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A contender to Unity for Linux appears, enter Leadwerks

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Josh Klint of Leadwerks emailed me to ask me to shout out his new Kickstarter aimed at bringing Leadwerks over to Linux, unlike Unity3D the editor itself from Leadwerks will be on Linux as well enabled you to make games on Linux for Linux!

I am not personally up to scratch on Leadwerks but the more I look into it the more I think it will be useful to have!


QuoteWe have a complete visual editor that handles all aspects of the game development process, and we’re porting it to run natively on Linux. We’re using GTK for the user interface, so our editor will look and feel like a native Linux application.


It notes that you will be able to compile your code to work on Windows and Mac as well so you can push anything you make with it to all 3 of the major desktop Operating Systems, sounds even better!

He is looking to raise a total of $20,000 so it's not even a very high target in comparison.

Some games that have been made with Leadwerks:
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You need to fork out at least $100 to get yourself a copy, to put things into comparison a Unity license is $1,500. The only drawback I can see is you have to pay $200 to get a copy for Linux, Mac and Windows but again still far far cheaper than Unity so in comparison still good value.

I may be comparing it too much to Unity but comparing it to the competition is the best way to see how it all stacks up, so far the fact that it's far cheaper is a big tick in my book.

They are a proven company too since their products have already been out for some time now, it's not like backing something brand new that might not come out.

Certainly seems like a complete no brainer to me, includes everything you need to make a game!

It's also needing Greenlight votes if you like the look of it!

What do you all make of it? Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Crowdfunding
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About the author -
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I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
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22 comments
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Anonymous Jun 18, 2013
I'm more interested in the open source contender... http://www.polycode.org
s_d Jun 18, 2013
Quoting: AnonymousI'm more interested in the open source contender... http://www.polycode.org

Holy crap, dude, where did that come from?! It looks awesome! Wonder why I've never heard of it... is it new?
Liam Dawe Jun 18, 2013
Personally I just hope one day we have something like Construct 2 or Multimedia Fusion on Linux as of yet nothing even comes close.
Hamish Jun 19, 2013
As to people complaining about the performance of Unity games, I have only played Rochard as of yet, but it ran just fine on my older card with free software drivers. So bad performance certainly does not seem to be some kind of rule with it.
Mike Hense Jun 21, 2013
Before you take a sip of this Kool Aid, you should stop for a second and take a look on the Leadwerks forums... see the Leadwerks 2  licensees and how they've been abandoned by Josh, as have their prayers to have bugs that have existed for months fixed...  is this what you're looking forward to giving up your money for...

Look at the demo reel... notice  that the examples are from from Leadwerks 2 projects... Leadwerks 3 has abandoned the level of graphics that were available in Leadwerks 2 for a more devolved version reminiscent of a bad dx7 renderer... you're not gonna get any of the graphics shown above from the current renderer... 

A few weeks ago he was focused on mobile development... then it was on Steam distribution... now it's Linux... and all the while, the licensees of Leadwerks 3.0 are awaiting significant bug fixes, and anticipating paying more for features that should've been part of the initial release...

Sorry, but this looks to me more like a scheme to hook you, then get regular licensing fees...  I've been a loyal Leadwerks licensee for years... i've seen bugs go unfixed... the api suddenly and arbitrarily changed, invalidating all existing code... features  arbitrarily ripped out of the engine... never replaced... and anyone who dares question the status quo will be immediately banned from the forum, all access to docs and ancillary files revoked...

My Advice... do your homework... look past the advertising hype before you decide to part with your hard earned cash... 

--Mike
Liam Dawe Jun 22, 2013
@Mike Hense if you want people to beleive what you say it's usually a good idea to back up what you say, currently it's just words from a possible upset customer, something every company will have.
If you have proof it would be worth showing it to prove your point.
Anonymous Jun 23, 2013
Quoting: liamdawe@Mike Hense if you want people to beleive what you say it's usually a good idea to back up what you say, currently it's just words from a possible upset customer, something every company will have.
If you have proof it would be worth showing it to prove your point.
You're 200% correct liamware... while i'm not an upset customer, i am a disappointed customer... (FACT1) i've had a Leadwerks license for 2 years.. i know Leadwerks and have seen it progress from a once bright light it was in the indie scene, to the desperate attempt for funding that is ( FACT2 ) the graphically devolved version of Leadwerks 2 that licensees are paying more for now...  (FACT 3) The misleading exampleclips in the videos were ALL MADE BY LEADWERKS 2 DEVELOPERS, USING LEADWERKS 2...  Leadwerks 3 is incapable of producing those graphics... (FACT4) Although promised that they would be fixed, there are still a substantial number of bugs remaining in Leadwerks 2... and with Leadwerks 3, Leadwerks For Steam, and now Leadwerks For Linux promised... what do you think are the chances these will be resolved... Hey, i could go on and on... but it would be better for you not to take my word for anything... but look on the forums... you'll see (if Josh hasn't deleted all of em yet) the posts about unresolved L2 bugs... there was even a post the other day from someone (a L3 licensee) that asked Josh to fix the significant bugs before moving onto anything else.... THESE PEOPLE PAYED FOR A LEADWERKS 3 LICENSE, AND SOON THEY'RE LIKELY GONNA BE FORCED TO PAY FOR AN UPDATE IN ORDER TO GET WHAT THEY SHOULD'VE GOTTEN IN THE ORIGINAL RELEASE... unless the Linux community decides to chip in and fund it for em... HEY, IT'S YOUR CHOICE... IT'S YOUR MONEY :)
Kristian Jun 23, 2013
What precise feature of Leadwerks 2 have been removed in Leadworks 3?
Anonymous Jun 24, 2013
Quoting: KristianWhat precise feature of Leadwerks 2 have been removed in Leadworks 3?
1- terrain... terrain editor...
2- advanced graphics... lighting... shadows...
3- water...
4- environment features like fog, skybox,

i could go on and on... but those are the ones that immediately come to mind...

go on the forum.... SEEEE FOR YOURSELF... 

--Mike
Josh Jun 27, 2013
Hi, this is Josh, the founder of Leadwerks. In Leadwerks 3 we chose to focus first on the editor and art pipeline. Graphics are something I know well, so I am choosing to add the OpenGL 4 renderer last. I think the tools need to form the foundation and the graphics are the "icing on the cake". The plan is to finish the OpenGL 4 renderer, which is partially done now, and Linux support around the same time. I explained this in my blog over a year ago, so it's not like anyone was taken by surprise by our development plan.

Some of the screenshots in the video are showing the OpenGL 4 renderer and some are showing the old OpenGL 2 renderer. I wrote both, and they're all representative of the final product we're building. I've been working with deferred rendering for seven years, and most of it is just copy & paste.

The user posting this was banned from our forum for making inappropriate jokes about "roofies" in my blog.
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