adshead

I was looking forward to LE3 but at that price its simply not something I (or probably most people) can consider - particularly something with no track record. Its irrelevant how few people built LE3 or how long it took, the simple fact is that people *will* compare its price and features to other engines. At those prices one can only assume that Josh is trying to compete Unity Pro - but that product has a *proven* track record. LE3 has no track record (neither does LE2 for that matter) and so I think he should have followed the same strategy as Unity - i.e release a free version with some missing features and then include those things in the pro version. As it stands LE3 has a pro price with a limited feature set (any 3d engine today must have terrain) and as such he has priced himself out of the market in my opinion.

...which I know is likely to not get a straight answer, but I just wondered what "Coming Soon" actually means? Are we talking about days, weeks or still months? No harm in asking

A sample game in the app stores will be good enough for me - just something to demonstrate what's possible on a real device. I must say I'm really looking for to the public release - I hope it comes soon in the new year

Thanks for the info Josh, sounds like the build process will be fine and its good that Android support is there. Are you able to disclose whether there will be an evaluation version and what it will allow you to test? Somebody suggested you'll be able to test on the simulator/emulator but the Android emulator sucks and isn't a good indication of real performance.

I'm afraid I can't take you seriously when you say Unity sucks its by far the most popular engine for mobile development with literally hundreds of successful mobile games built with it - so that speaks for itself. Shiva allows you to test on a real device using their trial version. For LE3 to gain traction in the mobile market I would say it is essential that the trial version offers a way of testing performance on a real device to prove that it is on par or even excels when compared against other engines. Otherwise you will lose the interest of many indie developers who will not be willing to simply 'trust' that it is better.

Actually I have another question. Does anybody know if we will be able to test/evaluate something built with LE3 on a real device BEFORE having to commit to purchasing the software? Many existing SDKs let you do this and I think its a really good way to gain confidence in an engine's abilities before laying down hard earned cash.

Thanks for the answers - that's re-assuring

Hi, I've been monitoring these forums with interest and I get the impression that a release of LE3 is imminent. I'm very interested in its features, particularly the CSG modelling and I have an idea for a 3D game in mind but I want to release on the Android platform first. When LE3 is released will it support building for Android from the very start? This could make the difference between me waiting for its release or having to choose a different tool. Also, are you able to give any more detail on what the process will be for building for the Android platform? For example will I need just the standard Android SDK or will I need to install things like the Android NDK and Cygwin in order to build for Android? Thanks