Lumberyard and StarEngine are both forks from exactly the SAME build of CryEngine.
We stopped taking new builds from Crytek towards the end of 2015. So did Amazon. Because of this the core of the engine that we use is the same one that Amazon use and the switch was painless (I think it took us a day or so of two engineers on the engine team). What runs Star Citizen and Squadron 42 is our heavily modified version of the engine which we have dubbed StarEngine, just now our foundation is Lumberyard not CryEngine. None of our work was thrown away or modified. We switched the like for like parts of the engine from CryEngine to Lumberyard. All of our bespoke work from 64 bit precision, new rendering and planet tech, Item / Entity 2.0, Local Physics Grids, Zone System, Object Containers and so on were unaffected and remain unique to Star Citizen.
Going forward we will utilize the features of Lumberyard that make sense for Star Citizen. We made this choice as Amazon's and our focus is aligned in building massively online games that utilize the power of cloud computing to deliver a richer online experience than would be possible with an old fashioned single server architecture (which is what CryNetwork is).
Looking at Crytek's roadmap and Amazon's we determined that Amazon was investing in the areas we were most interested in. They are a massive company that is making serious investments into Lumberyard and AWS to support next generation online gaming. Crytek doesn't have the resources to compete with this level of investment and have never been focused on the network or online aspects of the engine in the way we or Amazon are. Because of this combined with the fact we weren't taking new builds of CryEngine we decided that Amazon would be the best partner going forward for the future of Star Citizen.
Finally there was no ulterior motive in the timing of the announcement. The deal wasn't fully finalized until after the release of 2.5 and we agreed with Amazon to announce the switch and partnership upon the release of 2.6, which would be the first release on Lumberyard and AWS. If you have been checking out our schedule updates you would know that we originally had hoped to release 2.6 at the beginning of December, not Friday the 23rd!
I hope this clears up some of the speculation I have seen. We are very excited to be partnered with Amazon and feel this move is a big win for Star Citizen and by extension everyone that has backed the project.
p.s. I wont be replying to this as it is Christmas and I am meant to be enjoying a bit of time off with my family (and playing some games - you may see me pop into a Star Marine or AC match or two!)
p.p.s Happy Holidays All!
RedEye9 wrote on Dec 26, 2016, 11:50:Try not to be too hard on Luke. If I had to guess I would say that English is his second or third language. Many people here have commented on how his comments don't make sense and I tend to agree. I think he's trying as best he can. He seems to hate Microsoft, Facebook, and Chris Roberts. Other than that I have understood probably the last 10 comments that he has made and maybe a few more. If you insult him directly or indirectly you're just kicking a person that has already been insulted on here many times before and it makes you look like an asshole. Not insulting you and not in love with Luke personally, just saying.Luke wrote on Dec 26, 2016, 11:42:Brain cells were literally sucked out of my head.
snip![]()
Luke wrote on Dec 26, 2016, 11:42:Brain cells were literally sucked out of my head.
snip
thecakeisalie wrote on Dec 26, 2016, 01:59:Eirikrautha wrote on Dec 25, 2016, 21:04:RedEye9 wrote on Dec 25, 2016, 15:59:
favorite comment from phobos512Here's the thing. Back in the day we'd have heard about this game as a sentence in a magazine article/interview ("working on something really neat," etc.). There would've been rumors for months to years and eventually a full page ad buy and then an article. And then it would've come out. Instead we follow the entire process every step of the way and we are enabled to know and criticize everything. It's a complete paradigm shift and it's hard because people are so damned impatient.
One other minor difference: you wouldn't have paid a cent before it came out either.
The publishers who funded the game would have been all up in CR's grill, with timed milestones, preview builds, constant updates, etc. But, CR already has your money, and he could declare tomorrow that the game was done as it is and you couldn't do a thing about it. There are fewer checks on CR now than there ever have been. Some people celebrate that. Some are terrified by it.
I think people are more justified being terrified, especially if they are in for thousands. I'm only in for a basic package and I feel like I've been ripped off. CR has missed every deadline he, himself, has set. Every. Single. One. He's made a lot of dodgy and questionable decisions and refuses to provide a proper accounting of how he's spent our money. Yes, our money. Reports from employees leaving his company are not promising. The self-proclaimed Internet Warlord, Derek Smart, is looking more and more like he called it right when he said that CR was too incompetent to manage a project of the bloated scope that he allowed SC to become.
Yep, Star Citizen is behind schedule.
Yep, Star Citizen is producing a huge game.
Yep, Star Citizen still maintains a very open development process.
Yep, people for some odd reason think a failed video game developer, that is well known to lie, cheat and outright steal, is a source of accurate information. But for some reason, some people like to hang on the words of a failed video game developer that thinks he has inside sources (one of the big ones he loves to quote has about a 20% success rate for his insider information and we will just leave it at that.)
The move "to" Lumberjack is already done. 2.6 is out. Which uses lumberjack. Are people saying they should have stuck with base CryTek stuff, because you know the company Crytek probably won't be around much longer?
RedEye9 wrote on Dec 26, 2016, 08:20:My powers of observation often scare MYSELF. Please observe 2 post above for Mr. Harlock's responceSlimRam wrote on Dec 26, 2016, 01:58:GTFO, you might just have nailed it.
Hmmmm...after that post I think it's finally time to say it...
Welcome back harlock/rudra it's been awhile!![]()
Slick, how do you feel about that.![]()
SlimRam wrote on Dec 26, 2016, 01:58:GTFO, you might just have nailed it.
Hmmmm...after that post I think it's finally time to say it...
Welcome back harlock/rudra it's been awhile!![]()
SlimRam wrote on Dec 26, 2016, 01:58:
Welcome back
Eirikrautha wrote on Dec 25, 2016, 21:04:RedEye9 wrote on Dec 25, 2016, 15:59:
favorite comment from phobos512Here's the thing. Back in the day we'd have heard about this game as a sentence in a magazine article/interview ("working on something really neat," etc.). There would've been rumors for months to years and eventually a full page ad buy and then an article. And then it would've come out. Instead we follow the entire process every step of the way and we are enabled to know and criticize everything. It's a complete paradigm shift and it's hard because people are so damned impatient.
One other minor difference: you wouldn't have paid a cent before it came out either.
The publishers who funded the game would have been all up in CR's grill, with timed milestones, preview builds, constant updates, etc. But, CR already has your money, and he could declare tomorrow that the game was done as it is and you couldn't do a thing about it. There are fewer checks on CR now than there ever have been. Some people celebrate that. Some are terrified by it.
Agent-Zero wrote on Dec 26, 2016, 01:05:Hmmmm...after that post I think it's finally time to say it...Korrd wrote on Dec 26, 2016, 00:43:Slick wrote on Dec 25, 2016, 20:59:Agent-Zero wrote on Dec 25, 2016, 20:57:Korrd wrote on Dec 25, 2016, 20:45:
Depends on the project, but as noted in the text this isn't really an engine switch.
ok... what is it then, "really"?
jesus christ
Quite, but to answer the question in earnest (because apparently it's challenging to read the content before commenting?): it is switching to another branch of Cryengine. It's pretty much like when a new version of the engine you're using is released and you update to that, except in this case it's from a different provider.
so you would call it a version switch... I already assumed it was not the same thing as switching to Unreal or something with a different code base... but its interesting to see how people choose to define words according to their particular perspectives - considering the title of the post is "engine switch"
yeh i dont click on weblinks posted by dumbfucks so i have no idea what the rest is about, but you dont have to bother with that either because i could care less
Korrd wrote on Dec 26, 2016, 00:43:Slick wrote on Dec 25, 2016, 20:59:Agent-Zero wrote on Dec 25, 2016, 20:57:Korrd wrote on Dec 25, 2016, 20:45:
Depends on the project, but as noted in the text this isn't really an engine switch.
ok... what is it then, "really"?
jesus christ
Quite, but to answer the question in earnest (because apparently it's challenging to read the content before commenting?): it is switching to another branch of Cryengine. It's pretty much like when a new version of the engine you're using is released and you update to that, except in this case it's from a different provider.
Slick wrote on Dec 25, 2016, 20:59:Agent-Zero wrote on Dec 25, 2016, 20:57:Korrd wrote on Dec 25, 2016, 20:45:
Depends on the project, but as noted in the text this isn't really an engine switch.
ok... what is it then, "really"?
jesus christ
RedEye9 wrote on Dec 25, 2016, 19:19:Hundreds? Oh no. Try THOUSANDS. They have multiple options on their site for thousand+ things. They wouldn't have those if they didn't sell.
The game could be accused of having a cult-like following . Some have even gone so far as to spend hundreds of dollars.
RedEye9 wrote on Dec 25, 2016, 15:59:
favorite comment from phobos512Here's the thing. Back in the day we'd have heard about this game as a sentence in a magazine article/interview ("working on something really neat," etc.). There would've been rumors for months to years and eventually a full page ad buy and then an article. And then it would've come out. Instead we follow the entire process every step of the way and we are enabled to know and criticize everything. It's a complete paradigm shift and it's hard because people are so damned impatient.
Agent-Zero wrote on Dec 25, 2016, 20:57:Korrd wrote on Dec 25, 2016, 20:45:Ludomancer wrote on Dec 25, 2016, 20:37:
Isn't the "Engine-Switch" the death-knell for any game project?
Depends on the project, but as noted in the text this isn't really an engine switch.
ok... what is it then, "really"?
Korrd wrote on Dec 25, 2016, 20:45:Ludomancer wrote on Dec 25, 2016, 20:37:
Isn't the "Engine-Switch" the death-knell for any game project?
Depends on the project, but as noted in the text this isn't really an engine switch.