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  1. Admin

    Ultra Engine 0.9.3 Released

    By Admin,


    Articles
    Ultra Engine 0.9.3 is here, with usability improvements, bug fixes, and new AI-powered features to make game development easier. You can get a discount now in our store or on Steam all week.

    "Futuristic Room" by Dennis Cliofis
    Object creation has been overhauled with a more visual approach that lets you easily select the object you want to add to the scene.

     
    You can also insert a new object into the scene tree, under the selected node, or in the scene root.

    A new component creation tool simplifies new component creation for C++ and Lua.

    A new smoked glass effect will appear behind some windows. Besides looking great, this provides additional visual cues about the transparency of an image or model. It's disabled by default, so just go to the Tools > Options menu and you'll see an option to enable this effect.

    AI-powered features are now available on the Steam build with support for text-to-image and seamless texture stitching.

    Additionally, more than 60 bug reports have been resolved since initial launch.
    New commands:
    Camera::SetOrder Camera::SetSweptCulling You can get a discount now in our store or on Steam all week.
    About Ultra Engine
    Ultra Engine was created to solve the problems we saw while working on virtual reality projects at NASA. We are developing game engine tools to provide order-of-magnitude faster performance for 3D and VR applications in entertainment, defense, and aerospace.
  2. Admin

    Ultra Engine Early Access is Here

    By Admin,


    Articles
    Ultra Engine unlocks the full power of your GPU to deliver up to 10x faster performance for your game. Ultra Engine is now available in Early Access, both in our store and on Steam. Use coupon code "LAUNCH" to receive a discount before January 1.
    Ultra Engine is a huge leap in technology that provides a new future-proof foundation, while keeping the strengths and general design philosophy we developed in Leadwerks. There were many major underlying changes made to create a better development platform for your games:
    Leadwerks
    Ultra
    Benefit
    Editor written in BlitzMax
    Editor written in C++
    Better compatibility, extensions system
    x86
    x64
    More addressable memory
    Win32 / GTK / Cocoa
    Custom UI
    Consistent UI across platforms
    Raw pointers
    Shared pointers
    No invalid pointer errors
    ToLua C++/Lua binding
    Sol
    Support for shared pointers
    Blinn-Phong lighting
    PBR lighting
    Better graphical quality
    FBX asset pipeline
    glTF asset pipeline
    PBR materials
    Single-threaded
    Multi-threaded
    Faster performance
    OpenGL
    Vulkan
    Future-proofing

    10x Faster Performance
    Have you ever tried to develop a game, only to have the framerate get slower and slower as you add more content and features? This is especially problematic in virtual reality because low framerates cause motion sickness and can make your game or experience unplayable. Ultra Engine is designed to achieve ultimate scalability and deliver blazingly fast performance as your game grows, with a revolutionary new Vulkan-based architecture that unlocks the full power of your GPU to deliver up to 10x faster performance.
    Code Games with C++ and Lua
    Ultra Engine provides an easy-to-learn programming API that can be used with Lua, integrated into Visual Studio Code. Documentation is extensive, with hundreds of code examples demonstrating how to use graphics, physics, raycasting, pathfinding, and other systems to build games and VR applications. Your game code runs on its own thread, so there's no performance penalty for using an interpreted language.
    Royalty-Free License
    What you create is yours to play, sell, or give away. You will never be charged royalties or install fees for any application you make. And because we only rely on free open-source middleware libraries, you never have to worry about purchasing expensive licenses from third parties.

    Physically-based materials

    Entity component system with multiple components per entity
     

    Scriptable editor with plugins system

    glTF model pipeline

    AI-powered texture generation

    Re-projected screen reflections

    Detailed asset inspection tools
    You can get Ultra Engine Early Access now. Use coupon code "LAUNCH" to receive a discount before the end of the year. Please see the development roadmap for detailed information about the software's current capabilities.
    Join us on Discord on Saturday December 23 at 6 PM GMT (10 AM PST) for a special live streaming event!
     
     
  3. Admin

    Ultra Engine SDK Now Available

    By Admin,


    Articles
    I'm pleased to announce that Ultra Engine SDK Early Access is now available. Four years ago, I set out to solve the performance problems I was seeing while working on virtual reality projects at NASA. Ultra Engine is the product of a lot of intense research and development during which I invented a new architecture designed for the way modern graphics hardware works. The results exceeded my wildest expectations, providing Ultra Engine with order-of-magnitude faster rendering performance than Leadwerks or Unity.

    Cyber Samurai by Khoa Minh
    The initial release is a C++ programming SDK for WIndows that provides access to the all new Ultra Engine API. Similar to Leadwerks, but utilizing modern C++ features like smart pointers, the new API features native support for loading all proprietary Leadwerks formats, so you can easily pull your existing 3D content into the new engine with updated graphics and performance.
    In addition to being really fast, Ultra Engine provides a ton of new possibilities:
    The Khronos glTF file format is supported natively, providing an easy way to load thousands of game-ready 3D models. An entity component system provides a formal structure for adding modular game components, and even supports loading and saving of game states. A layer-less terrain system supports up to 256 different materials per terrain. The animation system has a lot of new possibilities you've never seen before, in addition to being incredibly fast. The engine even features documented support for the mythical brush entity, for constructive solid geometry and real-time slicing and dicing. The pathfinding system provides precise creation and control of navigation meshes. Plugins system with plugins for FreeImage, KTX2, and fast BC7 compression. Features that were not very well documented in Leadwerks are clearly laid out with examples, like render-to-texture. Here's a video that goes through some of the new capabilities:
    Continued Development
    We're just getting started! There's a lot more great technology on the way. Here are some of the main features in development:
    New visual editor with customizable extensions VR support Linux and Mac versions C# programming support Lua programming support Advanced global illumination and reflections Box2D physics Newton Dynamics 4 physics Ultra Engine will be licensed at $9.99 a month, with a 20% discount for early adopters. If you would like to join the Ultra Engine journey towards a better tomorrow with maximum efficiency, activate your plan and get started using your new secret weapon.
    See you on the forum!
  4. Admin
    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 drops, it creates a discontinuity between what your visual and vestibular (sense of balance) systems perceive. This causes instant and severe motion sickness and can result in nausea, vomiting, and dizziness. The work NASA was doing with VR involved loading engineering CAD models with tens of millions of polygons and thousands of articulated sub-objects, and displaying them in VR. Naturally, the VR rendering performance for these types of models absolutely crawled. If we were making a VR game we would just optimize the models and design everything to fit within a polygon budget, but engineering requires complex models with many fine details. We couldn't just "optimize away" important details the engineers wanted to inspect in VR.

    NASA model of International Space Station
    I came away from that meeting thinking it was an impossible problem to solve, and I flew home to California. Over the next weeks I started thinking "I know this is impossible, but if it were possible, what would it look like?" This lead to the development of a new game engine designed specifically to maximize performance for VR.
    Today I am happy to reveal performance benchmarks of the new Ultra Engine compared to Leadwerks and Unity. These tests reveal different performance bottlenecks that can occur in real-time applications that would cause slow performance. Testing was performed on Windows 10 with an Nvidia GEForce 1080 GPU.
    Instanced Geometry Test
    In this test, a 3D grid of 32,768 instanced cubes is created. This evaluates how the renderer handles a large number of objects with CPU frustum culling enabled. Frustum culling on the CPU is important because it allows the engine to discard large parts of the scene from processing in the rendering loop. It also allows the engine to skip animation for offscreen objects.

    In this test, Ultra Engine outperforms both Leadwerks and Unity by 20x, with 95% GPU utilization:

    Animation Test
    In this test, 1024 animated characters are displayed. Each character has a unique skeleton and is animated independently with no instancing.

    In this test, Unity outperforms Leadwerks, but Ultra Engine is still more than 18x faster, with much higher GPU utilization:

    Lighting Test
    This test renders a scene made up of 1000 instanced boxes and 25 point lights. This provides a measure of how efficiently each engine handles the interaction between lights and objects, and simulates the lighting overhead of a complex scene.

    In this test the Leadwerks renderer has a significant performance advantage over Unity, but again Ultra Engine is much faster than either:

    Unique Geometry Test
    In this test 4096 unique (not instanced) boxes are created and drawn onscreen. This simulates a complex scene with many unique objects.

    Unity and Leadwerks both struggled to render this scene in real-time, but Ultra Engine ran at an astounding 6000+ frames per second:

    As you can see, a variety of scenarios that would cause the Unity or Leadwerks renderer to bottleneck run with absolutely no problems in Ultra Engine. This technology is being developed into a full game engine with a visual editor, complete with a plugins and extensions system. Ultra Engine will deliver order-of-magnitude faster performance, to eliminate motion sickness and lower hardware costs for VR applications, as well as general game development. There's no need to spend hours and days optimizing your game, because when you use Ultra Engine your game is already optimized.

    New editor work-in-progress
    If you're in Orlando the last week of November, stop by booth #2341 in the small business pavilion during the I/ITSEC 2021 expo to see a live demo of our game-changing new technology.
    If you would like to be notified when Ultra Engine becomes available, sign up for the mailing list.
    Update
    Benchmarks are now available for download.
  5. Admin

    Ultra App Kit Released

    By Admin,


    Articles
    Built to power a new generation of game development tools, Ultra App Kit provides an easy-to-use C++ programming SDK for creating desktop GUI applications.
    Unlike other alternatives like Dear ImGui, the Ultra App Kit GUI renders in retained mode rather than immediate mode, and is specifically designed for desktop GUI applications. This makes applications snappy and responsive when resizing or refreshing a window.
    DPI scaling is baked into the design for resolution-independent graphics on any screen.
    The GUI can be combined with an embedded OpenGL viewport, or combined with a 3D game engine to make custom editors and game development tools.
    Check out the video tutorials and read the documentation to learn more.
    Ultra App Kit can be purchased in our store.

    API Design
    C++ shared pointers everywhere Extensible widgets system Extensive documentation with examples for each command UI Features
    Resolution independent for any DPI scale Load SVG vector images Set widget icons Change mouse cursor Custom color schemes stored in JSON files Supported Widgets
    Label Button (push, checkbox, radio, and toggle styles) ProgressBar TextField TextArea ComboBox ListBox Slider (scrollbar, trackbar, and stepper styles) Draggable multi-select TreeView Create your own custom widgets Additional Features
    File I/O File system watcher Memory allocation and management Image loading, saving, processing Package system for loading files from compressed / encrypted archives Plugin system Thread management String manipulation (split, search, conversion, etc.) Message boxes and file / folder requester
  6. Admin

    Plugin SDK now available

    By Admin,


    Articles
    The GMF2 file format provides the fastest possible load times for 3D models. A preliminary specification and SDK for loading and saving files in the GMF2 file format is now available on GitHub here:
    A Quake 3 MD3 model loader is included as an example.
  7. Admin
    The foundation of our new game development tools is here, with a close-to-the-metal framework for building desktop applications.
    Close-to-the-Metal Framework for Desktop Applications
    We're approaching the end of a loooooooooong cycle of research and development...several years, in fact, have been spent building the fastest game engine in the world. A great game engine needs a great user interface, and Ultra App Kit provides exactly what we need. This will provide the backbone of our new game editor, as well as a mechanism for user-created extensions. You can get your hands on this technology and start building your own desktop applications by backing our new crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter. (You have the option to purchase through IndieGoGo or directly through our website at a later date.)

    Usage

    Supported Widgets
    Label Button (push, checkbox, radio, and toggle styles) ProgressBar TextField TextArea ComboBox ListBox Slider (scrollbar, trackbar, and stepper styles) Draggable multi-select TreeView Create your own! API Design
    C++ shared pointers everywhere Extensible widgets system Extensive documentation with examples for each command Can be made to interface with C# and Lua UI Features
    Resolution independent for any DPI (16K+) Load SVG vector images Filter and sort widget items by name Set widget and item image Change mouse cursor Custom color schemes stored in JSON files Other Features
    File I/O File system watcher Memory allocation and management Image loading, saving, processing Package system for loading files from compressed / encrypted archives Plugin system Thread management String manipulation (split, match, conversion, etc.) Message boxes and file / folder requester Stretch Goals
    $20,000: C# and Lua programming support $50,000: Linux and Mac support $80.000: Visual UI Designer Other Ways You Can Help
    Some people just can't contribute, but that doesn't mean you can't help. Get the word out and make some noise about this campaign!
    Thank you for your support!
    About Leadwerks 5
    Leadwerks Game Engine 5 is in development, with an initial release scheduled 2021, with Vulkan graphics and 64-bit floating point support, Join our community and help shape the final design of our most advanced technology yet.
  8. Admin
    Leadwerks Game Engine 5 will be backwards-compatible with asset file formats used in version 4. In addition, we are adding support for glTF 2.0 (GL Transmission Format), a new open-spec model format from Khronos with support for skinned animation and PBR materials. glTF will be our main 3D model format, for both development and final published models.
    What's so great about the glTF file format?
    Documented and Human-Readable
    Unlike the "black box" FBX file format, which can only be read using Autodesk's proprietary SDK, glTF is an open specification based on JSON. This makes it easier for us to reliably support import and export of glTF files without worrying about future changes or different versions. Your data remains easily accessible and the files can even be edited in notepad! (For faster-loading files, vertex and indice data can be packed into a second binary file, while the main .gltf file is encoded in text).

    Widely Supported
    glTF aims to be "the JPEG of 3D" and most of your favorites programs already support it! Blender includes import and export capabilities by default, and there are plugins available for 3ds max suppot. Even Windows Explorer includes a glTF previewer so you can just click on a file to view it.

    PBR Materials
    glTF includes a well-defined specification for materials using physically-based rendering techniques, and includes options for transparency, emission, and alpha masking. That means when you load a model from glTF format, you never have to worry about creating new material files. It just works. (A Blinn-Phong material definition is still available for older models.)

    Vast Libraries of Game-Ready Content
    SketchFab, Turbosquid StemCell, and other 3D model stores are adopting glTF as the standard file format for 3D game content. This means you can choose from thousands of game-ready models that will load up in Leadwerks Game Engine 5 without any touch-up or adjustment.

    Making Game Development Easier
    For years, game developers have had to convert their editable source model formats into final proprietary game-ready formats. If the original files were ever lost, or if you forget which version you last saved, you were pretty much out of luck. glTF models, on the other hand, can be easily re-imported into a variety of 3D modeling programs, so saving a 3D model for games is now as simple as exporting a bitmap from Photoshop. This will make game development in Leadwerks Game Engine 5 easier than ever before.
    You can get ready for Leadwerks 5 now by learning the art pipeline for your modeling package. This video about the Blender glTF pipeline is a great start:
    Our glTF loader now supports the following:
    PBR materials.with transparency and alpha masking. ASCII and binary gltf / glb files. Skinning and animation. KHR_materials_pbrSpecularGlossiness extension. KHR_materials_unlit extension. MSFT_texture_dds extension. Additional engine features allow you to automatically load textures from Basis and other texture file formats when they are available.
    About Leadwerks 5
    Leadwerks Game Engine 5 is in development, with an initial release scheduled for the second half of 2020, with Vulkan graphics for fast performance, especially in VR, and 64-bit floating point support for huge worlds. Join our mailing list for updates and special offers.
  9. Admin
    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 better control over physics springs. World::Update() now has an optional parameter for number of sub-steps, can be used for improved physics precision. Model editor view range is calculated from model extents, so if you load a model that is huge it won't be invisible. Model editor displays number of limbs as well as vertices and triangles. Settings file is now saved any time changes are made in the options editor. Menu item added for Leadwerks Marketplace. Menu item added for Discord chat. Linux version of engine now built on Ubuntu 18.04.
  10. Admin
    The beta branch on Steam is now updated. Version 4.6 introduces peer-to-peer multiplayer capabilities with a new multiplayer game template. Check out the new features in the documentation:
    P2P Lobby Voice The physics library is updated to the latest version of Newton.
    The editor has some enhancements as well:
    Model editor view range is calculated from model extents, so if you load a model that is huge it won't be invisible. Model editor displays number of limbs as well as vertices and triangles. Settings file is now saved any time changes are made in the project manager or the options editor. Menu added for Leadwerks Marketplace. Paid Workshop items are no longer accepted. Menu item added for Discord chat. Please test this out and report any errors in the bug reports forum, as this is pretty close to the final version 4.6.
  11. Admin
    Summer is here, and you know what that means! Yes, it is time for another LEGENDARY game tournament. This year the theme is "Retro Gaming". Create a modern take on an arcade game hearkening back to the days of NES, Neo Geo, Sega, or just make anything you want. Either way, you get this totally radical poster as a prize!

    How does it work?  For one month, the Leadwerks community builds small playable games.  Some people work alone and some team up with others.  At the end of the month we release our projects to the public and play each other's games.  The point is to release something short and sweet with a constrained timeline, which has resulted in many odd and wonderful mini games for the community to play.
    WHEN: The tournament begins Thursday, June 21, and ends on July 31st at the stroke of midnight.
    HOW TO PARTICIPATE: Publish your retro-or-other-themed game to the Games Showcase 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.
    Games must have a preview image, title, and contain some minimal amount of gameplay (there has to be some way to win the game) to be considered entries. It is expected that most entries will be simple, given the time constraints.
    This is the perfect time to try making a VR game or finish that idea you've been waiting to make!
    PRIZES: All participants will receive a limited-edition 11x17" poster commemorating the event. To receive your prize you need to fill in your name, mailing address, and phone number (for customs) in your account info.
    At the end of the tournament we will post a roundup blog featuring your entries. Let's go!
  12. Admin
    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, and is just not very streamlined. At the same time, three new technologies have emerged that make it possible to deliver a better customer and seller experience through our website.
    Amazon S3 offers cheap and reliable storage of massive amounts of data. Paypal credit card tokens allow us to safely store a token on our server that can't be used anywhere else, instead of a credit card number. This eliminates the danger of a potential website hack revealing your information. Invision Power Board has integrated both these technologies into our commerce system. it would not have been possible to build a web store a few years ago because the cost of server space would have been prohibitive, and storing hundreds of gigs of data would have made my website backup process unsustainable. So at the time, the unlimited storage of Steam and their payment processing system was very appealing. That is no longer the case.
    To solve the problems of Steam Workshop, and give you easy access to a large library of ready-to-use game assets, I am happy to introduce Leadwerks Marketplace.

    The main page shows featured assets, new content, and the most popular items, with big thumbnails everywhere.

     
    When you view an item, screenshots, videos, and detailed technical specifications are shown:

    How does Leadwerks Marketplace improve things?:
    Easy download of zip files that are ready to use with Leadwerks. You can use File > Import menu item to extract them to the current project, or just unzip them yourself. All content is curated. Items are checked for compatibility and quality. Clear technical specifications for every file, so you know exactly what you are getting. Cheap and reliable storage forever with Amazon S3. Any DLCs or Workshop Store items you purchased can be downloaded from Leadwerks Marketplace by linking your Steam account to your profile. Easy publishing of your items with our web-based uploader. We're launching with over 50 gigabytes of game assets, and more will be added continuously. To kick off the launch we're offering some items at major discounts during the Summer Game Tournament. Here are a few assets to check out:
    Get "The Zone" for just $4.99:
    Or download our Mercenary character for free! Just create your free Leadwerks account to gain access.
    Other items will be featured on sale during the Summer Game Tournament:
    After purchasing an item, you can download it immediately. All your purchased items will be shown in the Purchases area, which you can access from the user menu in the top-right of this the website header:

    Here all your purchased items will be available to download, forever:

    If you are interested in selling your game assets to over 20,000 developers, you can upload your items now. Sellers receive a 70% royalty for each sale, with a minimum payout of just $20. See the content guidelines for details and contact me if you need any help. If you have a lot of good content, we can even convert your assets for you and make them game-ready for Leadwerks, so there's really no risk to you.
    Browse game assets now.
     
  13. Admin
    The latest game tournament brought in a small number of games, but they more than made up for it in quality. Each title that was submitted was pretty fantastic. The tournament was held during an odd month and there was no banner across the forum to remind people about it, so that is something that can be improved in the future. Each entry will receive an 11"x17" poster in the mail. Please make sure your name, address, and phone number (for customs) are correct and up to date in your Leadwerks account info.
    Without further ado, I bring you the games:
    Dwarf Beard
    A solid base that can be turned into a nice RPG, Dwarf Beard pits you and your beard against a horde of goblin sentries. There are several interesting mechanics and the polish is very good.
    Zelrio
    This is a fun adventure game with a and well-done visual style that looks and plays great. Find stars, collect coins, evade monsters, and reach the end goal. I was not able to progress past the first level, so I am not sure if there are more levels or not, but it's definitely worth checking out.
    House in the Hollow
    A shooter that is literally on rails...actual rails! Have fun blasting balloons in this spooky funhouse ride.
    J-Train
    This is a very interesting learning game that teaches you Japanese characters. The interface still needs some work but it's a very cool idea and the polish and execution are excellent.
    Also check out "VR testje weer" in the game launcher if you like killing chimpanzee zombies in VR. There's no title image so it does not qualify for the tournament...but it has monkey zombies in VR:
    http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1305570192
  15. Admin

    Version 4.5 Updated

    By Admin,

    An update for Leadwerks Game Engine 4.5 has been pushed out on Steam. The following fixes have been made:
    View projection for Oculus Rift VR headset is fixed. Added VR.AButton, VR.BButton, VR.GripAxis for improved compatibility with Oculus Touch controllers. Fixed terrain collision bug. Added missing Workshop toolbar icons on Linux. Fixed script editor not opening on Linux. Fixed LoadAnimation bug. Fixed missing fall damage on player controller. This update is available now to all users.
  16. Admin
    Today we are pleased to announce the release of Leadwerks Game Engine 4.5.
    Version 4.5 introduces support for VR headsets including the HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, and all OSVR-based hardware, allowing developers to create both room-scale and seated VR experiences. The Leadwerks virtual reality command set is robust yet incredibly simple allowing you to easily convert your existing 3D games into VR titles. To help get you started the source code for our Asteroids3D game has been updated for VR and is now freely available in the Leadwerks Games Showcase.

    Leadwerks Game Engine is uniquely well-suited for VR because of its fast performance, ease of use, and the availability of C++ programming for demanding VR games. Several optimizations for VR have been made including combining the rendering of both eyes into a single culling step. The stability and accuracy of Newton Game Dynamics means we can have in-depth physics interactions in VR.
    A new VR game template has been added to provide common VR features including teleportation locomotion and the ability to pick up and interact with objects in the environment.
     
    Visual Studio 2017
    We've also upgraded Leadwerks Professional Edition to build with Visual Studio 2017 so you can take advantage of the very latest Visual Studio features. Instructions for upgrading C++ projects from version 4.4 to 4.5 are available here.

    Other Improvements
    Added fog settings in editor and into map file format. New joint scripts and enhancements. Updated to Steamworks 1.41 You can pick up Leadwerks Game Engine with a discount during the Steam Winter Sale.
  17. Admin

    4.5 Beta Now Available

    By Admin,

    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 improved vehicle system.

  18. Admin
    Leadwerks Software today announced the release of version 4.4 of their topselling game engine on Steam.  This version adds a new GUI system, support for inverse kinematics, and enhanced visuals.  The free update goes out today to over 20,000 paid users on Steam.
    Leadwerks Game Engine 4.4 sees the introduction of Leadwerks GUI, a system for creating resolution-independent in-game menus.  Custom GUI elements can be created with Lua script, or an item can be selected from a number of pre-built GUI scripts including buttons, tabbed panels, slider controls, and more.  Leadwerks GUI is designed for the future, with support for 4K and 8K displays, as well as VR menus of any resolution.

    Inverse kinematics are now supported, with two new joints that provide fine control over the orientation of physics bodies.  These can be used to control the end effector in an IK setup, or for precise control of moving objects.  The Leadwerks physics system has been updated to the latest Newton Dynamics 3.14.

    Post-processing effects have been updated to enhance visual quality.  Bloom, HDR iris adjustment, SSAO, and fog have all been updated for improved graphics.  A new shader has been added to the vegetation system that scattering millions of rocks across a landscape to make terrain more detailed and realistic.

    The Leadwerks learning materials have been converted into an all-new documentation system.  This allows easier searching and browsing of tutorials, API documentation, and examples.  A new series of tutorials has been added to teach the basics of C++ programming, in addition to the existing lessons on Lua scripting.
    Leadwerks Game Engine can be purchased at a discount during the Steam summer sale.  All Leadwerks games have Steamworks support integrated out-of-the-box and are ready to publish through Steam Direct.
  19. Admin
    Leadwerks Software has released version 2.5 of their game development software Leadwerks Engine, featuring enhanced graphics and support for the Microsoft .NET application framework. Josh, CEO of Leadwerks said, “.NET support fits in with our goal of making game development simple and more approachable for programmers. We have an energetic community of coders who have been requesting .NET support for some time, and we’re happy to deliver that in Leadwerks Engine 2.5 along with enhancements to our renderer.”
    Leadwerks Engine lets developers write games in C++, C#, VB.NET, and Lua script. The company seeks to simplify the complicated process of game development by providing a streamlined production pipeline and an intuitive command set. “With traditional game development tools, you've got to choose between ease of use and the quality of your results,” continued Josh, “We don’t see things that way. We believe powerful tools should also be flexible and fun to use, and that’s been our driving philosophy since the first version of Leadwerks Engine was released back in 2006. We’re very excited about extending support to a new audience using the .NET framework. We also support C# programming with Mono, in preparation for our plans to bring great graphics to mobile devices.”
    Independent game developers are using Leadwerks Engine to deliver games with visuals that can go head-to-head with titles from major studios. Tricubic Studios is using Leadwerks to develop their helicopter flight simulator Combat-Helo. Richard Hawley, Director of Tricubic Studios, said that “Leadwerks gave us a shortcut to achieve the kind of special effects seen in major AAA titles including HDR, motion blur, infrared vision, and dozens of real-time lights for dramatic day or night scenes with no performance penalty. The vegetation system alone can compete with systems costing many times more. We needed an engine that could render hundreds of thousands of trees to convince the player they were flying a lethally efficient helicopter at low level. The performance of Leadwerks has just been amazing.”
    Leadwerks Engine continues to be priced affordably for independent game developers at $199.99, with a source code license available under a separately negotiated agreement. A fully provisioned 30-day trial version can be downloaded from the Leadwerks website.
    Founded in 2006, Leadwerks Software provides cutting-edge game development tools at an affordable price. By providing amazing technology that's easy to use, Leadwerks empowers game developers, digital artists, and architects to bring their 3D ideas to reality. With over 10,000 customers worldwide, Leadwerks has earned a loyal customer base and developed proprietary technologies that are now being leveraged to build new products and expand their market to include tablets and smart phones.
  20. Admin
    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.
  21. Admin
    Leadwerks Game Engine 4.4 beta is now available on the beta branch on Steam. This adds support for virtual reality with the OpenVR library. OpenVR supports both the HTC Vive and the Oculus Rift headsets.
     

     
    To enable VR mode in your Leadwerks game, simply call the command below. If a VR headset is detected and initialized, this function will return true:

    VR:Enable()
     
    Any cameras not attached to a rendering target will render directly to the headset views. Both eyes will be rendered to automatically. The camera's position and orientation will automatically be tracked, and will override any positioning you give it in your code. You can switch between room-scale and seated VR tracking with the following command:

    VR:SetTrackingSpace(mode)
     
    Where mode is one of the constants VR.Roomspace or VR.Seated. Use the command VR:CenterTracking() to re-center the camera, in seated VR mode only. The VR system will automatically shut down when your game exits. You also no longer need to call System::ShutDown in your C++ code, as this will be done automatically when the main() function returns.
     
    Controllers will automatically be detected and render in your view. You can use the VR::GetControllerButtonDown(devicenum, button) and GetControllerAxis(devicenum, button) commands to get button presses and movements. The devicenum parameter will typically be zero or one, and the button argument can be one of the following constants:
    VR.TouchpadButton
    VR.GripButton
    VR.MenuButton
    VR.TouchpadAxis
    VR.TriggerAxis
    VR.TriggerButton

     
    At this time, you cannot hide the default controllers. Button motion will not be rendered in the virtual world. Camera culling does not exactly match the VR render frustum, and some objects will pop out of view at the periphery of your vision. Post-processing effects should not be used in VR, as they don't always look right, and the VR renderer uses a half-float RGB buffer to store screen positions, since depth reconstruction cannot be used with sheared projection matrices. The current build is a beta and may change before the final release.
     
    You can read more about Leadwerks VR here.
  22. Admin
    Visual Studio gives two options for creating C++ applications. Console applications use printed text to communicate with the user, harkening back to the pre-GUI days of DOS. The other option is a windowed application with a GUI interface, simply called "Win32 Project" in the Visual Studio project creation dialog.
     

     
    A console application will use the regular old main function you know and love:

    int main(int argc,const char *argv[])  
    This is cross-platform compatible and runs on any operating system. A "Win32 Project", however, will use a special WinMain() function that only works on Windows:

    WinMain(HINSTANCE hInst, HINSTANCE hPrevInst, LPSTR, int)  
    So if you don't want a black rectangle printing a bunch of lines of text, you have to use the WinMain() function. But, there is a way to fix this. We can change a console application to a windowed application in the Linker settings in the Visual Studio project settings. Change the Linker > System > Subsystem property to a windowed application.
     

     
    There's also a way to force the program to use the cross-platform main() function. Change the setting Linker > Options > All Options > Entry Point to mainCRTStartup.
     

     
    Although the application will no longer show a black text box, the printed output is still detectable by a parent application like the Leadwerks script editor.
     

     
    However, if you create a .bat file to run your application, you can only pipe the output to a text file. The text will not be shown when the .bat file runs:

    MyGame.exe > output.txt  
    Of course, any Leadwerks game will automatically write it's output to a text log already, so this is sort of redundant. Another consideration is you will not be able to see the output when you run your application from Visual Studio. Strange that VS doesn't support one of the most basic needs of an IDE, and has no known method of viewing the printed output of your program when you run it. However, if you want to get rid of that annoying black popup box, and you want your code to be cross-platform compatible, this is the way to do it.
  23. Admin
    The Winter Games Tournament is complete, with a long list of fun mini-games made by the community. This tournament saw the release of many new and innovative types of games you want to be sure to try. To claim your prize, go to "My Profile" in the drop-down box that opens when you click your name in the upper-right part of this website:

     
    On your profile page, click the button that says "Edit My Profile" and enter your name, shipping address, and shirt size.
     
    Lone Water: Prologue

    Lone Water tell a history about a flooded world. You are a lone survivor in this world and you must find clues to figure out why the world is now all flooded with water.
    http://www.leadwerks.com/werkspace/page/viewitem?fileid=815172579
     
    On the Road Again

    On the road again is a little racing game where a track is randomly generated
    with a given seed. You either use a car or a ball to complete levels. Compete with others as you can see their highscores via the Steam leaderboards.
    http://www.leadwerks.com/werkspace/page/viewitem?fileid=821020417
     
    Snowmageddon

    Build your own base and defend it against evil snowmen!
    This game was built just for fun, and is still a little buggy. It has 11 waves of snowmen, and 13 different structures you can build. The controls and instructions are in the game. Feel free to comment if you find anything wrong, or one of those dreaded misspelled words.
    http://www.leadwerks.com/werkspace/page/viewitem?fileid=823633686
     
    The Van

    Just another slow day at the biotech firm. You work at the main research facility as a mechanic for vehicle maintenance and general odd jobs around the place. You don't exactly know what they manufacture here. Very secretive need-to-know stuff and the non-disclosure papers seemed pretty clear about not talking about what you see here, otherwise the consequences are severe.
    http://www.leadwerks.com/werkspace/page/viewitem?fileid=830722892
     
    Ball Hopper

    Bounce across platforms to reach the finish, but make sure you get all the checkpoints along the way!
    The controls are really simple, but don't think it's going to be easy!
    http://www.leadwerks.com/werkspace/page/viewitem?fileid=831630240
     
    Water Bottle Flip

    America’s latest craze is now brought to PC! You heard that right – Water Bottle Flip captures the thrill of lobbing perfectly good drinking water in plastic bottles through the air and trying to land it upright on various surfaces. This authentic polymeric encapsulated aquatic simulator realistically captures the exquisite arc of the bottle as it sails effortlessly through the air and onto the target! Throw as many water bottles as you like in the comfort of your own PC gaming chair without having to worry about spilling actual water and soaking your carpets! How many can you land consecutively on the table? Can you trick-shot onto the vending machine? Can you simply just land one before casting yourself out into the void out of frustration? Try it out and see!
    http://www.leadwerks.com/werkspace/page/viewitem?fileid=832449886
     
    Home Sweet Home

    You wake up to find you are on a deserted Island.
    http://www.leadwerks.com/werkspace/page/viewitem?fileid=833689777
     
    Rick Powers

    After waking in an unknown facility, you find and connect psychically with a future tech orb which allows you to teleport to places you throw it to. Use the sticky ball powerup and the ball sticks to anything. Use the bomb powerup to create an energy blast to break things. Can you escape?
    http://www.leadwerks.com/werkspace/page/viewitem?fileid=833784148
     
    A Long Journey

    Now whether that's what I've created for a WinterTournament is enough, no clue. But I hope you have fun. So far, there are only two maps. But there will be more. In total there are 10 maps with different scenarios, effects etc.
    http://www.leadwerks.com/werkspace/page/viewitem?fileid=837157451
     
    Pig's Adventure Dodgeball

    This game started out as a typical dodgeball game but then morphed into something a bit different. At any rate, the object of the game is to try to break down all of the boxes on the target platform before you run out of balls.
    http://www.leadwerks.com/werkspace/page/viewitem?fileid=837269229
     
    Jimmi the Rabbit

    Guide Jimmi to his house before time runs out. Collect as many carrots as you con.
    http://www.leadwerks.com/werkspace/page/viewitem?fileid=842614008
     
    Spinguins

    Evil snowmen are planning to invade your planet! Quick, hop into your rocket ship and blast them away! Make sure to steal their hot choco for some Health & Power boost!
    http://www.leadwerks.com/werkspace/page/viewitem?fileid=843127624
     
    Sot Kaal

    It works, but it's unfinished. Second level isn't there, I'll update soon.
    http://www.leadwerks.com/werkspace/page/viewitem?fileid=843269353
     
    Snow Riders

    Snow Rider is an arcade snowboarding game.
    http://www.leadwerks.com/werkspace/page/viewitem?fileid=843483061
     
    Enemy Z

    Prepare your defense against waves of the undead.
    http://www.leadwerks.com/werkspace/page/viewitem?fileid=843731357
     
    WhiteOut


    Race against your friends and the AI and be the last one standing! Up to 8 racers at a time.
    http://www.leadwerks.com/werkspace/page/games/_/whiteout-r121
     
    Mass Micron

    The game is supposed to be a boss battle within a single room. The boss will be invulnerable to direct fire but elements in the room will allow you to take him down. E.g disable missiles, reduce boss reaction time etc.
    http://www.leadwerks.com/werkspace/page/games/_/mass-micron-r122
     
    Structura

    Game type real time strategy game.
    http://www.leadwerks.com/werkspace/topic/15575-structura-demo-alpha-1/
  24. Admin
    At last, it is time for the 2016 Leadwerks Winter Games Tournament! This is going to be a big one, for a few reasons.
    We're very likely to reach 100 games in Leadwerks Game Launcher, which means it will be ready to move out of early access mode and be an official release on Steam.
    As an experiment, you're getting two extra weeks to polish your games, with an extended deadline lasting until January 15th.

     

     
    WHEN: The tournament begins Monday, December 5, and ends Sunday, January 15th at 11:59 P.M.
     
    HOW TO PARTICIPATE: Publish your wintery-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 your game, we've got a Christmas props model pack for you to use for free from Leadwerks Workshop.
     
    Games must have a preview image, title, and contain some minimal amount of gameplay (there has to be some way to win) to be considered entries. It is expected that most entries will be simple, given the time constraints.
     
    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 collection of three limited-edition professionally printed postcards featuring beautiful Leadwerks screenshots. Send them to a friend or put them on the wall.
     

     
    If this is your third game tournament entry, you'll receive the new Leadwerks USB stick, which is perfect for storing projects, code and artwork! The items will be printed with the Leadwerks logo for a distinctive look.
     

     
    If this is your fourth game tournament entry, you'll receive a rockin' Leadwerks T-shirt in the mail. Wear it to show how cool you really are.
     

     
    If this is your fifth game tournament entry, you'll receive the new Leadwerks hoodie! This gorgeous garment makes you look like a Silicon Valley startup geek. This light jacket is perfect for air-conditioned spaces that are just slightly chilly.
     

     
    If this is your sixth game tournament entry, you will receive a Steam Controller. The Steam Controller lets you play your entire collection of Steam games on your TV—even the ones designed without controller support in mind.


    Bonus Prize
    Everyone who participates also gets this bonus prize: an 11x17" poster mailed to your door! These posters will be printed only once, only for this event. This is your only time ever to get one, so make it count!
  25. Admin
    With the Summer Games 2016 Tournament completed, it's time to review the entries. This tournament brought a new level of quality, with several small games that could be considered Greenlight-ready, made in just four weeks!
     


     
    Sound Game
    http://www.leadwerks.com/werkspace/page/viewitem?fileid=732192584
     
    Test your spatial reasoning skills in this unique and challenging game. Navigate with your map and lit up clues to get to the end of the maze.
     

     
    Soundscape
    http://www.leadwerks.com/werkspace/page/viewitem?fileid=732248859
     
    Solve the mystery in this atmospheric puzzle adventure.
     

     
    Astrotrack
    http://www.leadwerks.com/werkspace/page/viewitem?fileid=733382938
     
    Race through this futuristic yet retro world with a rockin' 8-bit soundtrack.
     

     
    Log Riders
    http://www.leadwerks.com/werkspace/page/viewitem?fileid=734499057
     
    Jump from log to log in this fun physics-driven game.
     

     
    Realm of the Lamb
    http://www.leadwerks.com/werkspace/page/viewitem?fileid=735323135
     
    Explore the afterworld in this atmospheric adventure. A great example of storytelling and pacing.
     

     
    Little Dagon
    http://www.leadwerks.com/werkspace/page/viewitem?fileid=735476592
     
    Run. Glide. Shoot fireballs. Any way you do it, you're going to have a blast in this polished and fun game.
     

     
    Leadblocks Jump n' Run
    http://www.leadwerks.com/werkspace/page/viewitem?fileid=743969073
     
    Slafstraf is back, not with horror, but with a psychadelic first-person jumping experience. Test your skills with this challenging and (presumably) LSD-driven adventure.
     

     
    Anesthetic
    http://www.leadwerks.com/werkspace/page/viewitem?fileid=747490351
     
    Blast through hordes of enemies in this frantic fast-paced action title. Steam Leaderboards let you see how well you're doing compared to other players.
     

     
    Spookemon Go!
    http://www.leadwerks.com/werkspace/page/viewitem?fileid=747753330
     
    Race an RC car around your beach house and collect all the Spookemons. You've got to catch them all!
     

     
    Robo Platformer
    http://www.leadwerks.com/werkspace/page/viewitem?fileid=747899296
     
    Jump your robot from platform to platform in this challenging third-person game.
     

     
    FPS Nightmare
    http://www.leadwerks.com/werkspace/page/viewitem?fileid=748730998
     
    Fight for your very soul. We couldn't have said it any better.
     

     
    The Hankinator's House of Darkness
    http://www.leadwerks.com/werkspace/page/viewitem?fileid=749141006
     
    A blend of action and puzzle-solving with excellent game mechanics makes this a must-play!
     

     
    Dino Land
    http://www.leadwerks.com/werkspace/page/games/_/dino-land-r113
     
    Collect photos of dinosaurs in this unique adventure! Also features completely awesome water. Did we mention there's dinosaurs?
     

     
    TinyGom
    http://www.leadwerks.com/werkspace/page/games/_/tinygom-r110
     
    Race a tiny remote-control car through a fun and active setting.
     

     
    Pew Pew Bang Bang
    http://www.leadwerks.com/werkspace/page/games/_/pew-pew-bang-bang-r111
     
    Red vs. Blue team-based battles. What more do you need to know? Go play it!
     

     
    Run! Jump! Crawl!
    http://www.leadwerks.com/werkspace/page/games/_/run-jump-climb-r114
     
    A classic side-scroller with satisfying graphics and a fun vibe. Try it out!
     

     
    Crawler's Den
    http://www.leadwerks.com/werkspace/page/games/_/crawlers-den-r115
     
    Replay the Leadwerks AI and Events map with this reimagined implementation done in pure C++. There's also an interesting blog about the development experience.
     

     
    Grimlight
    http://www.leadwerks.com/werkspace/page/games/_/grimlight-r116
     
    Sneak through the corridor and avoid the enemies. Excellent map design makes this a great entry to check out.
     

     
    World Factions
    http://www.leadwerks.com/werkspace/page/games/_/world-factions-pre-alpha-r118
     
    An MMO RPG game where the online is similar to Minecraft in that players can host their own server.
     

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