Amazon Lumberyard: Introduction, Installation, First Hours_part 1

What You'll Be Creating

Introduction

Lumberyard is the latest 3D game engine to hit the market. It is a free, multi-deploy platform engine that offers deep integration with both the Amazon Web Services (AWS) infrastructure and Twitch to improve general online gameplay.

The Lumberyard engine technology is based on CryEngine. Amazon licensed one version of CryEngine and got complete access to its technology. That does not mean that CryEngine will leave the market, since Lumberyard only represents a branch of CryEngine technology. Both will be present and will struggle for market share.

Lumberyard is a powerful and full-feature AAA game engine that enables you to create games for the latest console generation (Xbox One and PlayStation 4). Mobile support is also a goal (the engine already has rendering options for iOS and Android).

Lumberyard's wide range of features include the following:

• State-of-the-art rendering techniques such as: physically based rendering, dynamic global illumination, real-time dynamic water caustics, HDR lens flares, motion blur, depth of field, among many others.
• Real-time gameplay editor that enables you to iterate on gameplay elements and immediately see the results.
• Robust Networking through the use of a flexible networking subsystem called GridMate. GridMate integrates with major online networking services and lets you handle peer to peer client server typologies with host migration.
• Modular Gems offers you a library of several pre-built features (camera, controls, and environment, among others) that can be used to start new projects quickly. Gems give you increased control over which technologies you want to include in your project.
• C++ development, and completely free access to its native C++ source code. The engine (and its full source code) is completely free to download and use. However, Amazon expects to generate money through the use of its AWS cloud computing service.

Note that Lumberyard is still in beta version.

Who Should Read This Tutorial Series?

This tutorial series is primarily aimed at two groups of game developers:

1. those who are completely unfamiliar with game engines at all
2. those who are familiar with other game engines (such as Unity, Unreal Engine, or Cry Engine), but not with Lumberyard

I assume that you have some knowledge of computer graphics notations, so I won't exhaustively cover all notations.

Prerequisites

In order to install and have a smooth experience while using Lumberyard, your computer must achieve certain minimum requisites:

1. Windows 7 or higher (64 bit versions only)
2. Intel Quad-Core (i 2300), AMD Octo-Core (FX810), or better
3. 8GB of RAM (at least)
4. NVIDIA GeForce 6600Ti. Radeon HD790, or better
5. 40 GB of disk space
6. Visual Studio 2013 (Community, Pro, or Ultimate) with update version 4

Note that if you are at the threshold of the minimum requirements, you may have an inferior quality of experience. In that case, remember that you can lower the overall graphics quality at: File > Global Preferences > Configure.

Installation

The first step in this tutorial is to download Lumberyard. The current version (v1.1) is about 5.3GB file size. While the download is progressing, you should register with Amazon.com (if you don't already have an account).

To install Lumberyard, you can download a complete bundled file (.zip) or use an installer (.exe). The end result is the same, though; this tutorial uses the bundled version.

Step 1: Extraction

After the download is complete, extract it to a path that does not have spaces in the name. For example, do not extract the files to C:\Program Files\Lumberyard because the path has a space in it. An example of an acceptable location is C:\Lumberyard.

You now have Lumberyard installed on your computer, but before you can run it, you need to configure your environment and eventually install additional software.

Step 2: Configuration

The next step is to configure the environment to ensure that you have the necessary software to run the engine. For that purpose, you will use the Lumberyard Launcher (LumberyardLauncher.exe), which can be found inside the folder where you previously installed Lumberyard. Run the LumberyardLauncher.exe file and a similar interface should appear:

The Launcher will assist you in ensuring that you always have the necessary software for the execution of tasks. It shows you where the default installation path is located and what actions can be performed based on the software that is currently installed.

Your next step is to select three options:

• Run your game project
• Run the Lumberyard Editor and Tools
• Compile the game code

Note that as soon as you select one of the aforementioned options, the left part of the Launcher is modified and several menus appear (Install software, Install SDKs, Install Plugins). A green check mark means that everything is OK, while a red cross means that something is wrong (some software is missing).

If you see at least one red cross, you should investigate what is happening. Click Next (bottom right corner) or click on the Install software option. A list of available and missing software is presented.

You need to install all the Missing software. Go ahead and click Install it for every single software that is missing. When you have a green check mark at Install software, click Next.

The Install Plugins interface, as the name suggests, "allows you to use certain features and functionality between third party software and Lumberyard". At this point you don't need to add any additional plugins, but make a mental note of them. They are primarily useful when you want to import assets from Photoshop, Autodesk Max, or Autodesk Maya. Click Next.

Step 3: Lumberyard Launcher

The Summary interface shows an activity log (based on previously actions) and three major options:

• Configure project
• Launch Lumberyard editor
• A list of optional software you may want to install

This interface is from now on called Lumberyard Launcher (or simply Launcher). Click on Configure project.

The Project configurator displays several projects with specific configurations, packages, and assets. Here you can create your projects and select the specific assets or configurations that the project will be using.

Initially you will only have two available projects (MultiplayerProject and SamplesProject). As the names suggest, the former is a multiplayer project, while the second is a more generic project (initially you will be using it).

Furthermore, if you notice, the SamplesProject is highlighted with a white check mark. It means that this project is the default project loaded by Lumberyard. Click on Enable packages.

Here you access the available Gems of Lumberyard. A Gem is a collection of assets, resources, and others to extend or modify functionality in Lumberyard applications. Several Gems are available, as you can see.

Close this window and return to Lumberyard Launcher.

Recall that you can always access the Launcher using the LumberyardLauncher.exe executable available in the folder dev\Bin64 under your Lumberyard installation path. It is now time to click on Launch Lumberyard editor.

Step 4: Lumberyard Editor

A new interface (Asset Processor) should appear. The Asset Processor is responsible for loading Lumberyard default project assets (the one highlighted in the Project Configurator). The estimated time is about 10+ minutes.

Soon the Lumberyard Editor should load.

Wait for the Asset Processor to finish its work. Later, I’ll present a scenario where you load a project that does not have all the resources available.

Recall that, similar to Launcher, you can always access the Editor using the Editor.exe executable available in the folder dev\Bin64 under your Lumberyard installation path.
Written by Orlando Pereira

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