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BLaBZ

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Blog Comments posted by BLaBZ

  1. A quite insightful post. I wonder if this was largely due in part to the fact that Leadwerks was Greenlit which the user base primarily consist of PC users.

     

    Discontinuing mobile sounds like it's ultimately good news. You have momentum in a particular direction and now it's all about feeding that momentum.

     

    If you can dominate the PC indie game dev market segment it will then be easy to bleed into other market segments, when it could become profitable to support mobile.

     

    Impressive stuff Josh!

  2. Coincidentally I was just building a pc for the first time in 2 years yesterday.

     

    I last built my pc 3 years ago, and while the benchmarks are still relatively good by today standards support for the latest OpenGL drivers is no longer available and I'm stuck at v3 :(

     

    I'm also hesitant about the assumption that more cores means better performance. Not all games\applications take advantage of all cores, and you'll always have you main thread managing the rest. But at the same time, a lot of modern games are far more GPU intensive then they are CPU intensive.

     

    Are you using a SSD hard drive?

  3. I love the idea of SteamOS taking a punch at the traditional "console" market but I fail to see how this is truly "better" than using a Computer or and existing Console.

     

    It seems like this is basically "Steam on TV." I'm excited about it, but I don't really see it competing with Xbox or Playstation. I feel like only extremist gamers will be using SteamOS.

     

    Releasing a console every 6 years is really beneficial for developers and users. Games are highly compatible with the hardware and users will know which games will run on their console.

     

    I hate reliving the nightmare of purchasing a video game only to find out your computers specs create ungodly lag and poor graphics.

     

    The deferred renderer looks fantastic! And what the heck is a blur kernel? Is that native OpenGL?

  4. I would say this is easier said than done. I wouldn't do this with expectation that things will just "take off" because it's the only software like this.

     

    People need to become aware of it(marketing) and that can take time and dedication.

     

    If it's not something you're passionate about or believe in then I wouldn't start, but if you are then you will have no problem dedicating yourself to this.

     

    Just because it's a "good idea" without the drive and passion behind it it won't necessarily become or be a success.

  5. Nope. You only have 1 serialize function in which you pass a list of objects that includes everything you want to save.

     

    The function then -

    1. Uses reflection to determine object composition("has-a" relationships) adds dependent objects to the list then sorts the list from most dependent to least dependent.

     

    2. Using reflection enumerates through each objects properties and saves them(xml or some other format).

     

    You also need a deserialize function that then -

     

    1. Reads the xml.

     

    2. Enumerates through each object, and using reflection, instantiates each object and its properties.

     

    3. If you're loading things into video memory as with Leadwerks you would then need to call the appropriate LoadMesh and LoadTexture functions.

     

     

    I'm actually kind of suprised SaveGame and LoadGame aren't functions that already exist in Leadwerks.

  6. Great points Flexman!

     

    I'm really glad you mentioned this and this should definitely be on the list. I'm a huge fan of the concept of Test Driven Development (TDD). Unit testing creates a big win for code quality.

     

    Writing all your tests before even starting development ensure thorough planning and quality.

  7. @Lazlo I honestly couldn't agree with you more.

     

    It does seem with a complete shift in target audience Leadwerks could be starting over.

     

    I think it's Ok to charge this much for Leadwerks 3, but to people who haven't purchased Leadwerks 2. Otherwise (as we're seeing) if Leadwerks Inc. doesn't foster to it's community(even a little) it will lose it.

     

    If Leadwerks 3 was more affordable for existing users it would -

    1. Produce a portfolio for the product driving sales

    2. Produce a better product through finding bugs

    3. Maintain the current community

    • Upvote 1
  8. I think it's critical to understand what's happening.

     

    The Leadwerks community mostly consist of indie developers that were searching for an affordable product that would give them AAA quality graphics(Yes the features are great but the graphics quality has been Leadwerks selling point).

     

    Leadwerks as a company has hit this niche strong and it wouldn't surprise me if the customer base has plateaued(how many other products for the price offer this quality graphics?)

     

    From a business perspective, Leadwerks 3 could have taken the same path as Leadwerks 2, which would have meant same customer base and similar profits.

     

    To make a bigger and better company and ultimately a better product you need more profits, and sometimes that means changing your target audience.

     

    Leadwerks has exposure and is now competing in a larger market, this is a smart decision for company growth.

  9. Yikes, I didn't expect that price but it seems Leadwerks is competing on the same ground as Unity and Shiva now.

     

    So when a developer has to make a choice it's going to come down to Unity vs Shiva vs Leadwerks and Leadwerks is going to need reasons why it's better than it's competition.

     

    Just some thoughts for marketing Josh,

    • Upvote 3
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