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You're reading from  Learning AWS Lumberyard Game Development

Product typeBook
Published inOct 2016
Reading LevelIntermediate
PublisherPackt
ISBN-139781786460868
Edition1st Edition
Languages
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Author (1)
Dr. Edward Lavieri
Dr. Edward Lavieri
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Dr. Edward Lavieri

Dr. Edward Lavieri is a veteran software engineer and developer with a strong academic background. He earned a Doctorate of Computer Science from Colorado Technical University, an MS in Management Information Systems (Bowie State University), an MS in Education (Capella University), and an MS in Operations Management (University of Arkansas). He has been creating and teaching computer science courses since 2002. Edward retired from the U.S. Navy as a Command Master Chief after 25 years of active service. He is the founder and creative director of three19, a software design and development studio. Edward has authored more than a dozen technology books, including several on Java.
Read more about Dr. Edward Lavieri

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What is Lumberyard?


Lumberyard is a free 3D game engine that has, in addition to typical 3D game engine capabilities, an impressive set of unique qualities. Most impressively, Lumberyard integrates with Amazon Web Services (AWS) for cloud computing and storage. You will learn about AWS in Chapter 9, Employing Cloud Computing and Storage. Lumberyard, also referred to as Amazon Lumberyard, integrates with Twitch to facilitate in-game engagement with fans. We'll cover Twitch in Chapter 10, Engaging With Users Using Twitch.

Another component that makes Lumberyard unique among other game engines is the tremendous support for multiplayer games. As you'll see in Chapter 7, Creating Multiplayer Gameplay, the use of Amazon GameLift empowers developers to instantiate multiplayer game sessions with relative ease.

Lumberyard is presented as a game engine intended for creating cross-platform AAA games. There are two important components of that statement. First, cross-platform refers to, in the case of Lumberyard, the ability to develop games for PC/Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. At the time of this book's publication, additional support for Mac OS, iOS, and Android devices was being worked on. There is no doubt that these additional platforms will be supported soon. The second component of the earlier statement is AAA games. A triple-A (AAA) game is like a top-grossing movie, one that had a tremendous budget, was extensively advertised, and wildly successful. If you can think of a console game (for Xbox One and/or PlayStation 4) that is advertised on national television, it is a sign the title is a AAA game.

Note

Now that this AAA game engine is available for free, it is likely that more than just AAA games will be developed using Lumberyard. This is an exciting time to be a game developer.

More specifically, Amazon hopes that Lumberyard will be used to develop multiplayer online games that use AWS for cloud computing and storage, and that integrate with Twitch for user engagement. The engine is free, but AWS usage is not. Specifics on this issue will be covered Chapter 9, Employing Cloud Computing and Storage. Don't worry, you can create single-player games with Lumberyard as well.

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Published in: Oct 2016Publisher: PacktISBN-13: 9781786460868
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Author (1)

author image
Dr. Edward Lavieri

Dr. Edward Lavieri is a veteran software engineer and developer with a strong academic background. He earned a Doctorate of Computer Science from Colorado Technical University, an MS in Management Information Systems (Bowie State University), an MS in Education (Capella University), and an MS in Operations Management (University of Arkansas). He has been creating and teaching computer science courses since 2002. Edward retired from the U.S. Navy as a Command Master Chief after 25 years of active service. He is the founder and creative director of three19, a software design and development studio. Edward has authored more than a dozen technology books, including several on Java.
Read more about Dr. Edward Lavieri