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Amazon dropped a bit of a big one recently, they announced Lumberyard which will be a mix of code from CryEngine, Double Helix and you can get source code access with it too.

In the FAQ we are given a mention:
QuoteQ. What device platforms does Lumberyard support?
Lumberyard currently supports PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4. Mobile support for iOS and Android devices is coming soon, along with additional support for Mac and Linux. Note that Sony and Microsoft only permit developers who have passed their screening process to develop games for their platforms.


So, what is it?
QuoteAmazon Lumberyard is a free AAA game engine deeply integrated with AWS and Twitch – with full source code provided. Whether you are a major studio, an indie developer, a student, or a hobbyist, Lumberyard provides a growing set of tools to create the highest-quality games, connect your games to the vast compute and storage of the AWS Cloud, and engage fans on Twitch.


It's another way to hook people into using Amazon AWS services (you're not allowed to use other cloud services for it), even though the game engine can produce completely stand-alone games. It's a good idea, and I hope it works out well.

It's completely free to download and use too, which is quite nice of Amazon to do.

Read the full announcement here. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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14 comments Subscribe

Teodosio 10 Feb 2016
Is it free as in 'free beer' or as in 'free speech'?
DrMcCoy 10 Feb 2016
OK, according to their FAQ, it is indeed Windows only

At the moment. From what I hear, Linux and Mac OS X support will come later.

Is it free as in 'free beer' or as in 'free speech'?

Beer, and not even that completely.

Have a look at their FAQ:

Q. Can I take Lumberyard and make my own game engine and distribute it?
No. While you may maintain an internal version of Lumberyard that you have modified, you may not distribute that modified version in source code form, or as a freestanding game engine to third parties. You also may not use Lumberyard to distribute your own game engine, to make improvements to another game engine, or otherwise compete with Lumberyard or Amazon GameLift.

Q. Is Lumberyard “open source”?
No. We make the source code available to enable you to fully customize your game, but your rights are limited by the Lumberyard Service Terms. For example, you may not publicly release the Lumberyard engine source code, or use it to release your own game engine.

[...]

Q. Can my game use an alternate web service instead of AWS?
No. If your game servers use a non-AWS alternate web service, we obviously don’t make any money, and it’s more difficult for us to support future development of Lumberyard. By “alternate web service” we mean any non-AWS web service that is similar to or can act as a replacement for Amazon EC2, Amazon Lambda, Amazon DynamoDB, Amazon RDS, Amazon S3, Amazon EBS, Amazon EC2 Container Service, or Amazon GameLift. You can use hardware you own and operate for your game servers.

So you can't distribute derivates, and you have to use AWS (unless you use no web service at all). You still have to pay for AWS if you use it, too.
DrMcCoy 10 Feb 2016
As a target for the exporter, yes, but were did you see that the tools themselves would work on Linux (or Mac)?

Hmm, okay, I might have read more into it than I should have. Yeah, they don't mention development tools on anything else than Windows.
linux_gamer 10 Feb 2016
What about the tools themselves? Windows only?
As the source is visible for free, you are able and allowed to write your own, and you are most probably allowed to share it.

Is it free as in 'free beer' or as in 'free speech'?
Your living in Germany or North Korea?
adolson 10 Feb 2016
I'll stick with Godot. I am not a fan of companies dictating what I can and cannot do with something I choose to create.
DasCapschen 10 Feb 2016
Meh, I don't like companies branching out into everything.
Amazon should've stuck with selling books online.

Even if they created the best, most awesome game engine in the world I'd refuse to use it, for the sake of not feeding a Konzern more money.
N30N 10 Feb 2016
you're not allowed to use other cloud services for it
But if you own and operate your own private servers, you do not need to use AWS.


Last edited by N30N on 10 Feb 2016 at 4:51 pm UTC
DrMcCoy 10 Feb 2016
you're not allowed to use other cloud services for it
Source?
If you had read a bit further in that FAQ, or the comments here...

Have a look at their FAQ:

[...]

Q. Can my game use an alternate web service instead of AWS?
No. If your game servers use a non-AWS alternate web service, we obviously don’t make any money, and it’s more difficult for us to support future development of Lumberyard. By “alternate web service” we mean any non-AWS web service that is similar to or can act as a replacement for Amazon EC2, Amazon Lambda, Amazon DynamoDB, Amazon RDS, Amazon S3, Amazon EBS, Amazon EC2 Container Service, or Amazon GameLift. You can use hardware you own and operate for your game servers.

I.e. you are allowed to use no cloud service at all, yes. But if you do use cloud services, it has to be AWS (which you have to pay Amazon for to use).
Mountain Man 10 Feb 2016
"It's completely free to download and use too, which is quite nice of Amazon to do."

They're not doing it to be nice, they're doing it to be competitive. Remember, every other major game engine is also available for free, so it would be business suicide if Amazon tried to charge for theirs.
Kristian 10 Feb 2016
CryEngine has a subscription fee, Lumberyard doesn't(even though it basically IS CryEngine). Unreal Engine 4 has royalty fees, Lumberyard doesn't. The Pro version of Unity has per seat fees, Lumberyard doesn't.

So it is not true that it has to be free to be competitive.
N30N 10 Feb 2016
If you had read a bit further in that FAQ, or the comments here...
I did but unfortunately edited my post at the same time you were posting.

I.e. you are allowed to use no cloud service at all, yes. But if you do use cloud services, it has to be AWS (which you have to pay Amazon for to use).
In case you missed it, you are allowed to host your own servers/cloud (they just don't want you using competing services).
Xodetaetl 11 Feb 2016
It's another way to hook people into using Amazon AWS services (you're not allowed to use other cloud services for it) [...] It's a good idea, and I hope it works out well.
Forcing people to use some product for purely commercial reasons is a good idea??
tuubi 11 Feb 2016
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It's another way to hook people into using Amazon AWS services (you're not allowed to use other cloud services for it) [...] It's a good idea, and I hope it works out well.
Forcing people to use some product for purely commercial reasons is a good idea??
Calm down. They're not forcing you to do anything, but in practice using the engine does cost you money if you want to include support for some sort of cloud services. Amazon never said the engine was libre software, and of course it wouldn't even exist if they didn't see any commercial potential in it. You'll just have to come to terms with the fact that corporations want to make money.
Xodetaetl 11 Feb 2016
[quote=tuubi]
Calm down. They're not forcing you to do anything, but in practice using the engine does cost you money if you want to include support for some sort of cloud services. Amazon never said the engine was libre software, and of course it wouldn't even exist if they didn't see any commercial potential in it. You'll just have to come to terms with the fact that corporations want to make money.
I'm reacting to TheBoss saying that a constraining commercial practice is a good idea, details of the commercial practice are off the subject.
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