Amazon might soon be caught in the crossfire between Crytek and Cloud Imperium Games over alleged unlawful usage of Crytek's intellectual property - and CryEngine - in the making of Kickstarter stars Squadron 42 and Star Citizen. However, that isn't stopping the company from further updating and increase ease of use of its game engine, which it licenses for free to would-be game developers - nor should it.

Software solutions such as SpeedTree 8, EMotionFX, and ScriptCanvas look to make sure that developers have access to a multitude of tools that allows them to populate their worlds with believable environments, characters, and scripting events, with the least amount of work and repetition possible. Cloud Gems is Amazon's Lumberyard cloud-connected features, which allows developers to build cloud-connected systems in their games, such as voice recognition, or even procedural voice generation for thousands of NPCs in an MMO - through the power of the Cloud. Starter Game is a way for would-be users of Lumberyard to acquaint themselves with the engines' capabilities, offering 500+ free assets and systems for those training wheels-required sessions. Read up on some of the new Lumberyard Beta 1.12 capabilities after the break, and feel free to follow the source links to download the engine - and maybe tinker with it.Cloud Gems
The Cloud Gem Framework makes it easy to build great gameplay and engage your players in as little as few hours, using AWS. Add text to speech, in-game surveys, and speech recognition capabilities in your games. Unlock new possibilities for game development and different experiences previously unavailable. We all know the value of leaderboards in multiplayer games, but what about leveraging procedural voice generation for thousands of NPCs in an MMO? Or adding new accessibility options for your games by leveraging voice recognition? By requiring fewer engineers to build backend solutions, gems can not only save you money, but they can also change how games are made.SpeedTree 8
SpeedTree 8 is free for all Lumberyard developers. Seamlessly integrated with the engine's advanced rendering and lighting technology, the SpeedTree editor makes it easier and faster to create detailed vegetation in your games. You can also buy pre-made trees and other assets from SpeedTree to get going faster. Just visit the SpeedTree store and follow the steps to activate your free perpetual license. There's also in-depth documentation and a quick start tutorial to help you get started.EmotionFX
We swapped out CryAnimation for EmotionFX in 1.11, and we're continuing to add improvements and functionality with subsequent releases. Now you can create character animations in as little as 10 minutes with little to no engineering chops, including functionality like blendtrees, state machines, blendspaces, and motion extraction. EMotion FX has been used by the likes of EA and Ubisoft for over a decade, and now it's a permanent part of Lumberyard, providing a powerful and easy solution for artists.Script Canvas
Script Canvas provides an approachable solution for authoring behaviors while utilizing the same framework as Lua and C++. That means you can take those cool characters you animated using EMotion FX and quickly create scripted behaviors using Script Canvas-all without the need for engineers. With its familiar node interface, Script Canvas will make it easier to build quality gameplay experiences, even if you have limited programming experience.Starter Game
The Starter Game sample showcases a number of engine features for Amazon Lumberyard. It's not just a quick path to get started with the engine; it's also a great example of what you can build today using Lumberyard. Since launching in May, we've added gameplay features like over-the-shoulder aim, double jump, a more responsive AI, mission progression with cascading slices, and much more. There are over 500 free assets here for you to use, learn from, and kick start a game of your own. Starter Game comes pre-installed with Lumberyard 1.12.