Epic Games have rolled out the latest major upgrade to Unreal Engine 4 while work continues on Unreal Engine 5.

This latest release with Unreal Engine 4.26 surprisingly has quite a lot of Linux issues sorted, along with dropping OpenGL in favour of Vulkan on the desktop now. It's a change that's not really surprising, with Vulkan being the future along with it being needed for Stadia which is quickly expanding its list of available titles.

We’re pleased to announce that Unreal Engine 4.26 is ready for download! This release brings new tools that extend your ability to create believable real-time environments and characters for games, film & TV, visualization, and training & simulation; continued advancements to our virtual production toolset; higher-quality media output; improved design review tools; and much, much more.

Epic Games

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We've rounded up the other Linux specific fixes for you here:

• Automation - Bug Fix: Fixed Linux packaging failure resulting from Lumin key being copied locally into Gauntlet.
• Core - New: Removed unnecessary target dependencies for ShaderCompileWorker on Linux.
• UnrealBuildTool - Bug Fix: Fixed retry in Linux when linking batch files.
• Bug Fix: Resolved an issue with Linux with the SegFault in source filtering and notification manager when closing QAGame Clear Regional Lists at the pre-exit instead of during the global dtor.
• New: Building with a -gbd-index with Clang v9 or above now cuts symbol loading time by more than half (45 seconds to 17 seconds).
• New: Added the No Relative Mouse Mode command-line option to support remote VNC.
• New: Lld linker is now supported with Clang v9 and above.
• Bug Fix: Implemented GetWindowUnderCursor for Unix Platform.
• Bug Fix: Updated README.md for Linux build.
• Bug Fix: Fixed SegFault in source filtering and notification manager when closing QAGame Clear RegionalLists at pre-exit instead of during global dtor when many objects / modules have been freed. Call RemoveAll on FilterCollection->GetSourceFilters updated in PreExit instead of global dtor when many objects / modules have been shut down.
• Bug Fix: For Unix, fixed FUnixPlatformMemory::GetStats() that always returned 0 when memory was over 10.24gigs.
• Bug Fix: UE no longer hard codes c14 in LinuxToolchain as the default c standard.
• Bug Fix: Added SP_OPENGL_SM4_REMOVED to IsDeprecatedShaderPlatform(). This fixes assert when getting shader stats (called from FShaderCookerStats::Initialize).
• Bug Fix: Added error messagebox when vkGetPhysicalDeviceSurfaceSupportKHR fails (no present support).
• Bug Fix: For Linux Vulkan, fixed amdgpu mesa crash where drawinstance call is outside render pass enabling shader complexity view.
• Bug Fix: Update translucent rendering fix to use BeginRenderingTranslucency.
• Bug Fix: Honor UE4's Mono-build environment using Build.sh .
• Bug Fix: Fixed BC6H/BC7 texture formats not being available for Linux.
• Bug Fix: Fixed submenus closing causing main context to close.
• Bug Fix: Fixed focus issue where Windows with never activate policy were being set to active.
• New: Updated Linux SDL2.0.10 to SDL2-2.0.13-13784. Also we removed Epic opengl and emscriptem changes. Source snapshot for SDL 2.0 (Updated Wed Apr 29, 2020) https://www.libsdl.org/hg.php .
• New: Enabled ssse3 by default for Linux x86.
• New: Build ShaderConductor for Linux Script now uses v16 Clang 9.0.1, and works around incorrect llvm-tblgen location. This also adds declspec guid -fms-extensions for build error.
• New: Updated Linux SDL2.0.10 build files to SDL2-2.0.13-13784.
• New: Added support for multithreading in forked processes. Use -PostForkThreading when SupportsMultithreading() is false to allow multithreading in forked processes. Forked processes do not inherit threads from the master, so this keeps the master process in single thread mode but transforms the RunnableThreads into real threads on the forked version. Use FForkProcessHelper::CreateForkableThread to use this feature. ForkableThreads will behave correctly according to the environment they are called in (singlethread, multi thread, forkable). SyncEvents created in -PostForkThreading environments are real events on the master process (Win, Unix platform only).
• New: Added TaskGraph.ForkedProcessMaxWorkerThreads cvar to directly control the number of worker threads spawned on forked processes that enable multithreading.
• New: TaskGraph can now be multithreaded on a forked server with -PostForkThreading. To do this the TaskGraph needs to be shut down and recreated entirely by the forked process for the switch to occur. The functionality can be disabled via "TaskGraph.EnableForkedMultithreading 0" if needed.
• New: Linux AArch64 libs for FreeType2 v2.10.0, ICU 64.1, and HarfBuzz 2.4.0 now include BuildForLinuxAArch64.sh cross compilation scripts. This also adds LinuxAArch64 back to installed engine builds.
• New: Added bGdbIndexSection bool to LinuxToolChain.
• New: Changed default linux directory permissions to 775 from 755 to make working with them easier.
• New: You can now use msbuild in mono for Linux when using an installed copy and mono >= 5.0.
• New: Linux directory watcher optimizations and fixes for cases where we're running with "virtual" layers in the platform file (i.e. pak files).
• New: Added a skip linux UE4_DO_ROOT_PRIVILEGE_CHECK check for programs.
• New: Updated to new LLVM V17 Clang 10.0.1 toolchain.
• New: Moved to using llvm-objcopy for objcopy and strip.
• New: Installed Linux builds now assume a bundled toolchain.
• New: Added support on Mac and Linux for user-defined .unrealrc files that allow developers to specify environment variables for UBT and UAT scripts. .unrealrc files in the home and the workspace directory will be applied before the editor, UnrealBuildTool, UnrealAutomation tool, etc are run.
• New: Added support for VK_KHR_image_format_list, VK_KHR_shader_atomic_int64 and VK_KHR_driver_properties support for Linux; added gpu crash extension support on Linux for AMD and NVIDIA.

Full release notes available here .

Level Designer Toolkit (LDtk), which was originally known as 'LEd' has a huge new release out and the developer mentioned it's now ready for production. It's a modern, free and open source 2D level editor for indie developer with a strong focus on being as user-friendly as possible and it's being built by Sébastien Bénard, who was the former lead developer on Dead Cells.

LDtk 0.6 rips off the Beta label and brings with it some huge features like a World Map, allowing you to organize levels in the project into different themes like a vast 2D map, a large grid system and also either horizontally or vertically.

Pictured - testing out the World Map feature.

Apart from the World Map feature and no longer being considered a Beta, here's the other major changes in this release:

• New splash screen : to reduce screen flickering and dirty window flashes on startup, a new splash screen was added, among other minor changes. The app window should now feel a little more "stable".
• Smooth zooming/panning : automatic zooming and panning (eg. when pressing F key) are now animated and smoother.
• New rule editor window : this UI component really needed some love, so it now features a more streamlined interface and a much better integrated help.
• User settings are now stored in AppData OS folder to prevent from losing them on each future update. Unfortunately, this will only apply starting from this version, so settings will be reset one last time :) Sorry!
• "File path" field : this new field type allow you to refer to an external file directly from an Entity instance (many thanks to Yanrishatum !)
• Many under-the-hood optimizations to support the new World map feature.

Since last checking on it the experience has been massively improved. With the top-down sample included now too, it shows just how powerful it can be as a level editor to help create all sorts of games.

Truly wonderful to see so many great free and open source applications like this appearing over the last year or two, especially when they're cross-platform like LDtk. For Linux, the developer is targeting Ubuntu but the download is an AppImage and should work across any Linux distribution.

Find LDtk on the website or GitHub .

Announced and highlighted back here in September , LEd is a modern open source level editor from the previous development lead on Dead Cells. Taking all that they learned actually creating and working on games, LEd is their attempt to make a modern cross-platform and free level editor for everyone.

Looks like they've started getting their Linux support into better shape too, with the 0.4.0 release that went out recently having their first attempt at a standalone Linux build with help from the community. This is why open source is great, anyone can get involved.

Pictured - LEd running on Linux with an included example.

Just some of the features it offers:

• Easy to use : modern UI with a strong focus on ease-of-use and quality-of-life features.
• Universal and agnostic : compatible with all languages (not only Haxe) and game frameworks in the world
• JSON : easy to parse file format for any game-engine out there (I promise it’s actually really easy). Haxe isn’t required.
• Customizable layers : Integer grid layers, Tile layers and Entity layers support
• Auto-layers : paint your collision map and see the grass, textures and all the small details being drawn automatically !
• Entities : fully customizable Entity with custom properties (ex: you can have a “Mob” entity, with a “hitPoints” field, which is an Integer limited to [0,10] bounds).
• Enums : you can define an enumeration (ex: an “ItemType” enum with “Money”, “Ammo”, “Gun” values) and use this enum in your entity custom fields.
• External enums : enums can be imported and synced directly from Haxe source code files (HX file)!
• HTML5 : LEd is built around modern web standards.

The 0.4.0 release also brings in plenty of new features, upgrades and fixes too. It's advancing pretty quickly based on feedback from people testing it. There's new hotkeys, the ability to easily select any element, you can now quickly duplicate any element in the level, the JSON you get is now at least 40% smaller thanks to optimizations and the list goes on.

If you're after a simple and modern level editor, be sure to take a look at LEd. See more about it on the website and GitHub .

Despite the small version bump, Godot 3.2.4 will be quite big release for game developers wanting to squeeze out some more performance.

The first Beta release is out now , and the Godot team mentioned it's best to get in and start testing now to ensure your games and Godot as a whole is as good as can be when Godot 3.2.4 is released properly. With 3.2.3 now behind them which added in batching for GLES2, they're moving to ensure it's hooked up for GLES3 too.

Apart from the usual assortment of fixes, these are the major changes:

• Android App Bundle and subview embedding support.
• 2D batching for GLES3 (remember that we added it for GLES2 in 3.2.2), and improvements to GLES2's batching.
• A new software skinning for MeshInstance to replace the slow GPU skinning on devices that don't support the fast GPU skinning (especially mobile).

If you're not a game developer, this is probably like speaking another language. Originally, Godot was drawing up various parts of the graphics you see on an individual basis, meaning that each rectangle, polygon, line and so on added to the OpenGL overhead. To better take advantage of a GPUs power, batching pulls a load of it together to save on that performance. Want to know a bit more detail? You can see one of their original blog posts about it here .

While Godot 4.0 will bring with it Vulkan support, a lot of developers stick with the current version of a game engine for a long time, as moving and upgrading can cause all sorts of issues. So giving developers the most performance they can get in the current Godot is great. Godot 4.0 is also still quite some time away so it makes sense.

This is brilliant! Unity Technologies creators of the Unity game engine, which is ridiculously popular with indie developers, have started a series of open source game development projects.

With this idea they're hoping to pull together people as part of Unity’s first open-source game development program. Part of the reason is due to the ongoing COVID19 pandemic, with people often unable to meet and miss out on vital experience and team work. So, why not work together online to build something? That's the plan here. Not only that though, it's an opportunity to see how game development can work out in the open from all sides - using the Unity game engine as the base for it all.

The first project is an action-adventure game, and anyone can jump in to help with code, graphics, audio, or any kind of asset and it's up on GitHub right now.

See their video explainer:

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Hopefully a few Linux developers will hop in and make sure this open source project runs nicely on Linux, enabling other developers to learn from too. You never know…this could even turn out to be something seriously fun. They're hoping that they can have this first game done by March 2021.

See their full blog post here .

As another win for both open standards and modern graphics APIs, the classic and continually improving open source graphics rendering engine OGRE will get Vulkan support in the upcoming 2.3 release.

Need a quick primer on what OGRE is? It's a scene-oriented, flexible 3D engine written in C++ designed to make it easier and more intuitive for developers to produce applications utilising hardware-accelerated 3D graphics. The class library abstracts all the details of using the underlying system libraries like Direct3D and OpenGL and provides an interface based on world objects and other intuitive classes.

Some time ago, back in November 2019 they announced Vulkan support had been started but it was early days for it. We got an official update on this on September 26, 2020 as their blog post announced that Vulkan support will be landing in the OGRE 2.3 release (along with Android support).

It seems like the work to support Vulkan took a lot of effort with the developer, Matias Goldberg, mentioning it being "so complex I kept getting overwhelmed".

To get anything working with Vulkan for OGRE users, some manual effort will be needed like porting shaders over and they're currently working on all the documentation for it. Vulkan support isn't entirely done yet, as the GitHub tracker shows there's a bit more left to be done but it's close.

Once OGRE 2.3 is out proper, we will let you know.

LEd is a very interesting project to follow for both game developers and people looking to get into it, a new free level editor with a firm aim on being user friendly.

What makes it quite interesting, is that it's built by a developer who has been part of a successful indie team. Sébastien Bénard was the lead on Dead Cells, one of my absolute favourite pixel-art platformers and it's a very popular game. LEd is based on their experience creating games, and their goal is to create a modern level editor for everyone.

Feature Highlight:

• Easy to use : modern UI with a strong focus on ease-of-use and quality-of-life features.
• Universal and agnostic : compatible with all languages (not only Haxe) and game frameworks in the world
• JSON : easy to parse file format for any game-engine out there (I promise it’s actually really easy). Haxe isn’t required.
• Customizable layers : Integer grid layers, Tile layers and Entity layers support
• Auto-layers : paint your collision map and see the grass, textures and all the small details being drawn automatically !
• Entities : fully customizable Entity with custom properties (ex: you can have a “Mob” entity, with a “hitPoints” field, which is an Integer limited to [0,10] bounds).
• Enums : you can define an enumeration (ex: an “ItemType” enum with “Money”, “Ammo”, “Gun” values) and use this enum in your entity custom fields.
• External enums : enums can be imported and synced directly from Haxe source code files (HX file)!
• HTML5 : LEd is built around modern web standards.
• LEd loves Haxe : a powerful Haxe API which gives you access to fully typed values from your levels. It avoids mistakes like mistyping, renaming or removals: you see errors during compilation, not at runtime.

After I saw the description mentioned it was open source but it didn't have a license, I opened a ticket with the developer who very promptly sorted it and it's now under the MIT license! That might be the most pleasant interaction I've had when querying that sort of thing. Additionally, they have an open ticket tagged as "help wanted" to sort a proper Linux build out so if you know Haxe it might be a fun project for you to help with. I've already jumped in to let them know of some issues that are currently being worked through.

You can see the website here and find the code on GitHub .

If you're after more like this, do check out Tilekit too .

Godot Engine is one of the most exciting, most advanced free and open source game engines around and it's improving when looking at all angles.

While the continue polishing the current 3.x release series, and working continues on Godot 4 which will bring with it a huge advancement to their 3D rendering with Vulkan, there's a lot more going on.

Recently, it was announced that they've hired Nathan from GDQuest in a part-time basis to go over all of the existing documentation and just make it better. This work was actually funded by someone who donated for this job specifically so that's pretty awesome. Nathan did a video to announce their plan too:

Watch video on YouTube.com

The work being done is of course open to the public, and the Godot documentation itself is also up on GitHub under a creative commons license. Nathan's work has a pretty in-depth in-progress audit up already. Looks like there's plenty of work to be done. Needed work though, as something like Godot needs thoroughly good documentation.

Need to make some nice models for games? Asset Forge is a nice way to do it, allowing you to kit-bash your way to create some really nice assets.

The idea is that you're given a bunch of pre-made blocks, that you can stick together to create entirely new models. Position them, rotate them around, resize them, export them into common 3D formats, render them as a 2D sprite and much more. It opens up asset creation to a new audience and it's a wonderful idea.

Asset Forge 2.1 just recently went up adding in overhauled texture tiling which should fix all currently reported issues and new options to place selection on floor or in centre. There's also various bug fixes and 50 new pre-made blocks for you to use (some are only in the Deluxe version).

Check it out on itch.io .

The developer, Kenney, is a pretty well known name in game development circles for their lovely and colourful free assets. Kenney also just recently put up a new Space Kit , which contains 150+ ready to use models with a space theme with a public domain license lot a like of their assets.