The Leadwerks game engine is now available to buy from the Ubuntu Software Centre, so anyone using Ubuntu can purchase it and install it directly within Ubuntu to begin creating games.
Leadwerks came to Linux as a result of their crowdfunding effort which more than doubled its goal, showing the demand for a Linux-native commercial-grade game kit for Linux.
About Leadwerks Software
Leadwerks Software was founded in 2006 to build powerful game development tools that are
easy to use. The company launched Leadwerks 3, their first multi-platform product, in April 2013
at the GDC expo. Last summer, the company conducted a successful Kickstarter campaign to
bring Leadwerks to the Linux operating system, reaching over 200% of their goal in just six
weeks. A concurrent Greenlight campaign for Steam was also successful, making Leadwerks
the first 3D game engine approved for distribution on Steam.!
My opinion on this, ignore if you just want the facts of the release...
As much as I applaud Leadwerks for porting over to Linux thanks to their crowdfunding campaign, I cannot help but think "who cares" to anything going into the Ubuntu Software Centre, who honestly buys from it?
I really hope they aren't betting anything on this as it's screaming out for failure, has anything, ever sold well on the USC? Nope.
I actually see the USC as another form of vendor lock-in, you will then be tied to Ubuntu. What if you want to jump over to a different distro? No dice.
Finally you can see the full press release here. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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13 comments
just gonna say one thing...
www.godotengine.com
www.godotengine.com
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Yeah, I got burned with the USC when it came to buying Limbo. Bought it on there, switched to Mint, never got that copy. (Fortunately it was on a bundle sometime after.
As for Leadwerks, I backed it, and have a copy of the Indie Edition. Unfortunately, when I tried it you had to do some serious workarounds to get it working on Mint (seems it was made with Ubuntu in mind). Hopefully that's been changed, otherwise I'd say they're being pretty short-sighted.
As for Leadwerks, I backed it, and have a copy of the Indie Edition. Unfortunately, when I tried it you had to do some serious workarounds to get it working on Mint (seems it was made with Ubuntu in mind). Hopefully that's been changed, otherwise I'd say they're being pretty short-sighted.
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actually, im going to say another thing
www.godotengine.org
disregard my first thing ^^
www.godotengine.org
disregard my first thing ^^
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It would only help them with supporting only one Linux platform then? As it is only available on Ubuntu.
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I never criticize unless it's deserved ;).
I've never heard of USC selling anything well, ever. OMGUbuntu used to track sales for it and the sales were so low they stopped.
This is the latest I can find from summer last year: http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2013/08/julys-best-selling-ubuntu-apps-revealed
Number 1 place sold 48 copies, let that sink in.
I've never heard of USC selling anything well, ever. OMGUbuntu used to track sales for it and the sales were so low they stopped.
This is the latest I can find from summer last year: http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2013/08/julys-best-selling-ubuntu-apps-revealed
Number 1 place sold 48 copies, let that sink in.
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Leadwerks is definitely not for real development, at least not yet. It' shows on their steam store page. Just watch the video lol
Quote - "You like playing games on steam? You ever wanted to make your own games that you and your friends can play"
At least they now have a demo to try http://www.leadwerks.com/werkspace/page/demo
They clearly didn't want to release a demo for it, and argued that giving people a free weekend on steam would be enough time for someone to evaluate it. Very funny to read Link - http://steamcommunity.com/app/251810/discussions/0/540738051931952579/#p1
As for Godot, it can't even go fullscreen on Linux, and they think it's too hard and don't wanna even consider using SDL2. They chose not to use SDL back when it started because alt-tab didn't work, so they figured Linux users would prefer to just play in a window lmao. Link here
https://github.com/okamstudio/godot/issues/140
I know the source is available, and the community will improve/fix things, but with that and other issues I wouldn't start a serious project with it right now unless I was willing/wanted to put some serious time into the engine ontop of writing a game itself.
Anyhow looks like someone from the community at the very end of the link is working on getting fullscreen implemented. Wonder if it will get into the main branch or if their will be a fork just for fullscreen.
Quote - "You like playing games on steam? You ever wanted to make your own games that you and your friends can play"
At least they now have a demo to try http://www.leadwerks.com/werkspace/page/demo
They clearly didn't want to release a demo for it, and argued that giving people a free weekend on steam would be enough time for someone to evaluate it. Very funny to read Link - http://steamcommunity.com/app/251810/discussions/0/540738051931952579/#p1
As for Godot, it can't even go fullscreen on Linux, and they think it's too hard and don't wanna even consider using SDL2. They chose not to use SDL back when it started because alt-tab didn't work, so they figured Linux users would prefer to just play in a window lmao. Link here
https://github.com/okamstudio/godot/issues/140
I know the source is available, and the community will improve/fix things, but with that and other issues I wouldn't start a serious project with it right now unless I was willing/wanted to put some serious time into the engine ontop of writing a game itself.
Anyhow looks like someone from the community at the very end of the link is working on getting fullscreen implemented. Wonder if it will get into the main branch or if their will be a fork just for fullscreen.
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Oh god! Again! a c++ engine (gcc ABI), *puke* (Indeed I really do not like c++). Bah... let's see the positive aspect of this:till the binary builds are cleanly packaged, and there is a clean C interface to the engine, I'm happy to have an additional 3D engine on gnu/linux.
But I still do favor open source 3D engines with a preference for those coded in plain C/ASM and with a reasonable SDK: Namely not cmake/GNU autotools, but simple sh script files, and if big, then the addition of simple makefiles. Host code or data generators should be coded in plain C too, and compiled for the host.
But I still do favor open source 3D engines with a preference for those coded in plain C/ASM and with a reasonable SDK: Namely not cmake/GNU autotools, but simple sh script files, and if big, then the addition of simple makefiles. Host code or data generators should be coded in plain C too, and compiled for the host.
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"What if you want to jump over to a different distro? No dice."
I though you can install it on different distributions :P
I though you can install it on different distributions :P
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As for Leadwerks, I backed it, and have a copy of the Indie Edition. Unfortunately, when I tried it you had to do some serious workarounds to get it working on Mint (seems it was made with Ubuntu in mind). Hopefully that's been changed, otherwise I'd say they're being pretty short-sighted.
I would imagine that would have to be seriously Ubuntu tied if it were not to function well on Mint. :S:
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i really wanted this and would have bought it if it wasn't so late. that and complete lack of updates why it is 6 months late was one straw that pushed me to look for alternatives
so, i decided on UE4. source access is simply better solution, not to mention it is available on really decent price based on what it enables one to do.
so, i decided on UE4. source access is simply better solution, not to mention it is available on really decent price based on what it enables one to do.
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As for Leadwerks, I backed it, and have a copy of the Indie Edition. Unfortunately, when I tried it you had to do some serious workarounds to get it working on Mint (seems it was made with Ubuntu in mind). Hopefully that's been changed, otherwise I'd say they're being pretty short-sighted.I would imagine that would have to be seriously Ubuntu tied if it were not to function well on Mint. :S
As I recall, it had some Ubuntu-specific dependencies. I think it was something for Unity.
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Leadwerks is definitely not for real development, at least not yet. It' shows on their steam store page. Just watch the video lol
Quote - "You like playing games on steam? You ever wanted to make your own games that you and your friends can play"
At least they now have a demo to try http://www.leadwerks.com/werkspace/page/demo
They clearly didn't want to release a demo for it, and argued that giving people a free weekend on steam would be enough time for someone to evaluate it. Very funny to read Link - http://steamcommunity.com/app/251810/discussions/0/540738051931952579/#p1
As for Godot, it can't even go fullscreen on Linux, and they think it's too hard and don't wanna even consider using SDL2. They chose not to use SDL back when it started because alt-tab didn't work, so they figured Linux users would prefer to just play in a window lmao. Link here
https://github.com/okamstudio/godot/issues/140
I know the source is available, and the community will improve/fix things, but with that and other issues I wouldn't start a serious project with it right now unless I was willing/wanted to put some serious time into the engine ontop of writing a game itself.
Anyhow looks like someone from the community at the very end of the link is working on getting fullscreen implemented. Wonder if it will get into the main branch or if their will be a fork just for fullscreen.
It is indeed a shame that SDL2 isn't used, but the devs have their reasons. In any case, it's not that hard to get patches submitted and accepted to Godot. I've submitted several, and they were accepted. If you want to rip everything out and replace it with SDL2, go for it. Or if you just want to fix fullscreen, do that instead. I tried, but X11 is a horrendous API, and it's really not as easy as it *should* be to toggle fullscreen while not breaking Alt+Tab. Join the IRC channel if you want - the devs are always in there and reasonably responsive.
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The USC is gonna be embedded within Unity 8, it's vendor lock-in, yes, but Steam also comes to mind, if it runs on Ubuntu, it should be able to run on anything. It's more like a risk, as there's some people who would be more than happy to buy from the software center, but I agree that this isn't really the best move to be ONLY available on Ubuntu at all.
What they need is to package their program for Debian- and Fedora-based distros. Do they have download links to their programs or do they want Canonical/Microsoft/Apple to host their program?
What they need is to package their program for Debian- and Fedora-based distros. Do they have download links to their programs or do they want Canonical/Microsoft/Apple to host their program?
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