Leadwerks Engine

infobox software
name = Leadwerks Engine
developer = Leadwerks Software


operating_system = Windows XP,Windows Vista,Linux
genre = Game engine
latest_release_version = Version 2.1
latest_release_date = September 16, 2008
website = http://www.leadwerks.com/
license = EULA
Shader Model = Shader Model 3.0, Shader Model 4.0

The "Leadwerks Engine" is a 3D game engine powered by OpenGL 2.1.2. It was designed by Leadwerks Software and made it's debut in The Game Creators May Newsletter [ [http://www.thegamecreators.com/data/newsletter/newsletter_issue_64.html The Game Creators May Newsletter] Retrieved May 1, 2008.] on May 1, 2008. The engine makes use of the new Newton Game Dynamics SDK 2.0 (Newton Archimedes) for physics, and OpenAL and EAX for sound and 3D sound effects. The engine is based around a deferred renderer as of Leadwerks 2.1 and a unified lighting system that allows for dynamic lighting and soft shadowing without the use of lightmaps or any pre-compilation. Occlusion culling is performed on the GPU to remove the need for binary space partitioning or portal zones. The engine was developed by Joshua Klint of Leadwerks Software, and was written in BlitzMax.

Modules have been created by members of the community to allow the use of the engine in languages such as C, C++, C#, VB.NET, LUA, and Python, but C++ and BlitzMax were it's originally targeted languages. The engine is unofficially supported in any language that can load a DLL.

The [http://leadwerks.com/leadwerks_features.htm Leadwerks Engine features list] details all engine features.

Leadwerks Script

Leadwerks Script is a scripting language developed by Leadwerks Software to allow a simple way for artists and unexperienced coders to create games using the Leadwerks Engine. Leadwerks Script is powered by Brisk Virtual Machine. The language follows a syntax almost identical to that of BlitzMax, but is different in way of keywords and general code structure. Since the language is run via a virtual machine, it uses Just-in-time compilation and is run using a precompiled executable known as the interpreter. This eliminates the need to recompile any source code when it is changed. The commandset of the language is easily adjusted or added to by editing the command set file.

Recent comments by the creator of Leadwerks state that Leadwerks Script may become depreciated as it is too similar to BlitzMax and is hard to keep up to date.

Screen-Space Ambient Occlusion (real-time ambient maps)

Screen Space Ambient Occlusion is a technique used to simulate real-time global illumination. This technique has been used by Crytek in Crysis and has since been developed and added to the Leadwerks Engine. Leadwerks Engine also features real-time ambient maps. Soft shadows and lights are calculated dynamically with no pre-calculations or lightmaps. This allows level designers to place lights and geometry and see results instantly.

Compatibility

Leadwerks Engine is supported on Windows XP and Windows Vista. Feature support for MacOS has been proposed as well as support for XBOX360 via the Microsoft XNA platform.

The engine uses a deferred renderer.All lighting is performed as a post processing step via shaders. The lighting shaders take samples from the depth buffer, the color buffer, and normals and calculate light from there.

Documentation

Documentation has been provided in the past in both CHM help files, PDF files, and HTML documents. Leadwerks Engine 2.x has a Wiki dedicated to documentation. It offers tutorials,documentation, an API of the SDK, and examples of different applications you can make and techniques you can use.

See also

*3D World Studio
*OpenGL
*OpenAL
*EAX
*BlitzMax
*Newton Game Dynamics

References

External links

* [http://leadwerks.com Leadwerks Software]
* [http://thegamecreators.com The Game Creators]
* [http://leadwerks.com/leadwerks_features.htm Leadwerks Engine features list]