Amazon Lumberyard

Last updated

Amazon Lumberyard
Developer(s) Amazon Game Tech
Preview release
beta 1.28 / May 19, 2021;3 years ago (2021-05-19) [1]
Repository github.com/aws/Lumberyard/
Written in C++ [2] and Lua [3]
Operating system Microsoft Windows, Linux
Platform
Predecessor CryEngine
Successor Open 3D Engine
License Proprietary (source-available)
Website aws.amazon.com/lumberyard

Amazon Lumberyard is a now-superseded freeware cross-platform game engine developed by Amazon and based on CryEngine (initially released in 2002), which was licensed from Crytek in 2015. [4] [5] [6] In July 2021, Amazon and the Linux Foundation announced that parts of the engine would be used to create a new open source game engine called Open 3D Engine, which would replace it. A new Open 3D Foundation, run by the Linux Foundation, will manage the new engine, which will be licensed under the open source Apache 2.0 license. [7] [8] The new engine is reportedly partially based on Lumberyard but with many parts rewritten, and is considered a new engine. [9] [10] [8]

Contents

Overview

The Lumberyard engine features integration with Amazon Web Services to allow developers to build or host their games on Amazon's servers, as well as support for livestreaming via Twitch. [11] Additionally, the engine includes Twitch ChatPlay, allowing viewers of the Twitch stream to influence the game through the associated chat, a method of play inspired by the Twitch Plays Pokémon phenomenon. [12] The source code is available to end users with limitations: Users may not publicly release the Lumberyard engine source code or use it to release their own game engine. [13] Lumberyard launched on February 9, 2016 alongside GameLift, a fee-based managed service for deploying and hosting multiplayer games, intended to allow developers the easy development of games that attract "large and vibrant communities of fans." [14] As of March 2018, the software is currently in beta status and can be used to build games for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, [15] [14] with limited support for iOS and Android and support for macOS being planned for future releases. [13] [16] Virtual reality integration was added in Beta 1.3, allowing developers to build games supporting devices like Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. [17] [18]

Despite being based on the architecture of Crytek's CryEngine, the engine has been developed to use many of its own custom-developed systems, some of which are in a preview mode. A few of these systems include the Component Entity System, Fur Shader, Modular Gems (which allows developers to either create their own assets or add existing assets to their games), and the Script Canvas. [19] [20]

History

The audio solution Audiokinetic Wwise, which is used in many popular games, was added in Beta 1.0, released in February 2016. [21]

On March 14, 2016, Lumberyard received its first update, which included support for mobile devices such as A8-powered iOS devices and Nvidia Shield, an FBX importer, and integration with Allegorithmic's texturing software Substance. [16] [22]

On August 16, 2017, the engine's source code was released under a source-available arrangement on GitHub, but remained under a proprietary license. [23] [24]

On July 6, 2021, Amazon announced it was partnering with the Linux Foundation to form the Open 3D Foundation and would be releasing a new version of Lumberyard, rebranded as Open 3D Engine (O3DE), under the Apache-2.0 open source license. [25]

A heavily modified version of Lumberyard called StarEngine is used for the development of Star Citizen . [26] [27] [28] The game was originally developed on CryEngine before switching to Lumberyard in December 2016. [29] [30] [31] According to creative director Chris Roberts, the decision to switch to Lumberyard was based on its online services such as deep back-end cloud integration on Amazon Web Services and its social component with live-streaming platform Twitch. [32] [33] [34]

Games using Amazon Lumberyard

Release dateTitleGenrePlatformDeveloperPublisher
September 8, 2022Shatterline First-person shooter Microsoft Windows Frag Lab LLCFrag Lab LLC
TBA Squadron 42 Space combat, first-person shooter Microsoft Windows Cloud Imperium Games, Foundry 42 Cloud Imperium Games
TBA Star Citizen MMO, Space trading and combat, first-person shooter Microsoft Windows Cloud Imperium Games, Foundry 42 Cloud Imperium Games
Cancelled The DRG Initiative [35] Third-person shooter TBA Slingshot Cartel TBA
September 28, 2021 [36] New World [37] MMO Microsoft Windows Amazon Games Orange County Amazon Games
January 15, 2019 The Grand Tour Game Racing PlayStation 4, Xbox One Amazon Game Studios Seattle Amazon Game Studios
October 25, 2018Coffence Fighting game Microsoft Windows Sweet Bandits StudiosSweet Bandits Studios
Cancelled [38] Crucible Third-person shooter Microsoft Windows Relentless Studios Amazon Game Studios
Cancelled Breakaway MOBA Microsoft Windows Amazon Game Studios Amazon Game Studios

See also

Related Research Articles

id Software American video game developer

id Software LLC is an American video game developer based in Richardson, Texas. It was founded on February 1, 1991, by four members of the computer company Softdisk: programmers John Carmack and John Romero, game designer Tom Hall, and artist Adrian Carmack.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crytek</span> German video game and software company

Crytek GmbH is a German video game developer and software developer based in Frankfurt. Founded by the Yerli brothers in Coburg in 1999 and moved to Frankfurt in 2006, Crytek operates additional studios in Kyiv, Ukraine and Istanbul, Turkey. Its former studios included Crytek Black Sea in Sofia, Bulgaria, Crytek UK in Nottingham, and Crytek USA in Austin, Texas. Crytek is best known for developing the first instalment of the Far Cry series, the Crysis series, and the open world nature of their games which showcase the company's CryEngine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Build (game engine)</span> First-person shooter engine

The Build Engine is a first-person shooter engine created by Ken Silverman, author of Ken's Labyrinth, for 3D Realms. Like the Doom engine, the Build Engine represents its world on a two-dimensional grid using closed 2D shapes called sectors, and uses simple flat objects called sprites to populate the world geometry with objects.

Source is a 3D game engine developed by Valve. It debuted as the successor to GoldSrc in 2004 with the releases of Half-Life: Source, Counter-Strike: Source, and Half-Life 2. It is most well-known for its usage by Valve, but the engine has been used both by small teams and individuals to create modifications of Valve games, and other studios creating distinct games, notably Troika Games' title Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines. Valve continued to create incremental updates to the Source engine after its 2004 release, most of which coincided with games created by Valve. In the late 2010s, Valve created the Source 2 engine to replace Source, with it publicly debuting alongside Half-Life: Alyx. The Source engine is most well-known for its advancements in physics, AI, and graphics.

<i>Nexuiz</i> 2005 video game

Nexuiz is a free first-person shooter video game developed and published by Alientrap. The game was released under the GNU General Public License (GPL) and uses the DarkPlaces engine, a modified Quake engine. A remake, also called Nexuiz, was released for Steam and Xbox 360 using CryEngine 3. The original game was released on May 31, 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Torque (game engine)</span> 3D computer game engine

Torque Game Engine, or TGE, is an open-source cross-platform 3D computer game engine, developed by GarageGames and actively maintained under the current versions Torque 3D as well as Torque 2D. It was originally developed by Dynamix for the 2001 first-person shooter Tribes 2. In September 2012, GarageGames released Torque 3D as open-source software under the MIT License.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CryEngine</span> Game engine by Crytek

CryEngine is a game engine designed by the German game developer Crytek. It has been used in all of their titles with the initial version being used in Far Cry, and continues to be updated to support new consoles and hardware for their games. It has also been used for many third-party games under Crytek's licensing scheme, including Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 and SNOW. Warhorse Studios uses a modified version of the engine for their medieval RPG Kingdom Come: Deliverance. Ubisoft maintains an in-house, heavily modified version of CryEngine from the original Far Cry called the Dunia Engine, which is used in their later iterations of the Far Cry series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Creative Assembly Sofia</span> Bulgarian video game developer

Creative Assembly Sofia is a Bulgarian video game developer based in Sofia. It was founded in May 2001 by Vesselin Handjiev. In July 2008, the company was acquired by Crytek, which then sold it to Creative Assembly in March 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Open-source video game</span> Video game whose source code is open-source software

An open-source video game, or simply an open-source game, is a video game whose source code is open-source. They are often freely distributable and sometimes cross-platform compatible.

Linux-based operating systems can be used for playing video games. Because many games are not natively supported for the Linux kernel, various software has been made to run Windows games, such as Wine, Cedega, and Proton, and managers such as Lutris and PlayOnLinux. The Linux gaming community has a presence on the internet with users who attempt to run games that are not officially supported on Linux.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ryan C. Gordon</span> Computer programmer

Ryan C. Gordon is a computer programmer and former Loki Software employee responsible for icculus.org, which hosts many Loki Software projects as well as others. Gordon's site hosts projects with the code from such commercial games as Duke Nukem 3D, Shadow Warrior, Quake III Arena and other free and open source projects for multiple platforms.

<i>Blue Mars</i> (video game) 2009 video game

Blue Mars, a 3D massively multiplayer virtual world platform developed by Hawaii-based Avatar Reality, allows 3rd parties to create virtual worlds, MMOG games, simulations, shops, businesses, entertainment venues, clothing, custom avatars, furniture, virtual homes, and other items. It consists of four main parts: the client software, the Sandbox Editor SDK suite, the website, and the host servers. It is often compared to Second Life, since both are virtual social worlds allowing user-created content. According to Jim Sink, CEO of Avatar Reality, "Blue Mars was inspired by a vision of the future when the power to terraform whole worlds is within our grasp. The name Blue Mars represents possibility and hope."

Warface: Clutch is a free-to-play online first-person shooter video game developed by Crytek Kiev, co-produced by Crytek Seoul, and published by My.com. The full version of the game was released on 21 October 2013 as playable in North America and Europe. The game was developed with Crytek's in-house CryEngine 3. Warface: Clutch centers around online firefights in player versus player (PvP) matches, with microtransactions allowing players to purchase weapons, equipment, and cosmetic gear. The Xbox 360 port, which was developed by Crytek UK, was discontinued in February 2015. The console version of the game was relaunched for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in 2018 and on the Nintendo Switch in 2020. Members of the game's development team split from Crytek Kiev in February 2019 to form a new development studio, Blackwood Games, who will handle future development duties for Warface: Clutch. A tactical shooter spin-off game named Warface: Breakout was released on 26 May 2020 for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

<i>Star Citizen</i> Upcoming multiplayer space game

Star Citizen is an in-development multiplayer, space trading and combat simulation game. The game is being developed and published by Cloud Imperium Games for Windows. An extended retry of unrealized plans for Freelancer, Star Citizen is led by director Chris Roberts. The game was announced via a private crowdfunding page in September 2012, followed on October 18, 2012 by a successful Kickstarter campaign which drew over US$2 million. Pre-production of the game began in 2010, with production starting in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mantle (API)</span> Low-overhead rendering API

Mantle was a low-overhead rendering API targeted at 3D video games. AMD originally developed Mantle in cooperation with DICE, starting in 2013. Mantle was designed as an alternative to Direct3D and OpenGL, primarily for use on personal computers, although Mantle supports the GPUs present in the PlayStation 4 and in the Xbox One. In 2015, Mantle's public development was suspended and in 2019 completely discontinued, as DirectX 12 and the Mantle-derived Vulkan rose in popularity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Godot (game engine)</span> Cross-platform, open-source game engine

Godot is a cross-platform, free and open-source game engine released under the permissive MIT license. It was initially developed in Buenos Aires by Argentine software developers Juan Linietsky and Ariel Manzur for several companies in Latin America prior to its public release in 2014. The development environment runs on many platforms, and can export to several more. It is designed to create both 2D and 3D games targeting PC, mobile, and web platforms and can also be used to develop non-game software, including editors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AMD TrueAudio</span> AMDs application-specific integrated circuit

TrueAudio is AMD's application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) intended to serve as dedicated co-processor for the calculations of computationally expensive advanced audio signal processing, such as convolution reverberation effects and 3D audio effects. TrueAudio is integrated into some of the AMD GPUs and APUs available since 2013.

Stride is a free and open-source 2D and 3D cross-platform game engine originally developed by Silicon Studio. It can be used to create video games for PC, mobile devices and virtual reality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amazon Games</span> American video game developer

Amazon Games is an American video game company and division of the online retailing company Amazon that primarily focuses on publishing video games developed within the company's development divisions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Open 3D Engine</span> Free and open-source 3D engine

Open 3D Engine is a free and open-source 3D game engine developed by Open 3D Foundation, a subsidiary of the Linux Foundation, and distributed under the Apache 2.0 open source license. The initial version of the engine is an updated version of Amazon Lumberyard, contributed by Amazon Games.

References

Footnotes

    Citations

    1. ↑ "Announcing Amazon Lumberyard 1.28". Amazon. May 19, 2021. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
    2. ↑ "Lumberyard Details". Amazon . Retrieved February 20, 2016. Lumberyard provides free access to its native C++ source code.
    3. ↑ "Lua Scripting - Lumberyard". Lumberyard Developer Guide. Amazon. Archived from the original on December 29, 2016. Retrieved February 20, 2016.
    4. ↑ Morrison, Angus (February 9, 2016). "Amazon launches free 'triple-A' Lumberyard engine". PC Gamer . Retrieved February 20, 2016.
    5. ↑ Makuch, Eddie (April 6, 2015). "Amazon and Crytek Agree to Licensing Deal Worth $50-$70 Million - Report". GameSpot . Retrieved February 20, 2016.
    6. ↑ Takahashi, Dean (February 12, 2016). "Inside Amazon's decision to make a video game engine". VentureBeat . Retrieved February 20, 2016.
    7. ↑ "Linux Foundation to Form New Open 3D Foundation". Linux Foundation. July 6, 2021. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
    8. 1 2 "Built for Builders: The Story of AWS and Open 3D Engine – Developer Preview". Amazon Web Services. July 6, 2021. Archived from the original on June 14, 2022. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
    9. ↑ Reese, Derek [@derekreese] (July 6, 2021). "@IkDusWel @misslivirose @godotengine Well, for starters, O3DE is not CryEngine/Lumberyard. It continues some of the best features and code from Lumberyard, but is its own full rewrite and independent engine. I'd also say O3DE and Godot seem to target different audiences - AAA, vs small studio & indie" (Tweet). Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved July 26, 2021– via Twitter.
    10. ↑ Reese, Derek [@derekreese] (July 6, 2021). "Different engine than Lumberyard, but we appreciate the mention! https://t.co/GU4n9P83tF" (Tweet). Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved July 26, 2021– via Twitter.
    11. ↑ Good, Owen S. (February 9, 2016). "Amazon rolls out Lumberyard, an entirely free game development engine". Polygon . Retrieved February 20, 2016.
    12. ↑ Good, Owen (February 9, 2016). "Amazon rolls out Lumberyard, an entirely free game development engine". Polygon . Retrieved February 23, 2017.
    13. 1 2 "Amazon Lumberyard FAQ". Amazon Web Services, Inc. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
    14. 1 2 Nutt, Christian (February 9, 2016). "Amazon launches new, free, high-quality game engine: Lumberyard". Gamasutra . Retrieved February 20, 2016.
    15. ↑ Neltz, András (February 9, 2016). "Amazon Releases Its Own Game Engine For Free". Kotaku . Retrieved February 20, 2016.
    16. 1 2 Connors, J.C. (March 14, 2016). "Now Available – Lumberyard Beta 1.1". Amazon GameDev Blog. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
    17. ↑ Chen, Hao (June 28, 2016). "VR, HDR, and more in Lumberyard Beta 1.3 – Available Now". Amazon GameDev Blog. Retrieved December 21, 2016.
    18. ↑ Feltham, Jamie (June 6, 2016). "Amazon Lumberyard's 1.3 Update is All About VR". UploadVR. Retrieved December 21, 2016.
    19. ↑ "Lumberyard Release Notes – Beta 1.12 (December 2017) - Lumberyard Release Notes". Archived from the original on December 19, 2017. Retrieved February 17, 2018.
    20. ↑ "Amazon Lumberyard: Features".
    21. ↑ "Lumberyard Release Notes – Beta 1.0 (February 2016) - Lumberyard Release Notes". Archived from the original on November 20, 2017. Retrieved February 17, 2018.
    22. ↑ Jarvis, Matthew (March 16, 2016). "First Amazon Lumberyard update brings mobile support, Substance integration". Develop . NewBay Media. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
    23. ↑ Lumberyard & Amazon GameLift: Now Available – Lumberyard on GitHub by Todd Gilbertsen on 15 August 2017
    24. ↑ license on github.com/aws/Lumberyard
    25. ↑ "Built for Builders: The Story of AWS and Open 3D Engine – Developer Preview". Amazon Web Services. July 6, 2021. Archived from the original on June 14, 2022. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
    26. ↑ "Cloud Imperium shows an impressive StarEngine Tech Demo". DSOGaming. October 22, 2023.
    27. ↑ "Star Citizen's new StarEngine tech demo is one of the most impressive we've ever seen". TweakTown. October 24, 2023.
    28. ↑ "The tech underpinning Star Citizen looks mighty impressive in new trailer". Rock Paper Shotgun. November 25, 2023.
    29. ↑ "More than four years into development Star Citizen changes game engine". Polygon. December 23, 2016.
    30. ↑ "Star Citizen and Squadron 42 are using Amazon's Lumberyard game engine". VentureBeat. December 23, 2016.
    31. ↑ "Star Citizen dev drops CryEngine in favor of Lumberyard". Game Developer. December 27, 2016.
    32. ↑ "'Star Citizen' switches to Amazon's game engine". Engadget. December 25, 2016.
    33. ↑ "Star Citizen Switches Game Engines". GameSpot. December 26, 2016.
    34. ↑ "'Star Citizen' Devs Switch To Lumberyard Game Engine, Add 'Star Marine' First-Person Shooter Module". Tom's Hardware. December 28, 2016.
    35. ↑ McKeand, Kirk (February 23, 2017). "The DRG Initiative is a third-person team shooter where Twitch can influence battles". PCGamesN . Retrieved February 23, 2017.
    36. ↑ "Release Date Update". newworld.com. July 10, 2020. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
    37. ↑ "Let the games begin". amazon.com. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
    38. ↑ "Final Crucible Developer Update". Crucible. October 9, 2020. Archived from the original on October 10, 2020. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
    This page is based on this Wikipedia article
    Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
    Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.