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Amazon Lumberyard: free AAA game engine with Oculus and AWS integration

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Re: Amazon Lumberyard: free AAA game engine with Oculus and AWS integration

#21

Post by obsurveyor »

julius wrote: post #9

The big question for me is: Why an entire engine? If they were just interested in getting developers, to use their cloud services. Wouldn't they simply release plugins for all major engines? And wouldn't Unreal and Unity be much more interesting targets (based on their usage in the industry), than CryEngine?

Business. Amazon re-invests almost all their profits in itself(Wall Street hates this a lot). Getting a sweetheart deal from a company about to go under to fill a gap in their software technology to grow out their game section was probably too hard to resist.

Re: Amazon Lumberyard: free AAA game engine with Oculus and AWS integration

#22

Post by markatkinson »

I got pretty excited and rushed through the article trying to clarify what engine and language it is based on.

Got a little bleak when I saw CryEngine and C++. As someone who uses C# and Java it's becoming pretty clear I need to start learning C++ if I want to explore game dev.

I realize Unity uses C# but when I compare UE, Unity and CryEngine it really feels like Unity still has a long way to go. The features you get out the box with UE for example are far superior to Unity.

Anyway, I just went off topic. It looks like an interesting option for developing multiplayer focused games.

Re: Amazon Lumberyard: free AAA game engine with Oculus and AWS integration

#23

Post by ogsharkman »

markatkinson wrote: post #22

I got pretty excited and rushed through the article trying to clarify what engine and language it is based on. Got a little bleak when I saw CryEngine and C++. As someone who uses C# and Java it's becoming pretty clear I need to start learning C++ if I want to explore game dev. I realize Unity uses C# but when I compare UE, Unity and CryEngine it really feels like Unity still has a long way to go. The features you ge…

Yeah, especially when you consider Carmack basically volunteered to rewrite Minecraft in C++ for Microsoft (and VR use). I'm not a game developer so I have no idea if C++ is as widespread as it seems but to me that's a pretty big indication.

Re: Amazon Lumberyard: free AAA game engine with Oculus and AWS integration

#24

Post by markatkinson »

keyle wrote: post #14
thenomad wrote: post #3

Digging into the details, it seems this is largely a fork or adaption of the CryEngine, with all the advantages and disadvantages that brings. As I said about Autodesk's offering, Stingray, I think that even a giant like Amazon is going to have an uphill battle bringing a new game engine into mass use. Having been testing game engines just this week, I'm reminded just how much of an ecosystem has built up around Unit…

Shame about the 3D format supports. :(

Yea, which is a shame for them, as lots of the smaller shops starting out and actually deciding which game engine to use are likely to be starting with something like Blender. I don't even think 3DS Max exists anymore? Isn't it just Maya now?

Re: Amazon Lumberyard: free AAA game engine with Oculus and AWS integration

#25

Post by markatkinson »

ogsharkman wrote: post #23
markatkinson wrote: post #22

I got pretty excited and rushed through the article trying to clarify what engine and language it is based on. Got a little bleak when I saw CryEngine and C++. As someone who uses C# and Java it's becoming pretty clear I need to start learning C++ if I want to explore game dev. I realize Unity uses C# but when I compare UE, Unity and CryEngine it really feels like Unity still has a long way to go. The features you ge…

Yeah, especially when you consider Carmack basically volunteered to rewrite Minecraft in C++ for Microsoft (and VR use). I'm not a game developer so I have no idea if C++ is as widespread as it seems but to me that's a pretty big indication.

I spent some time going through tutorials for different game engines, UE, Unity, Chaos and researching others, it became pretty clear that C++ the most pervasive and valuable across them, which is probably obvious to some of the more involved players in that space.

Re: Amazon Lumberyard: free AAA game engine with Oculus and AWS integration

#26

Post by kayoone »

markatkinson wrote: post #22

I got pretty excited and rushed through the article trying to clarify what engine and language it is based on. Got a little bleak when I saw CryEngine and C++. As someone who uses C# and Java it's becoming pretty clear I need to start learning C++ if I want to explore game dev. I realize Unity uses C# but when I compare UE, Unity and CryEngine it really feels like Unity still has a long way to go. The features you ge…

Depends on what you mean by "exploring game dev". I would say Unity is pretty perfect for that and you have a lot to learn before you will reach its limits, if ever. After all, some of the best and most successful games are made with Unity. If you want maximum eyecandy, then UE or CryEngine might make more sense, but even there Unity in its latest version is not that far off.

Re: Amazon Lumberyard: free AAA game engine with Oculus and AWS integration

#27

Post by douche »

shadowmint wrote: post #10

Some interesting legal stuff with this engine, which their FAQ(1) goes over. Basically, use it for whatever, free of charge, but not with any other cloud services that mimic amazon's services(2). Except cloud services for some things, which are fine: Your game may read and write data to platform services and public third-party game services for player save state, identity, social graph, matchmaking, chat, notificatio…

That sounds like a Steam clause. At this point, if you're licensing a PC game engine, and it's not Steam-compatible, it's DOA.

Re: Amazon Lumberyard: free AAA game engine with Oculus and AWS integration

#28

Post by markatkinson »

kayoone wrote: post #26
markatkinson wrote: post #22

I got pretty excited and rushed through the article trying to clarify what engine and language it is based on. Got a little bleak when I saw CryEngine and C++. As someone who uses C# and Java it's becoming pretty clear I need to start learning C++ if I want to explore game dev. I realize Unity uses C# but when I compare UE, Unity and CryEngine it really feels like Unity still has a long way to go. The features you ge…

Depends on what you mean by "exploring game dev". I would say Unity is pretty perfect for that and you have a lot to learn before you will reach its limits, if ever. After all, some of the best and most successful games are made with Unity. If you want maximum eyecandy, then UE or CryEngine might make more sense, but even there Unity in its latest version is not that far off.

I'll check it out again, it was over a year ago.

I just recall doing things like setting up path finding and AI was much easier in UE and setting up player characters etc was all already built into UE templates.

The whole UE IDE or workflow also just made more sense to me, and was more polished. Maybe I just didn't give Unity enough of a chance.

Re: Amazon Lumberyard: free AAA game engine with Oculus and AWS integration

#30

Post by [deleted] »

markatkinson wrote: post #24
keyle wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Shame about the 3D format supports. :(

Yea, which is a shame for them, as lots of the smaller shops starting out and actually deciding which game engine to use are likely to be starting with something like Blender. I don't even think 3DS Max exists anymore? Isn't it just Maya now?

[deleted]
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