Feature matrix

[andy_s]

Hi,

 

I am still interested in Leadwerks 3. While the option of a trial is really nice, I think the website fails in showing the capabilities of the LE3 engine. Why not have the features listed as with LE2?

 

So I have a few questions:

 

- Is there occlusion culling implemented?

- What kind optimisations regarding performance are included? Or is it more like in Ogre, where such things must be created by the developer?

- Are the bone animations done on the CPU or GPU? I plan to have around 50 to 100 bone animated entities running around...can LE3 handle this or will performance bog down?

- I dabbled around with the trial. There is no C++ game example.....so to actually use the editor, does it mean I have to create the game objects behaviour in script? or is it also possible to program it in C++, and then have these gameobjects in the editor to place in the level?

- Is water implemented?

- Which shaders are implemented?

- Is there a roadmap so I can see which features are coming?

- What will be in the next update and will it cost money?

 

Also, in which areas is LE3 at the moment lacking? What are your opinions after using it for a while? Things you like the most?

 

Thanks

 

Andi

[Josh]

- Is there occlusion culling implemented?

Yes. It's disabled by default because it's slower in a sparsely populated scene. Call Camera::SetOcclusionMode(true) to enable it.

 

- What kind optimisations regarding performance are included? Or is it more like in Ogre, where such things must be created by the developer?

We handle that for you. It's fast.

 

- Are the bone animations done on the CPU or GPU? I plan to have around 50 to 100 bone animated entities running around...can LE3 handle this or will performance bog down?

The code that performs vertex weighting is optimized C++ code running on the CPU. It's a lot faster than I thought it would be. It runs on a wider range of hardware than Leadwerks 2, and you don't have to assign a special shader. The OpenGL 4 renderer will use GPU skinning, but we needed a baseline renderer that would run across the board.

 

- I dabbled around with the trial. There is no C++ game example.....so to actually use the editor, does it mean I have to create the game objects behaviour in script? or is it also possible to program it in C++, and then have these gameobjects in the editor to place in the level?

You can mix C++ and Lua. You can also catch objects as they are being loaded with a hook:

http://www.leadwerks...ap/mapload-r510

 

- Is water implemented?

Not yet. We want to do it right. The CSG features come into play here.

 

- Which shaders are implemented?

Normal mapping, specular reflection, and I am porting Leadwerks 2 effects over. I just posted a cubemap reflection shader.

 

- Is there a roadmap so I can see which features are coming?

We're not committing to a rigid schedule. There's a lot of different areas we can focus on next, and it's going to depend on what kind of customers are buying it.

 

- What will be in the next update and will it cost money?

New builds are being pushed out about every other week. We have not announced any paid upgrades.

[YouGroove]

Even lot of AAA games won't go a lot behind 50 characters even on MMO; there is a limit (or you'll wait some seconds because of lag and display of characters). Or it is special RTS games using some instacing system.

LE 3 need GUI, terrain editors, and more shaders ( SSAO, DOF, HDR ), different shadow system for models , complete game tutorials and frameworks (and editor refining).

 

From my point of view, what i like the most actually is :

- the new editor all in one for materials, textures, world editing.

- easy import of FBX models and animations split in the model editor.

- a good bunch of ready to use basic shaders</p>

[andy_s]

Thanks for the answers. So as there is at the moment no GUI included, what is everyone using? The game I am planning to create is kind of a remake of the original syndicate. It will be isometric like the original, but real 3d with a rotateable camera. What I like in LE3 is the editor. The CSG seems to be very well suited to create the levels, water is not a must, but would be nice to have.The built in pathfinding is one of the best features for me. As I don't aim for very realistic graphics, i think the renderer as it is now is sufficient. Besides the own and enemy agents, i will need lots of pedestrians running around, as well as vehicles. What is the maximum number of objects LE3 can handle using pathfinding on a lower end machine?

[Admin]

So as there is at the moment no GUI included, what is everyone using?

Since that's a pretty basic programming task, and what people want it to do is highly variable, we leave that to the programmer at this time.

 

Besides the own and enemy agents, i will need lots of pedestrians running around, as well as vehicles. What is the maximum number of objects LE3 can handle using pathfinding on a lower end machine?

That just depends on the hardware, and it's hard to quantify. The software supports up to 1000 AI agents.

 

What I like in LE3 is the editor.

Thank you. We like it too.

[YouGroove]

Since that's a pretty basic programming task, and what people want it to do is highly variable, we leave that to the programmer at this time.

Hum ... GUI is important and people would like to be bale to create menus , even if it is in some programming way.

Not all 3D artists will be able to choose some GUI C++ and link it to Leadwerks 3.

[andy_s]

I have decided on an engine now, and I did not choose Leadwerks 3. The reason why I did not purchase LE3 is mainly because I think it really is not a finished product. There is a lot of good things, for example clear and precise documentation, the CSG editor is nice as well. Plus the possibility to deploy to Win and Mac and of course the integrated pathfinding.

However, for now I think the features offered by the rendering engine are way too low. Plus I think a GUI Editor or at least a library with functions is nowadays a must for an engine. Of course I could have bought LE3 now, as it seems all these things will be added over time. But as there is no clear roadmap, I have no clue what will get added when or at which price. I also own LE2.5 and when LE3 got announced it was said there will be a lower priced update for licence holders, which finally was there, but only for a short time. The price for the engine was initially announced way higher, then it was changed again to a lower price.....so to sum up honestly I don't trust the company enough to justify a purchase now.

But I will monitor LE3 and see how it develops, and maybe in the future buy a licence. As said, I really think the engine has lots of potential, but in its current form, it is not finished. Maybe it was just released too early.

I am not bashing LE, just giving my opinion hoping that it might help the devs to further improve the engine.