Jump to content

Switching from Unity to LeadWerks


Keithsoulasa
 Share

Recommended Posts

Hi all, I currently work with Unity, and while its a fantastic engine, its getting pretty expensive( to go pro with android and ios cost something like 4500$) ..

 

Is LeadWerks a good alternative , I mainly use C# , but I'm open to learning .

 

I have Visual Studio pro so I'm good on programming tools .

 

Could anyone provide a link to the API, I need video playback on Android( open to waiting till version 3 for this )

Link to comment
Share on other sites

C++ is not much different from C#, maybe even a bit easier, because you don't need to declare those horrible function headers. Also C++ was developed by many organizations over many years, while C# is a Microsoft product, so I guess that tells something about the speed and quality also :)

Ryzen 9 RX 6800M ■ 16GB XF8 Windows 11 ■
Ultra ■ LE 2.53DWS 5.6  Reaper ■ C/C++ C# ■ Fortran 2008 ■ Story ■
■ Homepage: https://canardia.com ■

Link to comment
Share on other sites

C++ is not much different from C#, maybe even a bit easier, because you don't need to declare those horrible function headers. Also C++ was developed by many organizations over many years, while C# is a Microsoft product, so I guess that tells something about the speed and quality also smile.png

 

What ever you do... Don't mention the war!

STS - Scarlet Thread Studios

AKA: Engineer Ken

 

Fact: Game Development is hard... very bloody hard.. If you are not prepared to accept that.. Please give up now!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Also, native code is faster and more flexible than the walled garden of managed code. 98% of AAA games (not an actual statistic, but probably accurate still) are built with native code, not C#. Even most iOS games are built on native code.

 

I would also be hesitant to rely on a closed-source proprietary compiler like Mono. The company has a rocky past, and I don't know if managed code is very future-proof.

 

So native code (C++) is where I would put my bets, with Lua for fast and easy scripting (still running in C++).

My job is to make tools you love, with the features you want, and performance you can't live without.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a Unity Pro license, have uninstalled Unity as I dont touch it anymore. Now just uses Leadwerks.

 

I have been using Unity , free version, for about one year

I have been using leadwerks demo for the trial period

Last Friday I purchased Leadwerks

Unity higher price was not the main issue

 

In my opinion Leadwerks is more user friendly

 

May I ask you for what reason you unistalled Unity pro ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Alberto what specifically do you find more user friendly. I've gone back and forth a number of times. Unity has a nice structure to follow but some things like layers and such I'm not a fan of. Unity has way more 3rd party tools that really help out. I'm not all that big on math so I didn't like Unity in that respect.

 

For me the biggest thing LE has is the entity programming. I think it's just so much easier to work with. The reason I generally go away from LE is because it has no game structure and I often found myself obsessing over that instead of the game itself. Trying to find just the right way to setup the game. In Unity it was nice because you didn't have to worry about the structure because it was provided for you. Ultimately I always come back to LE and just try to supress my obsessive compulsion with looking for a great structure for a game framework.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In Unity to get a persistent obj across scenes you needed to load a dummy scene and specify it to not get cleaned up by the next scene load and grab the data out of a hash. It is an endless fight with the crappy abstractions.

 

Also, native code is faster and more flexible than the walled garden of managed code. 98% of AAA games (not an actual statistic, but probably accurate still) are built with native code, not C#. Even most iOS games are built on native code.

 

I would also be hesitant to rely on a closed-source proprietary compiler like Mono. The company has a rocky past, and I don't know if managed code is very future-proof.

 

So native code (C++) is where I would put my bets, with Lua for fast and easy scripting (still running in C++).

 

Microsoft is working on Roslyn which will offer similar capabilities as mono's compiler as a service. I don't know if it will be able to emit byte code cross platform. My bet is that it will so that microsoft can transition the .net devs to other platforms.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Roslyn

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have also evaluated Unity vs Shiva when I wanted to buy an 3D engine for Android which do realtime shadows. Well, the evaluation was quite simple: Unity could not do any shadows, while Shiva could. Also the fact that Unity is made with C# kinda scares most customers like me off, because we know it's a horribly bloated, slow and buggy language made by a company who has no clue about computers, but only business. Shiva at least used somekind of Lua, but didn't allow direct C++ programming. Leadwerks 3 will fill the gap of needs and bring real C++ to Android, and shortly after its release also realtime shadows.

Ryzen 9 RX 6800M ■ 16GB XF8 Windows 11 ■
Ultra ■ LE 2.53DWS 5.6  Reaper ■ C/C++ C# ■ Fortran 2008 ■ Story ■
■ Homepage: https://canardia.com ■

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Alberto what specifically do you find more user friendly.

For me the biggest thing LE has is the entity programming. I

 

I dont like component based engines, entity programming is a more natural and intuitive approach,in my opinion

Moreover nothing is more user friendly than a simple list of self understanding commands

Having said that, I dont mean the Unity is no good

Driving an aircraft is probably more difficult than driving a car but I am an hobbyest game programmer

The simpler the better

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In Unity to get a persistent obj across scenes you needed to load a dummy scene and specify it to not get cleaned up by the next scene load and grab the data out of a hash. It is an endless fight with the crappy abstractions.

 

Lua for LE won't be much different. I plan on using sqlite to do this, and I think you can also use that for Unity, but it isn't their out of box solution, but better than their persistent storage.

 

I dont like component based engines

 

You might want to use C++ in LE3 then because it's Lua implementation is more component like, but still offers the same great entity programming functions and style we are used to. I think it'll be a nice middle ground between the 2 styles.

 

 

"You started it"

"We did not"

"Yes you did, you invaded Poland"

 

lol classic

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I dont like component based engines, entity programming is a more natural and intuitive approach,in my opinion

Moreover nothing is more user friendly than a simple list of self understanding commands

Having said that, I dont mean the Unity is no good

Driving an aircraft is probably more difficult than driving a car but I am an hobbyest game programmer

The simpler the better

I think object interaction can get very convoluted. We solved this problem by implementing a flowgraph to provide a visual framework with which scripted objects in a scene can interact, based on what functions are exposed in the attached scripts. This way users can control object interactions with fine control, without worrying about the exact code in the scripts.

My job is to make tools you love, with the features you want, and performance you can't live without.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Same here

Components based engine must have some advantage if the became so popular also at professional level but object interaction is their weak point

Unity is a sort of hybrid , it is more or less acceptable

I tried a "pure" component engine, Torque x

A nightmare

I do hope that your flowgraph implementation can be a great step forth

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...