Pre-Purchase Questions - LeadWerks Engine 3

[HeadClot88]

Hey all!

 

I am gearing up to purchase leadwerks engine 3 for my birthday. I have a few questions about leadwerks and the community here.

 

1. From what I understand in the past Leadwerks has had a mix of paid and free updates. Is this going to continue?

 

2. I am not a programmer however I am an 3D Artist. Are there Programmers here willing to deal with my concepts? Just as long as I am willing to produce art for the project.

 

4. Will the Ubuntu Linux exporter be included in the 200.00 purchase for leadwerks as an free upgrade?

 

5. I have come from a relatively negative community *Cough* CryDev *Cough*. how positive is the Leadwerks community? I know that this is rather silly to ask. But when someone needs help and they just "troll" you till you leave both in PM and the recruitment thread you made. It is rather not helpful... So you can see why I left CryDev.

 

More specific questions about leadwerks -

 

1. Does leadwerks 3 have support for terrain stitching via code or via GUI? From what I understand terrain was just added in.

 

2. Does leadwerks 3 have support for multiple LOD (Level of Detail) Models?

 

3. Does leadwerks 3 have support for game controllers/Game Pads?

 

4. Does leadwerks 3 have support for the 3DConnexion Space Navigator in the editor? LINK

[AggrorJorn]

Hi, and welcome to werkspace.

 

1. Small updates happen every 1/2 weeks or so. These are free. There are also bigger updates like version 3.1. This one is paid because it brings us a deferred renderer, Linux support and steam integration. I it entirely possible that paid updates will be possible at later stages, but you can expect a pretty advanced feature for it in return.

2. You can always make a post in the collaboration forum. I think most people here are programmers (can't be sure) so I think artists are very welcome.

(3)4. If you buy Leadwerks 3.0 now, it wont include the upgrade to 3.1. I don't know how much the update costs though.

5. I think the community is a pleasant one. If you have a problem regarding coding or about the editor people will answer (with some exceptions here and there ofcourse). I am not familiar with the Crydev community but it is probably a lot bigger than Leadwerks community.

 

The other questions:

1. Terrain has only just been added. There are many features that are still in the waiting line. I haven't seen the features you are mentioning though.

2. Currently there is no LOD support (that I am aware of). Perhaps with Leadwerks 3.1 this will be implemented since deferred renders are heavy in computer usage.

3. Officialy, no. Programmers will be able to make a connection to Gamepads if C++ libraries are available on the internet (and there are plenty).

4. Short answer no. I honestly have never heard of it. The video on the website uses Blender by the looks of it. Since blender support was reached with the kickstarter, it might be a possibility. But I wouldn't count on it for now.

[gamecreator]

Regarding gamepads, I posted an example for the previous version of Leadwerks here. diedir posted one which uses Lua here. If you're only developing for Windows, you can try either. I don't know if you can get the Lua one working with other devices but worth a shot.

[Josh]

1. From what I understand in the past Leadwerks has had a mix of paid and free updates. Is this going to continue?

Our business model is to release paid updates every 9-12 months, with free patches in between for bug fixes and small enhancements.

 

2. I am not a programmer however I am an 3D Artist. Are there Programmers here willing to deal with my concepts? Just as long as I am willing to produce art for the project.

I think you will find there are a lot of programmers here who need an artist to work with.

 

4. Will the Ubuntu Linux exporter be included in the 200.00 purchase for leadwerks as an free upgrade?

Leadwerks 3.1 is scheduled for release in December, at which point Linux support will be included. It will not be included in the current version 3.0, so you may want to wait until December.

 

5. I have come from a relatively negative community *Cough* CryDev *Cough*. how positive is the Leadwerks community? I know that this is rather silly to ask. But when someone needs help and they just "troll" you till you leave both in PM and the recruitment thread you made. It is rather not helpful... So you can see why I left CryDev.

I don't know anything about the Crytek modding community, although I am a fan of Crytek. I think you will find the community is generally very helpful.

 

1. Does leadwerks 3 have support for terrain stitching via code or via GUI? From what I understand terrain was just added in.

Our system uses one terrain per scene so there is no need to stitch separate pieces together.

 

2. Does leadwerks 3 have support for multiple LOD (Level of Detail) Models?

It's not built in yet, because it's not that high-priority, but it's fairly easy to add in the future.

 

3. Does leadwerks 3 have support for game controllers/Game Pads?

Not built in, but when the OUYA support is added we will need a general API for game controllers. It would make sense to add PC controllers at the same time, especially with the upcoming SteamBox console.

 

Since Leadwerks is a C++ library it is fairly easy to integrate game controllers APIs in yourself.

 

4. Does leadwerks 3 have support for the 3DConnexion Space Navigator in the editor? LINK

No.

[gamecreator]

Does leadwerks 3 have support for multiple LOD (Level of Detail) Models?

 

It's not built in yet, because it's not that high-priority, but it's fairly easy to add in the future.

Interesteing. I would have guessed this to be an important feature to increase the performance of mobile devices. But maybe people design very low-poly models for mobile already that don't benefit from LODs.

[codeape]

1. Does leadwerks 3 have support for terrain stitching via code or via GUI? From what I understand terrain was just added in.

 

If you want to read more about the terrain system Josh wrote good articles about it here:

http://www.leadwerks.com/werkspace/blog/41/entry-1112-virtual-texture-terrain/

http://www.leadwerks.com/werkspace/blog/41/entry-1124-procedural-terrain/

 

5. I have come from a relatively negative community *Cough* CryDev *Cough*. how positive is the Leadwerks community? I know that this is rather silly to ask. But when someone needs help and they just "troll" you till you leave both in PM and the recruitment thread you made. It is rather not helpful... So you can see why I left CryDev.

I don't know anything about the Crytek community. I am new in this community like you (circa 2 months) and I like it here. People are friendly and helpful in general.

[HeadClot88]

Hey everyone!

Thank you for the replies.

 

I still have a few questions -

 

1. Will there be a price increase with LeadWerks 3.1?

2. When Will Leadwerks Support SteamOS?

[shadmar]

2.

http://www.leadwerks.com/werkspace/blog/1/entry-1141-a-red-letter-day/

[HeadClot88]

Hey Shadmar - Thank you for that!

 

Glad to hear that Leadwerks will support SteamOS Soon

[gamecreator]

1. http://www.leadwerks.com/werkspace/topic/7088-roadmap-or-eta-on-things-to-come/#entry57953

[HeadClot88]

Hey GameCreator - Thanks for that!

 

Glad to hear that the upgrade will be cheap!

[Mycekralid]

Glad to hear SteamOS and controller support is coming

Will build my "SteamBox" some time

[HeadClot88]

Hey all!

 

This is (Possibly?) the last set of questions before I purchase Leadwerks in October.

 

1. Does Leadwerks 3 have any hard or soft limits on world size? Can these be removed if they exist?

2. Is Leadwerks Multi-threaded?

 

The reason I am asking this is I want to procedurally generate my game world at run time.

[gamecreator]

Someone can better answer this but even if there are limits on the world size, I believe you can create multiple worlds. Documentation is here. There was also this blog post on multithreading 2 years ago but I don't know how accurate it is now.

[HeadClot88]

Alright I messaged Josh on the Chat system here on the site.

 

Here are the answers to my questions -

1. Leadwerks 3.0 is limited to a world size of 1024x1024x1024. However after 3.1 it will be adjustable only limited by floating point precision.

2. Leadwerks 3 is multi-threaded.

[gamecreator]

Thanks for sharing that here.

[YouGroove]

With 1024x1024x1024 terrain, what i use, you can make a really big world already.

[HeadClot88]

With 1024x1024x1024 terrain, what i use, you can make a really big world already.

 

That is true.

 

However I really do not want any hard world limits. I have worked with engines with world limits in the past.

Really did not like it.

 

I am really looking forward to 3.1 of Leadwerks.

 

Thanks for sharing that here.

 

Welcome

[HeadClot88]

First off Sorry for the bump. Just needed to ask a question.

 

Question -

 

Is there a non Commercial license of leadwerks available? I know that there is a demo on the front page.

 

If anyone can give me any info on this it would be appreciated

[YouGroove]

@HeadClot88 :

No world limit ? for what type of game ? random generated i presume ?

Without limits you should populate your terrain with vegetation, buildings, etc ... and make great places differents, could take years

 

For the moment there is no free version of Leadwerks 3.

But it is a good price if you pruchase it as you'll have :

- BSP (with shaders like normal map) + lightmapping ( Lights placed on the map work on BSP and dynamic models )

- Terrain + normal maps

- Lua easy scripting

- Navmesh system auto generated , working on terrain also

- Lot of community free stuff in the store (code, shaders, models .... )

 

And don't forget incoming V3.1 with OpenGL4 lightening and new shadow system.

[Rick]

Would be kind of cool to get a sphere type world, or at least simulate it and wrap around zones.

[HeadClot88]

@HeadClot88 :

No world limit ? for what type of game ? random generated i presume ?

Without limits you should populate your terrain with vegetation, buildings, etc ... and make great places differents, could take years

 

For the moment there is no free version of Leadwerks 3.

But it is a good price if you pruchase it as you'll have :

- BSP (with shaders like normal map) + lightmapping ( Lights placed on the map work on BSP and dynamic models )

- Terrain + normal maps

- Lua easy scripting

- Navmesh system auto generated , working on terrain also

- Lot of community free stuff in the store (code, shaders, models .... )

 

And don't forget incoming V3.1 with OpenGL4 lightening and new shadow system.

 

@YouGroove

 

I keep waking up each day thinking about leadwerks and the 3.1 update. It has me that pumped.

 

In all honesty a first person open world survival / Hack and Slash mix similar to

. I would want more color in the art style as well as more 3D objects.

 

I would like to have the world generated similar to how dwarf corp does their world gen or better yet like this and have creatures spawn in different biomes (Undead in Crypts / Tombs, Dwarfs in cave like cities, etc.)

 

@Rick - That would be cool especially for a multiplayer space combat game.

[Naughty Alien]

...so LE 3.1 is something like, complete desktop version of LE 2.x (Win, OSX, Linux) ? If so, is it tied (modeling wise) to geometry builted with provided editor, or it can work in similar/same way as LE2.x (general purpose geometry file formats used FBX, etc) ? Programming wise, is it forcing programmer to use Lua only or it can be entirely used C++ without any Lua code ? If so, how compilation is done for individual targets (I have to rewrite C++ code or modify it for certain target or..) ?

[Rastar]

Yes,you can use external models (at the moment only fbx I think, but that might change with the Linux plugin). even the old LE2 models should work after renaming the extensin.

You can build the entire game in C++. When creatimng a new game, LE3 generates up to four sub-project (VS 2010 for Windows, XCode for Mac OOs and iOS, Eclipse ADT for Android) where you keep the platform specific stuff. Also, there is a top-level Source folder for shared code. To compile for a different platform you simply run the build in the corresponding project (you might have to "publish" the game from The LE editor first). This stuff is working very well.

[Rick]

Note that it's up to use to try and code in cross-platform way with C++. We also have to add files to each project manually. So if you're coding the entire game in Windows using VS you'd do whatever you would normally, but when you're ready to test on Mac you'd open up the xcode project that LE created for you automatically, manually add the files you have in your VS project and then build. No changes assuming your C++ code is cross-platform to start with.

 

This is one reason I'm becoming a Lua fan as you don't have to change anything for any project when using Lua! Of course when you want to take advantage of platform specific functionality (specifically on mobile) then you have to go into the projects and add it. I'm thinking things like in game purchase code or advertisement code.