Read up on him here:

http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/topic.asp?topic_id=450767

http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/37720/page/1

http://www.corpnews.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2017&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=mourning&start=0

http://www.indeed.com/forum/loc/Portland-Oregon/Newcomer-s-guide-Portland/t26970

In this case Jay above is most likely Colton Burgess.

- Very poor C/C++ support.

- Quite buggy and sluggish engine.

- Very poor compatibility with video cards, especially older models which severely limits the market penetration of any product powered by it.

- Very unprofessional developer who thinks he is a professional but is really just an amateur wanting to be a professional. Cannot take any form of criticism even the helpful kind.

There are MUCH better engines out there than this. Most are much more expensive.. but you get what you pay for.

here’s two:
http://www.AbyssalEngine.com
http://www.Unity3D.com

RealmCrafter “Professional Version” is also levels beyond Leadwerks engine..

My opinion is the same: there’s problems, but nothing that you couldn’t live with or solve.

* Content pipeline requires a bit effort to get used to – The content pipeline right now seems to be one of the biggest issues for artists. However, content pipelines usually are, and the problem is not out of the realm of being improved in the future as the engine matures.

* The asset file sizes can grow big – Similarly to the last point, this is something that the engine is lacking, but something that can be improved in the future. Such optimizations are only made after the engine has reached a stable mature phase with a healthy amount of users, which LE is still a bit away from.

* Strict license – This is pure speculation, but I’m pretty sure this is due to the fact the engine is built in Blitxmax. I’m a new owner of Blitzmax and have read around the forums with particular issues that would lead me to believe this.

* Attitude on the community forums – This is a real kicker and I find myself having to bite my tongue *a lot* rather than go off on people who clearly have no idea of what they are talking about. Yes, this is one of the biggest downsides to the engine, but in time the community will grow and mature. Sometimes I just have to close the page to avoid trying to smash someone into their next lifetime, it can be quite frustrating and displeasing.

* Compatibility – Some might say it’s bad to leave out the older users but this issue is not as bad as you would think. When you choose to design a game using an engine, it will have a development cycle of probably a year at least more like 2 or so. Why on earth would anyone want to spend 2 years developing a game that will support “today’s” older gen technology when the “older” gen technology that will exist when the game is actually released will be far better? When you use the Leadwerks engine, you are developing for the future, not the past, which is not a bad thing. Sure, right now 50-60% of users could play your game, but do you have a game that is ready to be released -now-? Of course, that is just my opinion on the matter but it makes sense though, right?

So, I think most of the “bads” that are associated with Leadwerks are just a result of the project being in more infant like stages if anything and not real flaws of the engine itself. I mean so far there are not any concrete examples of people building projects that are technically limited by the design of the engine.

Overall, the Leadwerks engine is definitely worth every penny. It really is a steal right now for BMX users and even C++ users. if you want the most out of the engine, you need to be a BMX user though, which after playing around with BMX, I’d recommend any serious programmer to look into their technology. I’m a die hard C/C++ programmer and BMX is an invaluable tool and enjoyable to use.

The only real catch to the Leadwerks engine that I should mention is that it is a real engine and you need to be a programmer to actually make use of it. Apparently, there are quite a number of people at the forums who have missed that memo and naturally think the Leadwerks engine would write their game for them, what a shame, what a shame.

Yes, let’s halve your profits!
And I believe that Steam statistic is about hardcore gamers – those who buy new hardware. But many people have notebooks with graphic cards that are powerful enough for nice graphics (GTA3, LOTR:BFME, RA3) – so you also loose these folks (even though you could just skip the stupid shaders).

So, if you are going to make games for hardcore gamers only, why not to buy some serious engine (possibly leadwerks?).