Back around February I started working on a website update that included the following:
Responsive design everywhere.
SSL everywhere.
Visual improvement of website.
Updated documentation system.
Tutorials for C++ programming basics.
Update forum software to new major version.
Forum moved to new URL.
All of that is now pretty much done. These changes improve the online Leadwerks experience and are independent from the software itself, so it
Internally, Leadwerks Editor uses an EventHandler class for every interface in the program. The material editor is a class extended from the EventHandler. So is the little window that has all the controls to calculate normals. So is every viewport.
The event handler class has one important function:
Event ProcessEvent(Event)
Every EventHandler has access to events as they occur. This is how all program actions are handled in the editor.
The plugin system will work by hooking int
Leadwerks 3.1 is nearly ready for release! In Leadwerks 3.0, we focused on making a solid cross-platform art pipeline and editor. In 3.1 we're adding graphics that go above and beyond the capabilities of Leadwerks 2.
New Features in 3.1
OpenGL 4.0 deferred renderer with up to 32x hardware MSAA.
Geometry and tessellation shaders.
Support for the Linux operating system, for both the engine AND editor.
Leadwerks 3.1 is now available for pre-ordering in the Leadwerks s
Today I am excited to announce plans for the release of the first Leadwerks 5 beta version. Leadwerks 5 will roll out sooner rather than later, employing an extended beta period during which versions 4 and 5 will live side-by-side, using the same code base, with preprocessor definitions to compile each version. This allows me to fix small problems without forking the code, while I can implement new changes in version 5. The first features implemented will be the use of smart pointers for all
In evaluating possible company names I have come up with the following criteria which I used to choose a name for our new game engine.
Spelling and Pronunciation
The name should be unambiguous in spelling. This helps promote word-of-mouth promotion because when someone hears the name for the first time, they can easily find it online. Similarly, the name when read should be unambiguous in pronunciation. This helps the name travel from written to spoken word and back. Can you imagine telli
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,
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 bet
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 dr
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 impr
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 o
Since you guys are my boss, in a way, I wanted to report to you what I spent the last few days doing.
Early on in the development of Leadwerks 3, I had to figure out a way to handle the management of assets that are shared across many objects. Materials, textures, shaders, and a few other things can be used by many different objects, but they consume resources, so its important for the engine to clean them up when they are no longer needed.
I decided to implement an "Asset" and "AssetRe
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 en
This update brings the addition of lightmapping across curved surfaces with smooth groups. The image below is a set of lightmapped CSG brushes, not mesh lighting. You can read a detailed account of our implementation of this feature here.
The project manager now includes an "Update" button, so you can easily update your project any time we modify files in the template folders. Although we tested with no problems, it is recommended you back up your project before using this feature.
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.
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, a
The Leadwerks 2 terrain system was expansive and very fast, which allowed rendering of huge landscapes. However, it had some limitations. Texture splatting was done in real-time in the pixel shader. Because of the limitations of hardware texture units, only four texture units per terrain were supported. This limited the ability of the artist to make terrains with a lot of variation. The landscapes were beautiful, but somewhat monotonous.
With the Leadwerks 3 terrain system, I wanted to reta
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.
A new easy-to-use networking system is coming soon to Leadwerks Game Engine. Built on the Enet library, Leadwerks networking provides a fast and easy way to quickly set up multiplayer games. Each computer in the game is either a server or a client. The server hosts the game and clients can join and leave the game at will. On the other hand, when the server leaves the game, the game is over!
Creating a Client
You can soon create a client with one command in Leadwerks:
clien
Leadwerks 4.x will see a few more releases, each remaining backwards compatible with previous versions. Leadwerks 5.0 is the point where we will introduce changes that break compatibility with previous versions. The changes will support a faster design that relies more on multi-threading, updates to take advantage of C++11 features, and better support for non-English speaking users worldwide. Changes are limited to code; all asset files including models, maps, shaders, textures, and materials
TLDR: I made a long-term bet on VR and it's paying off. I haven't been able to talk much about the details until now.
Here's what happened:
Leadwerks 3.0 was released during GDC 2013. I gave a talk on graphics optimization and also had a booth at the expo. Something else significant happened that week. After the expo closed I walked over to the Oculus booth and they let me try out the first Rift prototype.
This was a pivotal time both for us and for the entire game industry. Mobi
Last week we launched our Steam Greenlight campaign to get Leadwerks into the hands of the Steam community. This week, we're rolling out the second stage of our plan with a Kickstarter campaign to bring Leadwerks to Linux. This will let you build and play games, without ever leaving Linux. The result of this campaign will be Leadwerks 3.1 with a high-end AAA renderer running on Linux, Mac, and Windows, with an estimated release date before Christmas.
Valve has given Linux users a taste of
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. Lead
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
Along with Leadwerks GUI, Leadwerks 4.4 adds an in-game menu that is available with the default Lua scripted game. You can use this to allow your users to adjust settings in the game, or provide a more sophisticated way to quit the game than simply pressing the escape key.
The default window size has been changed to 1280x720 when run from the editor. Your game will now run in fullscreen mode by default when it is launched outside the editor.
All of these changes are contained i
Here's a look at the new vehicle system that is being developed. The API has been simplified so you simply create a vehicle, add as many tires as you want, and start using it. The AddTire() command now accepts a model and the dimensions of the tire are calculated from the bounds of the mesh.
class Vehicle
{
int AddTire(Model* model, bool steering=false, const float spring=500.0f, const float springrelaxation = 0.1f, const float springdamping = 10.0f);
void SetGas(const float accel);
void
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