Leadwerks Game Engine Free Download
Jodee Bouman
Leadwerks is a cross-platform game engine developed by Leadwerks Software that focuses on ease of use and learning. The software supports Windows and Linux, with OS X support in development. Leadwerks is currently on its fourth major version and is sold through the Steam digital distribution platform.
Leadwerks is written in the C++ programming language and makes use of the OpenGL 4.0 graphics API. Newton Dynamics is used for physics. Scripting is provided by the Lua programming language, with LuaJIT employed for just-in-time compilation of scripts to machine code. An AI navigation system is included, based on the Recast library. OpenAL is used for audio.
Leadwerks Game Engine is marketed as an easy to learn game development system, with three layers of development intended to ease the learning curve. The flowgraph system and visual editor allow simple games to be created without programming. Lua script allows more advanced game mechanics and custom behavior, while C++ can be used for low-level programming and importing external libraries.
The standard version of Leadwerks Game Engine retails for $49.99 on Steam and supports Lua programming. The C++ SDK DLC adds support for C++ programming, with project templates for Visual Studio and the Code::Blocks IDE for Linux. Several model pack DLCs are also available, as well as a store for user-created 3D models, textures, scripts, and sounds, built on the Steam Workshop system. The end user license agreement allows any licensee to publish royalty-free commercial games. A splash screen is not required to be shown.[3]
Leadwerks Game Engine began as a free companion to the BSP map editor 3D World Studio. Version 1.0 of Leadwerks Game Engine was released in 2007.[1] The engine utilized OpenGL 2.1 and used a combination of texture-based lightmaps and per-vertex lighting.
Version 2 was released in May 2008 and utilized shadow maps in a forward renderer.[4] In version 2.1 the renderer was switched to a deferred renderer, making Leadwerks the second commercial game engine in the world to utilize this now-common technique (the first being the X-Ray Engine that powers the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series of games by GSC Game World).[5]
Version 3 was released in April 2013 at the Game Developer's Conference.[6] This was the first multiplatform version, with support for Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android provided on day one. Support for mobile graphics hindered the capabilities of the renderer on PC, and the changes were poorly received by the existing user base. In June of the same year, the company launched a Kickstarter campaign for Linux support, raising $42,000 in six weeks.[7]In January 2014, version 3.1 was launched on Steam with support for Windows and Linux, a new deferred renderer, and mobile support removed.[8] During the 2014 Steam Winter Sale, Leadwerks Game Engine won the Community Choice Award and was featured on the front page of Steam.[9]
Version 4 was released in December 2015 with a new vegetation system for displaying large amounts of foliage with minimal memory usage.[10] Around this time, it was announced that the software had attracted over 10,000 users.[11]
I understand that using Lua and visual scripting will be easier to learn than C++ (described as hard to learn for beginners) from what I've read online. I have GIMP and Blender as my DCCs. Blender is hard to get into for me as I find the interface unintuitive but it is the only free option and I know about all the tutorials on Youtube about it and I plan to watch more.
From what I've read online, in a true 3d engine the sprites in a FPS have to be flipped to face the player at all time otherwise obviously they will not be visible from certain angles since they have no depth.
Is this hard or CPU intensive to make? I would assume that a FPS game with sprites is going to be less-resource heavy to run (and easier to make since 3d modeling in Blender is very intimidating while I can make sprites in GIMP and I know about getting rid of the background with Alpha color or something like this) than 3d models, am I right?
You can do everything that you mention in your post using the Sprite class. They can automatically face the player camera. You don't have to worry about performance. This also affects the GPU rather than the CPU.
As far as running games with my Intel HD Graphics 530, I am only playing old games (90s era to crica 2006) that I bought on GOG.com and some old-school indie games (like this Windows store game called "grudgekill" which is a FPS made with Unity) and I'm coping fine. I bought Doom 3 last December on GOG.com and it runs fine on my system but I know I could never run a modern AAA game like Doom 4 with Intel HD Graphics 530.
I downloaded the Leadwerks-made game "Nightmare Prism" and played through the whole game a few times. The game is maxing my Intel HD 530 to 99% and runs slightly choppy (not as fast and smooth as the video below but close to it) but is still very playable. The slight choppiness due to my lack of a better graphics card makes it a bit more challenging though. And I put all the settings at their lowest value.
Not per se, but it can't hurt to upgrade your graphics card. From a bright side: your game is developed against the lowest specs. If it runs on your pc, anything with better hardware will certainly work.
I think Nightmare Prism has some volumetric lighting turned on in parts. This can really tank FPS due to the way it works so should usually be reserved for very limited use. In a release game you'd maybe come up with a much lower cost alternative and have different graphics levels but in game jam games there's a temptation to turn it on, knowing that in a simple looking game the majority of people probably have the graphics horsepower left to take the hit.
Leadwerks can be pretty effective for developing on a lower spec machine as long as you work on isolated game chunks and avoid trying to run final unoptimsed levels when really you're just testing a game mechanic (create super simple test levels).
I've had a couple of things not work on low end graphics, e.g. real time texture from camera (for a portal) but in general things work pretty well. A more powerful graphics card will make development quicker and smoother in general but it's not a necessity if you keep your ambitions reasonably small to start with and build from there.
Leadwerks is a powerful and easy-to-use game engine for building any kind of 3D game. With a rapid development pipeline, Lua script integration, and plenty of learning materials, Leadwerks is the perfect way to make 3D games that look and feel amazing. Get started today making your own 3D games for Steam.
Learn to Make Your Own 3D Games
We provide tons of documentation and video tutorials walking you through the steps to build your own 3D games. Leadwerks is the perfect pathway to go from total noob to pro game developer.
Advanced Graphics
Leadwerks brings AAA graphics to the masses, with hardware tessellation, geometry shaders, and a deferred renderer with up to 32x MSAA. Our renderer redefines realtime with image quality more like a cg render than real-time games of the past. The use of OpenGL 4.0 provides equivalent graphics to DirectX 11, with cross-platform support across operating systems, for future expansion.
Built-in Level Design Tools
Build game levels from scratch right in our editor with constructive solid geometry. Our tools make it easy to sketch out your design and bring your ideas to life. Anyone can build their own game worlds in Leadwerks, without having to be an expert artist.
Visual Flowgraph for Advanced Game Mechanics
Our unique visual flowgraph enables designers to set up game mechanics, build interactions, and design advanced scripted sequences, without touching a line of code. The flowgraph system integrates seamlessly with Lua script, allowing script programmers to expose their own functions and add new possibilities for gameplay.
"Leadwerks: Indie Edition" will be launched on Steam January 6th. This will be on Windows only, with support for Lua scripting. The following groups will receive a free Steam key to add this product to their Steam account:
Leadwerks 3.1 for Linux and Windows will be released together next, with the exact release date to be determined. Leadwerks 3.1 for Mac will follow this, with mobile add-ons for iOS and Android coming last. (There is no purchase necessary to upgrade the mobile add-ons from Leadwerks 3.0 to Leadwerks 3.1.)
Leadwerks is the easiest way to build 3D games. With a rapid development pipeline, support for Lua and C++ programming, and plenty of learning materials, Leadwerks is the perfect way to learn to make games.
Since we are getting close to announcing our new project and will be very busy with its development, we wanted to take a step back and "elevate" the quality of our previous project.
The update ended up taking us two weeks of work instead of the planned one, but in it, we were able to implement so many exciting features and even bring back some previously unrealized content that we realized it wasn't just another update, but a re-release. Version 2.0.
We are proud to present to you the director's cut of SALVATIONLAND. It includes new cutscenes, significantly improved pacing in the first half of the game, numerous stability, detail, and optimization improvements.
- Added an alternative ending that is optional and unlocked by successfully completing additional quests
- Added new cutscenes
- Added new graphical effects (Depth of Field, Bloom)
- Additional optimization work: performance increase on levels ranged from 25% to 50%
- "Beginning" level: reworked initial scenes, added a new first-person cutscene, fixed errors, improved level detail
- "Old District" level: removed guard, now the clinic area is accessible and leads to the "Clinic" location. Some posters from Leonid's subquest have also been moved to this area.
- "School's basement" level: reduced size of one of the internal corridors
- "Shopping District" level: increased tree density
- "Shopping Center" level: reduced playable area size, decreased likelihood of crashes on low-end hardware
- Added sound of shell casings falling when shooting firearms
- Fixed an issue where dialogue text could overflow the window and be cut off at certain resolutions
- Headshot damage multiplier for firearms increased to x2
- Grenades now dismember enemies' limbs
- Improved quality of certain voiced lines, added voiceovers for some previously missing lines
- Increased sprint duration and speed
- Decreased rain volume
- Added engine muffling sound for motorcycles
- Added more collectible items on certain levels
- Various level tweaks and detail improvements
As before, you can buy the game in Steam using this link: Store.steampowered.com