Leadwerks Roadmap?

[Tommek]

Hi Guys,

 

is there a roadmap available for Leadwerks? I've seen the Kickstarter Project, some goals where posted there, but I don't see anything else here.

e.g. Is the GUI-Editor still planned?

[AggrorJorn]

1. There is no roadmap.

2. I don't think it is.

[Thirsty Panther]

Yeah no roadmap. Some info here on Josh's Blog. http://www.leadwerks.com/werkspace/blog/1/entry-1260-continued-development/

 

 

[Josh]

My goal with Leadwerks 3.x has been to give you guys what you really need to make games, and not get hung up on extra features that don't actually help you deliver a game. That's why stuff like usability of the editor, AI, and the script system have taken so much attention. At one point in the development of Leadwerks 2 I was working on transparent lighting and I just realized it looked cool but wasn't helping anyone, it was just me tinkering with graphics. Right now I feel like animated characters and content are a big bottleneck for people, and that's what I want to solve next.

 

So I guess what I am saying is development will be determined by what games the community outputs and where you guys find the workflow needs improvement.

[gamecreator]

How does this relate to outdoor scenes? Things like vegetation painting, decals and a reasonable outdoor FPS seem to be "standard" engine features and I think the community came across these as issues while developing (in that they're not available). Do these fall into the "workflow needs improvement" category? I'd argue the same for water too. And naturally these were the highest voted requested features.

[Josh]

I love huge the big vegetation stuff, but right now we don't need bigger scenes. If anything that hurts us because people try to make epic expansive games instead of something playable and realistic. It was very frustrating to me to see beautiful renders in Leadwerks 2 with huge environments and no gameplay.

 

We don't have a playable online shooter we can all just duck into at the end of the day and fight it out. More trees won't change that, it will just give us more things to tinker with and break. I really like that stuff, but I also know if I spend the next month on it, it won't result in any additional games coming out. Just more screenshots of trees. Not having enough trees is not our bottleneck right now.

 

The value of Leadwerks is that it lets people who like playing games make something of their own. That is what we focus on right now. I don't feel like we're completely delivering on that yet as much as we could be.

[Haydenmango]

I want to say that I think adding things like vegetation systems, water, and decals will bring more people to the engine than having dlc packs of animated characters. There are already many websites where people can get animated models even for free but there aren't any websites where I can get a leadwerks water feature implemented into my leadwerks game engine.

 

You didn't release the C++ version of the engine very long ago so of course we don't have a fully playable online shooter game already created. It isn't at all about more trees. It is about things that aren't implemented like water, decals, vegetation painting(for faster workflow with vegetation not just for more vegetation). It is about making a full, unique game rather than an empty, bland one.

 

--edit I want to add that on the other hand I do welcome adding animation features (like boner 3d) but I feel character dlc packs might be a bit excessive if they take precedence over new features.

[nick.ace]

I agree with everyone! :0

 

On a serious note, I agree, things like a lack of water and vegetation do limit the amount of content that can be developed. Also, large environments are not necessarily super time consuming. Some games, like Deadlight, use procedural content to generate large worlds. Part of the problem I see is that the engine is most suited for FPS and I guess TPS games. RTS games, while possible, are a nightmare due to the lack of exposed recast commands to Lua, and the few people who use C++ primarily are the only people who can really get around this.

 

I know C++, but the only reason why I bought the C++ edition is if some items don't get implemented from the Lua side in time such as some of the recast commands (there was a discussion in the forums about regenerating the navmesh for only certain regions, but this was only feasible in C++). Also, more of the Newton physics commands could be exposed as well since racing games and some physics-based games are ruled out.

 

Also, while I like the art packs, like others have said, there are plenty resources out there. In fact, the sci-fi one was basically just an edited version of Arteria3D's old sci-fi pack, and there are plenty of resources out there as well such as Unity's wonderful asset store.

 

I also think that things like graphics are a huge draw to this engine. True, members aren't churning out games as often as users of Unity and UDK might, but the graphical aspects I'm sure are what draw a lot of users here. A cheap engine with great graphics is difficult to encounter.

[cassius]

Well I have been waiting for water and standalone navmesh bug fixes since early june. I was hoping to see version 3.3 containing these things available pretty soon.

It looks like standalone users will not be invited to the party when all these animated characters and stuff come out.

[shadmar]

Hey Cassius, I think you can trade your standalone version for a steam key if you PM Josh, this way you get all the updates immediately.

There is really no drawbacks on the steam version, since you can run it just fine in offline mode (no internet).

[YouGroove]

I love huge the big vegetation stuff, but right now we don't need bigger scenes. If anything that hurts us because people try to make epic expansive games instead of something playable and realistic.

Many people make some Diablo 3, Dota 2 style games taking place on outdoors , or a small game with outdoor regions you will need vegetation painting tool and rendering system that is fast ( Trees LOD, distance based for grass etc ...)

 

but the graphical aspects I'm sure are what draw a lot of users here. A cheap engine with great graphics is difficult to encounter.

Unfortunatelly, there is lot more graphics options and features on others, things like global illumination, physic shaders, shader editors, soft particles, Tone mapping, Color gradding, God Rays, Water system, animated sky etc ...

LE3 advantages is cheap without restrictions and no royalties , and staying very easy to use. Still performance systems , faster lightening and enhanced graphics like global illumination should be considered at some point.