesh-eating mob or pit them against each other in an all-zombie brawl to the death. All characters are fully scripted and ready to use in Leadwerks, with no programming required. Just drop them into your map and press play!

    Contents
    Five zombie character models from various walks of life.
    Idle, death, walk, run, and two attack animations.
    All associated materials, textures, and sounds.
    Integration with default Leadwerks AI script.


    Installing the DLC
    To install this DLC, select the Workshop > Manage AddOns menu in the main window. Select this DLC in the list, press the Install button, and your items will be available in the editor. 

     

  9. 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!
  10. Admin

    Leadwerks 3.3 Released

    By Admin,

    Leadwerks 3.3 is now available. This update adds usability improvements and a few new features.
     
    Two new entity classes that extend the model class are present. Sprites are a quad that can face the camera, a specific direction, or can rotate around one axis. These are useful for lighting effects and the axis rotation is great for making laser beams or tracer rounds.
     
    The Lensflare class extends the sprite class and adds a simple glow effect for lighting.
     
    The editor now support shift-drag to select in the main window viewports.
     
    On Windows, the main window now uses resizable splitters so you can adjust the size of the side panel and program log, or click the separator to show/hide them. You can also right-click on a file or folder in the Asset Browser and select the Properties menu item to bring up the Windows file properties dialog.
     
    The Leadwerks Workshop, our system for publishing user-made game assets, has been streamlined to make the process of installing and removing items easier.
     
    Encryption has been added for your published games to protect your game files from tampering. This works with both Lua and C++ games.
     
    You can pick up Leadwerks 3 at a discount during the Steam Exploration Sale.
  11. Admin
    The Leadwerks FPS Weapons Pack is now available on Steam as a DLC. The FPS Weapons Pack provides a small arsenal of game-ready weapons, with no coding required. Drag these objects into your map for the player to pick up and use. Pulverize your enemies with a machete, .22 pistol, combat shotgun, MP5 submachine gun and an M4 carbine. Each weapon includes sounds, effects, animations, and scripted behavior that make it ready-to-use in your Leadwerks games.
     
    The pack can be purchased with a 15% discount during the launch period.
     


  13. Admin
    Following completion of their successful Kickstarter campaign to bring Leadwerks’ game development software to Linux, Leadwerks has announced the release of Leadwerks Game Engine for Linux on the Steam distribution platform. This provides Linux users with a powerful tool to easily create their own 3D games.
     
    Over the last year, Leadwerks has focused on desktop Linux as a platform for creating and playing games. For many users, Leadwerks provides the last missing application they need to move entirely over to Ubuntu or another Linux-based OS. With Leadwerks for Linux now available on Steam, developers can build and play games without ever leaving Linux.
     

     
    Bringing Leadwerks Game Engine for Linux to Steam means that existing games can be more easily deployed to Linux. The Leadwerks Game Player allows users to play games published through the Steam Workshop. In most cases, games developed for Windows can be played on Linux with no changes and no recompiling, due to Leadwerks’ platform-agnostic design.
     
    Linux support also opens the door for Leadwerks developers to publish games to the living room. Last year Valve Software announced the SteamOS, a Linux-based operating system for game consoles. Although SteamOS is still in development, Leadwerks for Linux and SteamOS promise to provide indie game developers with a way to deploy their games to the living room quickly and easily.
     
    Leadwerks Game Engine is a powerful and easy to use development tool for building 3D games. The software has recently grown in popularity due to its ease of use, royalty-free license, and strong support for C++ and Lua programming. Thanks to the quality of modern Linux graphics drivers, Leadwerks is able to deliver high-end 3D visuals on Linux with an advanced deferred renderer using OpenGL 4.0. The Indie Edition of the software can be purchased on Steam for $99.99.
     
    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 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. In June of 2014, the Leadwerks Game Player on Steam opened the door for indie game developers to publish their games to the Steam Workshop, with no waiting period and no approval process. Although it’s been available on Steam for less then a year, Leadwerks users already have a dozen games and concepts on Steam Greenlight.
  14. Admin
    A demo version of Leadwerks Game Engine has been released on Steam. If you've got a Steam account, you can now try the easiest way to make your own 3D games, free for fourteen days. Try out the sample maps that teach gameplay concepts, import some of your own artwork, or just play around with the editor and learning materials.
     

     
    The full version of Leadwerks enables access to the Leadwerks Workshop, where you can download more than 70 items, including models, sounds, texture packs, and even games made with Leadwerks. It also allows publishing of your own items to Steam.
     
    Try the Leadwerks Game Engine demo on Steam now.
  15. Admin
    In collaboration with Arteria3D, we are pleased to announce the release of the SciFi Interior Construction Kit for Leadwerks Game Engine on Steam. This DLC provides all the props and textures you need to create your own high-tech sci-fi game environments. All content is ready to use with Leadwerks Game Engine, with no tweaking or adjusting required. Objects are designed to be easily aligned so you can build your scene quickly and revise it as often as you like. The included objects can be reused in many different ways to create a variety of science-fiction themed environments.
     


     
    Distributed through our Workshop game content system, the DLC contents appear immediately ready-to-use in Leadwerks upon purchase.

    Package Contents
    25 environment models including panels, pipes, supports, machinery, with predefined physics shapes for each object.
    56 materials with 1024x1024 textures, including model skins, with diffuse, normal, and specular maps for each.
    Example scenes to demonstrate usage and provide ideas.

     
    Get the SciFi Interior Construction Kit now for just $9.99 on Steam, with a 10% launch discount during the first week of release.
     

     

  16. Admin
    Leadwerks Software has released an official Blender exporter for the Leadwerks model format. This allows Blender artists to export their models to Leadwerks with automatic materials generation and full animation, without going through the FBX format. The Blender exporter comes as the fulfillment of a stretch goal reached during the Leadwerks for Linux Kickstarter campaign, which achieved over 200% its goal of $20,000.
     

     
    The Leadwerks exporter for Blender can be downloaded on the Leadwerks forum. A free forum account is required.
     
    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.
  17. 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.
  18. Admin
    Following completion of a successful Kickstarter campaign to bring Leadwerks’ game development software to Linux, Leadwerks and Canonical have joined forces to make Leadwerks Game Engine available in the Ubuntu Software Center. This provides Ubuntu users with a powerful tool for rapid game development.
     
    Bringing Leadwerks Game Engine to Ubuntu also means that existing games can be more easily deployed for Ubuntu. The lineup of featured games on the Leadwerks website covers a diverse range of genres including strategy, action, and simulations. Michael Juliano, developer of the space combat simulation game Rogue System, says that he is now planning on Ubuntu support in his upcoming title due to the ease of deployment Leadwerks provides. “One of the reasons we chose Leadwerks was due to its strong support for Linux”, said Michael. “We’re definitely interested in bringing Rogue System to Ubuntu.”
     

     
    Jono Bacon, community manager for Ubuntu, said that ”Canonical is delighted to be working with Josh at Leadwerks to help further Ubuntu and Linux and in general as a next generation platform not just for consuming games, but building a powerful community of games developers and content creators”. With 25 million users, Ubuntu is widely used by game developers and players alike who enjoy it’s open nature and long term vision of convergence.
     
    Leadwerks Game Engine is a powerful and easy to use development tool for building 3D games. The software has recently grown in popularity due to its rapid development capabilities, royalty-free license, and strong support for C++ and Lua programming. Thanks to the quality of modern Linux graphics drivers from ATI and Nvidia, Leadwerks is able to deliver high-end 3D visuals on Ubuntu. An advanced deferred renderer provides realistic light and shadows on any machine supporting OpenGL 4.
     
    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.
     
    About Canonical
    Canonical is the company behind Ubuntu and the leading provider of services for Ubuntu deployments in the enterprise. With global teams of developers, support staff and engineering centres, Canonical is uniquely positioned to help partners and customers make the most of Ubuntu. Canonical is a privately held company.
     
    Ubuntu is a free, open-source platform for client, server and cloud computing. It is the most widely used Linux on the top 1000 websites by traffic, the reference platform for OpenStack deployments, the most popular guest OS on public clouds, and ships on PCs from Dell, Lenovo, HP and other brands. Since its launch in 2004, it has become the preferred choice for open desktop and scale-out computing, from Fortune 500 companies to hardware makers, content providers, software developers and consumers.
  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.
  20. 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.
  21. Admin
    Leadwerks Game Engine on Steam has been updated with bug fixes and a host of new features that are now out of beta.

    Crowdsourcing Post-Processing Effects
    Although Leadwerks 2 featured an extensive set of post-processing effects, they were all hard-coded into the engine. This limited the ease with which new effects could be added, and caused all Leadwerks screenshots to look similar. In Leadwerks 3 we decided to implement a post-processing stack of shaders. You can attach post-processing effects to the scene root in the editor and move them around to get different appearances. 
    We're already seeing a greater diversity of looks and effects than what Leadwerks 2 could render. By effectively crowdsourcing post-effects, we're creating a stronger platform for innovation of new plug-in effects, from the realistic to the fantastic. The post-processing features are included in both the Indie and Standard editions of Leadwerks 3.1.
     

     

     


    Built-In Screenshot and Video Publishing
    You can now publish screenshots and videos straight to your Steam profile from the Leadwerks Editor. To render a screenshot, select the Render > Render Screenshot menu item. After your image renders, press the Publish button to send it to Steam, where it will appear in your Steam profile and in the Leadwerks Community Hub.
    Improved Project Management Tools
    To avoid confusion with outdated projects, the project's status will now be displayed in the project manager. If the project is older than the template folder, a warning icon will be displayed. In addition, the script editor will now warn once about an out-of-date project before running. 

     
    Leadwerks Game Engine is available on Steam for $99.
  22. Admin
    Leadwerks has added new features that allow users to take advantage of Steam features.

    Steamworks Integration
    Leadwerks now has native support for the Steamworks SDK. You can make your game ready to publish on Steam by calling Steamworks:Initialize(). This also enables the in-game overlay so you can take screenshots, chat with friends, and access the entire Steam community in-game.

    Screenshot Publishing
    The new screenshot publishing window allows you to upload rendered images directly to your online screenshots library, where it will show up on your Steam profile and the Leadwerks community hub.

    Steam Controller
    We've added native support for the new SteamOS Controller. You can get input from the controller and even send haptic feedback back to the device.  

     
    You can learn more about these new features in the documentation here.
  23. Admin
    After blasting through Greenlight in just 27 days, Leadwerks Software today announced the launch of Leadwerks Game Engine: Indie Edition, exclusively available on the Steam distribution platform. The arrival of Leadwerks adds 3D game development software to Valve’s lineup of creative and productivity tools.
     
    Leadwerks is designed to make game development easy for Steam’s 65 million users, with a royalty-free license for making commercial products. A new renderer built on OpenGL 4.0 provides high-end graphics comparable with modern AAA games at an affordable price. Built-in level design tools based on constructive solid geometry make map design easy for users who aren’t expert artists. Game code is written with Lua, an easy-to-learn script language that also happens to be used in hundreds of commercial games like Crysis, Call of Duty, and World of Warcraft. Extensive documentation is provided, with examples to demonstrate every aspect of building a 3D game.
     
    Leadwerks promises to provide an easy entry mode to overcome the console barrier that has traditionally kept indie game developers at a distance. Last summer the company raised over 200% of their funding goal on Kickstarter to add support for the Linux operating system. With Linux development nearly complete and the pending release of Valve’s Steam Machines, a disruptive alternative to traditional consoles, Leadwerks looks ready to provide an easy route to console publishing via Steam. The company is attending Steam Dev Days next week to learn more about SteamOS and Valve’s new hardware.
     
    Leadwerks Game Engine: Indie Edition can be purchased on Steam for $99.
  24. Admin
    Leadwerks 3.1 has entered the beta testing phase on schedule according to our development plan laid out in the Leadwerks for Linux Kickstarter campaign. Supporters who chose the SUPER BACKER reward have been granted access to try the early builds of Leadwerks for Linux.
     
    We chose to use the excellent Code::Blocks IDE for Linux development. Beta testers can access the full Leadwerks API to program graphics, physics, and gameplay, along with a few new functions like Camera::SetMultisampleMode(), which sets the render antialiasing level.
     

     
    Although the beta is not a complete finished product, we've already learned a lot about building high-end graphics for Linux. First of all, the Linux OpenGL drivers for ATI and Nvidia hardware are fine. We've encountered no graphics drivers bugs (so far). This may be due to the streamlined nature of OpenGL 4, as it removes a lot of legacy functionality. Whatever the cause, OpenGL drivers for Linux work great, much better than Windows drivers did a few years ago in the dark days between OpenGL 2 and 3.
     
    The biggest remaining challenge is to get the editor running in Linux. We anticipate two difficult parts to this. First, although we have a GUI abstraction layer that uses GTK on Linux, we expect some amount of fiddling to be necessary to make it work right. Second, the case-sensitive nature of the Linux file system will cause issues that need to be dealt with since there are many placed where our editor stores file names in lower-case format. This will require a lot of effort to resolve, but it's not any harder than some of the other issues we have dealt with so far in the development of Leadwerks for Linux. The benefits of having a Linux game editor with a native look and feel will make it worth the extra effort it takes.

    Steam Dev Days
    Leadwerks founder Josh has been invited and will be attending Steam Dev Days in Seattle, Washington. Steam Dev Days is a two-day game developer’s conference where professionals can meet in a relaxed, off the record environment. Developers will share their design and industry expertise, participate in roundtable discussions and attend lectures by industry veterans on topics ranging from game economies to VR, Linux/OpenGL, user-generated content and more. Developers will also have direct access to Valve’s Steam Team, and will be given a chance to test-drive and provide feedback on Steam OS, prototype Steam Machines and Steam Controllers. 

  25. Admin
    In just three weeks, the Linux community has successfully funded the development of Leadwerks for Linux. This means we're going to bring Leadwerks 3.1 to Linux, with native support for developing Linux games...so Linux games can now be completely free from Windows.

    Greenlight
    It's been an amazing few weeks. During this time, we also successfully completed our Greenlight campaign to make Leadwerks available on Steam and take advantage of features like the Steam Workshop. You can see from the graph below that our campaign did better than any other software in Steam we had data for. The votes look like they would have gone a lot higher, but Valve approved us early! 


    Megatextures
    I also had a chance to prototype the major feature of Leadwerks 3.1 I was most concerned about. I wanted to implement a new terrain system that would remove the limitations of our old one, and thought that a technique I call "dynamic megatextures" would be a good solution. Basically, this works like id Software's megatexture technology, only the virtual textures are generated on-the-fly rather than being paged from the hard drive. This means the entire terrain can be uniquely textured, but it doesn't require the hard drive space megatextures usually need: 

     
    Getting that knocked out of the way makes me confident we can deliver Leadwerks 3.1 for Linux according to our original vision.
     
    Congratulations, Linux community! I'm happy to make Linux a core part of our company's focus moving forward.
Copyright © 2024 Ultra Software.
All rights reserved.
×
×
  • Create New...