A new beta build is up. This update brings a couple of interesting new features.
The beginnings of a post-processing effects stack system are now in place. A new function has been added to attach a post-processing effect to a camera:bool Camera::AddPostEffect(const std::string& file)
The file name can be either a shader or Lua script file. An example of each can be found in the "Shaders\PostEffects" folder. Here are a few cool effects that will soon be possible (thanks Shadmar):
Post-processing effects can be combined, and they will be rendered in sequential order. The next step will be to integrate this feature into the editor so it can all be visually controlled.
A video publishing tool has also been added into the editor. You can specify a YouTube video URL or video ID, enter a title and description, and publish your video straight to Steam.
Your video will show up in your profile, in the Leadwerks Community Hub, and in the main Steam video feed. This is a great way to spread awareness of your project and gain attention, or just show the community what you're working on.
Bug Fixes
Several small bugs have been fixed. For more information see the bug reports forum.
A problem was identified that was causing non-animated models to be imported into the editor with occlusion culling enabled. This is an issue because the cost of occlusion culling on individual objects can often be slower than the cost of rendering them. Several prefabs in the AI example map were using per-object occlusion culling when they really shouldn't. Those prefabs have been updated. This is something to watch out for in your own maps, as it can cause performance to be slower than it would otherwise be. The model importer has improved checking now so it won't apply per-object occlusion culling on objects unless they are animated and contain more than one frame of animation data.
Opting in to the Beta
To opt into the beta branch, right-click on Leadwerks in your games list and select the "Properties" menu item. Under the "Betas" tab you can choose to receive the newest updates before they are considered stable and moved into the default branch.
The previous beta build has been moved into the default branch and is now available to everyone.