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Leadwerks for Linux


Josh

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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 PC gaming, so now it's up to us to reach the Linux community with our message. If you dig this, please help spread the word that someone is trying to put game development on Linux:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1937035674/leadwerks-build-linux-games-on-linux

 

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Leadwerks for Linux

Linux is a solid and secure operating system that’s perfect for gaming, but at this time Windows remains the lead platform for PC games. We want to change that by putting the game development process right on Linux, with Leadwerks for Linux. This will allow you to build and play games without ever leaving the Linux operating system.

 

Leadwerks is a visual tool for building any kind of 3D game, including dungeon crawlers, first-person shooters, and side-scrollers.. We want to put game development on Linux with Leadwerks for Linux. Our campaign has three goals:

 

Linux Game Development. On Linux.

It’s not enough just to export games to Linux. We want to put the game development process on Linux, so you can build and play games, without ever leaving the Linux operating system. We have a complete visual editor that handles all aspects of the game development process, and we’re porting it to run natively on Linux. We’re using GTK for the user interface, so our editor will look and feel like a native Linux application.

 

We're targeting Ubuntu 12.04 to start with, and will support other distros as we make progress. You'll also be able to compile games for Windows and Mac...if you feel like sharing.

 

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Expand the Linux Library of Games

Our second goal is to facilitate expansion of the Linux library of games, and encourage the production of Linux-exclusive titles. The Linux community is pretty intelligent, and they have a lot of good programmers. We think by putting the appropriate tools in their hands, it will enable them to make great Linux games.

 

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Hoodwink by E-One Studio

 

AAA Graphics on Linux

Leadwerks is known for having great graphics. We want to push Linux graphics beyond anything that’s ever been done. Linux is the perfect platform for triple-A graphics, because it has OpenGL performance faster than Windows or Mac. We’re taking advantage of this performance with deferred lighting, hardware tessellation, and up to 32x multisample antialiasing.

 

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The Zone by Dave Lee

 

Steam Integration

When Valve announced Steam was coming to Linux, that was a clear sign to us that Linux is ready for PC gaming. We’re working to integrate Leadwerks with Steam and take advantage of new features Steam offers for developers.

 

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Steam Workshop

We’re hooking into the Steam Workshop to deliver game assets. This includes models, textures, scripts, and maps, so you can get everything you need to make games. When you find an object in the Steam Workshop you want to use in your game, just hit the “Subscribe” button and it will show up right away, ready to use in Leadwerks. We’re also adding support for Valve’s asset formats, so you can access lots of great content from the rest of the Steam Workshop, and add it to your game.

 

Export for Steam

We’re working with the Steam SDK to make it easier to submit Linux games to Greenlight. Just press a button, and your game files will be packaged up, ready to send to Steam.[/color]

 

Features

Leadwerks is a powerful yet easy to use game engine with thousands of users worldwide. Here are just a few of the main reasons we think Linux users will love Leadwerks.

 

C++ Programming

Programming with Leadwerks is a breeze. Underneath our visual editor lies a powerful yet easy to use programming API that can be accessed in C++, Lua, and other languages. With documentation and examples for every single command, you’ve got everything you need to make any kind of game.

 

Visual Scripting

For scripting, we use the Lua script language, just like in Crysis, World of Warcraft, and hundreds of other games. We’ve got a built-in script editor, so you don’t have to switch back and forth between Leadwerks and an external editor. It’s even got a built-in debugger so you can step through your script and see everything that’s going on in the game. The flowgraph editor is used to connect scripted objects and make gameplay happen. This lets map designers set up sequences of events and complex gameplay, with no programming required.

 

Constructive Solid Geometry

Finally, we use a level editor based on constructive solid geometry. This lets everyone make game levels, without having to be an expert. If you’re familiar with Valve’s Hammer Editor, you’ll feel right at home in Leadwerks.

 

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Combat Helo by Tricubic Studios

 

We plan to deliver a visual editor that handles every aspect of the game development process, a powerful yet easy to use programming API, with triple-A graphics, all running natively in Linux. By working with Steam and the Linux community, our goal is to make Linux the number one platform for PC gaming. Thank you for helping us take Linux gaming to the next level.

 

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Big Five Game Hunter by Unidev

 

Risks and challenges

We expect to encounter some graphics driver bugs. This is always the case when you are pushing advanced graphics. Fortunately, we have good relationships with the major graphics hardware vendors, and have been able to get driver bugs fixed on other platforms in the past. Valve Software has done some of the heavy lifting for us here, by prompting the graphics hardware vendors to get their drivers in good shape.

 

Our GUI has a GTK implementation for Linux, but we expect to encounter some problems that have to be overcome. Our GTK Scintilla implementation (for the code editor) has not been written, and it's a complex library.

 

Since the Linux file system is case-sensitive, we expect to have to modify some code to work properly on Linux.

 

We're implementing a new method for terrain layers using virtual texturing. We do not anticipate any problems here, but it is one of the few features we haven't fully prototyped.

 

Although building Leadwerks for Linux will undoubtedly present some difficult problems, our team has a lot of experience with multi-platform development and I'm confident we can deal with all issues we encounter.

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1)

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.

 

Does this meaning kickstarter people will get directly 3.1 and the "old" community has to buy it ?

 

2) If seen on kickstarter site, the BACKER Pledge (100$) gives full access to lua and c++ leadwerks 3d (without windows/mac) and PRO BACKER (200$) gives full access to all 3 platforms.

 

I personally don't need mac, so do we get 100$ refund or linux as third (second) platform ?

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Does this meaning kickstarter people will get directly 3.1 and the "old" community has to buy it ?

 

2) If seen on kickstarter site, the BACKER Pledge (100$) gives full access to lua and c++ leadwerks 3d (without windows/mac) and PRO BACKER (200$) gives full access to all 3 platforms.

 

I personally don't need mac, so do we get 100$ refund or linux as third (second) platform ?

If you don't find it valuable, I'm not going to make it.

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This is too awesome! I am so happy to see this :)

About 55% of Leadwerks users were interested in Linux support, but it will really be up to the general Linux community whether we do this or not.

 

The wonderful thing about Kickstarter is I don't have to actually build the product to find out whether people will buy it or not. We can get a pretty good idea of the demand by presenting it to the Linux community and seeing their response.

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Good news for Linux users. smile.png I have never used it but I am sure I would make my game suited for linux when the possibility is there.

 

When you look at the humble bundle donations, linux has always to highest amount of donation average per donation. So my guess is that the linux community would be happy to support this.

 

How about the pricing?

If you have Leadwerks 3.0 (windows & mac), what do you pay for 3.1?

If you are a BACKER for Linux (100$) do I also get 3.1 for Windows and Mac?

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A few questiosn:

 

1) Does purchasing the backer level entitle me to Leadwerks 3.1 with the deferred renderer?

 

2) Will this be less expensive than purchasing Leadwerks 3.1 when it is actually finished?

 

3) Any timeline on completion date?

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3) Any timeline on completion date?

...running on Linux, Mac, and Windows, with an estimated release date before Christmas.

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...running on Linux, Mac, and Windows, with an estimated release date before Christmas.

 

Totally skipped that part. :D

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I'm stuck in two minds. I want to support the growth of LE as I see huge potential in it, but by supporting this it's putting a huge obstacle between what I want and when i'm likely to get it.

 

I do see Linux as a big part of LE's future, but im not sure why that is coming before other things.

 

Wouldn't it be simpler to port a finished product than to port an unfinished product, then port each individual module your create after.

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I'm stuck in two minds. I want to support the growth of LE as I see huge potential in it, but by supporting this it's putting a huge obstacle between what I want and when i'm likely to get it.

 

I do see Linux as a big part of LE's future, but im not sure why that is coming before other things.

 

Wouldn't it be simpler to port a finished product than to port an unfinished product, then port each individual module your create after.

What is "finished"? To some people, that means more CSG features. To some people that means high-end graphics. To some people, that means more mobile features.

 

I've got to test these markets and find out what people respond to, so that we have an overall direction. Small features and fixes are important, but it's all for nothing if we don't have an overall plan.

 

So far, I'm seeing a way stronger response from Linux users than we saw from mobile. Which is the opposite of what I would have thought.

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I understand finding a finishing line is difficult, especially given game technology constantly changes. I would put a finished "minimum" that is equal in feature/function to LE2 with any consistant bugs resolved.

 

Then their could be "stretch goals" which would be a standard % improvement, so say 10-15% improvement in each section of the engine. Physics quality, Lighting Quality, Geometric Quality etc.

 

From their, port to Linux etc. I don't in any way mean to demean effort/work. But a KS campaign that raises say $20k, and you focus on linux development. Yet licenses already paid for Windows/Mac/Ios are still looking for key things.

 

Analogy for clarity: It's like waiting in a restaurant at 5:59pm with a 6pm booking and having someone walk in with a 8pm booking and getting seated before you. Whilst your told to wait over at the bar for a table.

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This gives us a way to provide a lot of those graphical features users are asking for. A high-end renderer on Linux means a high-end renderer on Windows and Mac.

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i don't think it is fair to compare respones of your linux campaign with the responses from mobile since you made no campaign for mobile support as far as i know.

 

(yes. i am pro mobile.

But i am not against Linux support if it happens and does not mean that mobile support will be canceled.

Maybe i will even Back the project on kickstarter )

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I think it's still great for us to have mobile support, it just didn't provide the initial boost in users we were looking for.

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I would prefer you focus on what you have and make it as good as you can. I am an old Shiva user and what Shiva maybe did wrong, and on one post you said the same, was that they focused on too many plattforms. People who bought a LE3 licence and therefor supported LE3 feel dissapointed and with the price a little bit.....irritated. Costumer service is as IMPORTANT as a good technology.

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