Does the world of mobile game development need another middleware engine?
The success of Unity might suggest otherwise, and even if you don't want to use it, other options include Unreal, Shiva, Cocos2d-x, Marmalade, Corona...
Even Havok's in on the action with its Project Anarchy.
Josh Klint from US company Leadwerks isn't taking any of it, though.
He's just launched Leadwerks 3, a from-scratch C++ and Lua-based cross-platform engine for PC/Mac, iOS and Android game development.
Faster, native
"It's the first mobile engine to use industry standards tools," he explains.
"We're targeting C++ programmers at triple-A studios who want to take their experience directly into mobile.
"We're not interested in fighting over studios who want to use C#."
Klint's argument is that because mobile hardware is now more powerful than PC or console in terms of its processing power per area, the companies who are going to win in the future, need better tools.
Backwards to the future
One example of this focus to push mobile graphics as far as they can go was the GDC 2013 deferred rendering test using Leadwerks 3 (see video below).
"I thought it was going to run at a couple of frames a second on an iPad," Klint explains of the flexible technique that did much to transform the dynamic lighting in recent console games such as Battlefield 3.
"But after some optimisation, it was running at 60 frames per second."
The reason, he says, is that the graphics parts from companies like ARM (Mali) and Imagination Technologies (PowerVR) used tile-based rendering, which are more applicable to deferred rendering than PC graphics cards.
"I think triple-A graphics on mobile are just around the corner," Klint says.
"We can take graphics a look further, and Leadwerks is ready for that future."
You can find out more about Leadwerks 3 via its website.
Interview
Contributing Editor
A Pocket Gamer co-founder, Jon is Contributing Editor at PG.biz which means he acts like a slightly confused uncle who's forgotten where he's left his glasses. As well as letters and cameras, he likes imaginary numbers and legumes.
Top Stories
Feature
Apr 25th, 2024
"Gaming in MENA is just starting. Investment will bring more attention to the region and create more opportunities"
Feature
Apr 24th, 2024
48 top mobile games in soft launch: Squad Busters, CSR 3, Plants vs. Zombies 3, LEGO Hill Climb Adventures, and more
Events
Esports Future Summit | Middle East | Apr 27th |
Dubai GameExpo Summit 2024 | Middle East | May 1st |
The MENA Games Industry Awards 2024 | Middle East | May 2nd |
GameDev Atlantic 2024 | May 4th | |
Mobidictum Meetup Berlin May 2024 | Europe | May 7th |
Mobidictum Meetup Tallinn May 2024 | Europe | May 21st |
Israel Mobile Summit 2024 | Middle East | Jun 6th |
DevGAMM Vilnius 2024 | Europe | Jun 14th |
Popular Stories
News
Apr 23rd, 2024
Supercell’s Squad Busters soft launches today with over 100,000 Google Play downloads
Feature
Apr 24th, 2024