Leadwerks for Linux is now officially available on Steam and it brings native game development with it.
Will it fill the gap Unity leaves behind for developers on Linux? Who knows, but the more professional tools we have the better our chances of having more developers use Linux.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_W2c01DFwY
Official press release below:
August 25, 2014, Seattle: Following completion of their successful Kickstarter campaign to bring Leadwerks’ game development software to Linux, Leadwerks has announced the release of Leadwerks Game Engine for Linux on the Steam distribution platform. This provides Linux users with a powerful tool to easily create their own 3D games.
Over the last year, Leadwerks has focused on desktop Linux as a platform for creating and playing games. For many users, Leadwerks provides the last missing application they need to move entirely over to Ubuntu or another Linux-based OS. With Leadwerks for Linux now available on Steam, developers can build and play games without ever leaving Linux.
Bringing Leadwerks Game Engine for Linux to Steam means that existing games can be more easily deployed to Linux. The Leadwerks Game Player allows users to play games published through the Steam Workshop. In most cases, games developed for Windows can be played on Linux with no changes and no recompiling, due to Leadwerks’ platform-agnostic design.
Linux support also opens the door for Leadwerks developers to publish games to the living room. Last year Valve Software announced the SteamOS, a Linux-based operating system for game consoles. Although SteamOS is still in development, Leadwerks for Linux and SteamOS promise to provide indie game developers with a way to deploy their games to the living room quickly and easily.
Leadwerks Game Engine is a powerful and easy to use development tool for building 3D games. The software has recently grown in popularity due to its ease of use, royalty-free license, and strong support for C++ and Lua programming. Thanks to the quality of modern Linux graphics drivers, Leadwerks is able to deliver high-end 3D visuals on Linux with an advanced deferred renderer using OpenGL 4.0.
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 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. In June of 2014, the Leadwerks Game Player on Steam opened the door for indie game developers to publish their games to the Steam Workshop, with no waiting period and no approval process. Although it’s been available on Steam for less then a year, Leadwerks users already have a dozen games and concepts on Steam Greenlight.
You can also find their official announcement here. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Will it fill the gap Unity leaves behind for developers on Linux? Who knows, but the more professional tools we have the better our chances of having more developers use Linux.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_W2c01DFwY
Official press release below:
August 25, 2014, Seattle: Following completion of their successful Kickstarter campaign to bring Leadwerks’ game development software to Linux, Leadwerks has announced the release of Leadwerks Game Engine for Linux on the Steam distribution platform. This provides Linux users with a powerful tool to easily create their own 3D games.
Over the last year, Leadwerks has focused on desktop Linux as a platform for creating and playing games. For many users, Leadwerks provides the last missing application they need to move entirely over to Ubuntu or another Linux-based OS. With Leadwerks for Linux now available on Steam, developers can build and play games without ever leaving Linux.
Bringing Leadwerks Game Engine for Linux to Steam means that existing games can be more easily deployed to Linux. The Leadwerks Game Player allows users to play games published through the Steam Workshop. In most cases, games developed for Windows can be played on Linux with no changes and no recompiling, due to Leadwerks’ platform-agnostic design.
Linux support also opens the door for Leadwerks developers to publish games to the living room. Last year Valve Software announced the SteamOS, a Linux-based operating system for game consoles. Although SteamOS is still in development, Leadwerks for Linux and SteamOS promise to provide indie game developers with a way to deploy their games to the living room quickly and easily.
Leadwerks Game Engine is a powerful and easy to use development tool for building 3D games. The software has recently grown in popularity due to its ease of use, royalty-free license, and strong support for C++ and Lua programming. Thanks to the quality of modern Linux graphics drivers, Leadwerks is able to deliver high-end 3D visuals on Linux with an advanced deferred renderer using OpenGL 4.0.
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 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. In June of 2014, the Leadwerks Game Player on Steam opened the door for indie game developers to publish their games to the Steam Workshop, with no waiting period and no approval process. Although it’s been available on Steam for less then a year, Leadwerks users already have a dozen games and concepts on Steam Greenlight.
You can also find their official announcement here. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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5 comments
What's unclear to me is what the advantages of this solution are compared to the competitors. Why would a dev choose this over the competitors? Are there technical reasons to do so? Or just a question of pricing?
Anyone know?
Oh, and it's good to have you back Liam. :)
Anyone know?
Oh, and it's good to have you back Liam. :)
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Quoting: BeamboomWhat's unclear to me is what the advantages of this solution are compared to the competitors. Why would a dev choose this over the competitors?
Every engine has a list of pros and cons, and they are all relative to each other. So if you're going to work on games, you should just research and choose the one that should meet your needs best.
For example, Leadwerks has some advantages over Unity in that it costs much less and has an actual Linux editor so you can develop under Linux. But Unity is available for Mac.
When compared to Godot, Leadwerks is not MIT-licensed open-source and free. But Leadwerks supports Lua which, judging by some posts I've seen around the web, is a real problem for some would-be Godot users. From what I can see, Leadwerks doesn't target mobile at all, whereas Godot excels at it, but Leadwerks supports OpenGL 4. Leadwerks doesn't support Mac yet, but Godot does.
When compared to Unreal Engine 4, Leadworks has no royalty on commercial games made with it. UE4 supports Mac, Leadwerks does not.
Those are just a few examples (a couple might be based on old info - I don't really keep up with anything but Godot).
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oldrocker99 Aug 26, 2014
Any new engine for GNU (let's start calling it that; it is the OS we use that the Linux kernel makes possible; we don't say "Android/Linux," do we?) is Good News for we gamers. Gabe Newell's focus, "Steam Machine" notwithstanding, seems to have been the right one. Steam has certainly been good for GNU.
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I'm not a game developer but a few friends are and literally the only reason they chose Unity was that it had A LOT of assets and actions already made for them. It was all about reducing work.
If Leadworks has that, I can see people definitely using it.
Godot seems cool too!
If Leadworks has that, I can see people definitely using it.
Godot seems cool too!
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Quoting: adolsonEvery engine has a list of pros and cons, and they are all relative to each other. So if you're going to work on games, you should just research and choose the one that should meet your needs best.
Thanks alot for a very interesting writeup, and also for making me aware of Godot! That one has gone entirely under my radar.
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