Install the AWS GameKit plugin with Unreal Engine

Summary

Download and install AWS GameKit for use with your Unreal Engine game project. This topic gives game developers step-by-step instructions for setting up the AWS GameKit plugin in the Unreal Editor.

Plugin requirements

To use the AWS GameKit plugin as provided:

• Unreal Engine version compatible with the plugin version (see AWS GameKit version information).

• A C++ Unreal game project. Blueprint-only projects, which have no source code, aren't compatible with the plugin.

The AWS GameKit plugin source code is available for customization. To modify the code and generate a custom plugin, you need a code editor to work with C++ game projects. For example, for Visual Studio you need these tools:

• Visual Studio 2019 with the following tools installed:

  • On the Workloads tab:

    • Desktop Development with C++

    • Game Development with C++, with these options:

      • C++ profiling tools

      • C++ AddressSanitizer (optional)

      • Windows 10 SDK (10.0.18362 or newer)

      • Unreal Engine installer

  • On the Individual components tab: .NET Framework 4.8 SDK

What's in the AWS GameKit download

The download includes the following:

• Plugin binaries for Unreal Engine.

• AWS GameKit C++ libraries with functionality for each game feature.

• Blueprint code and UI samples for each game feature.

• C++ example code with API calls for each game feature.

• Automated scripts for setting up AWS users with permissions for AWS GameKit and security credentials.

• Default configuration files, which AWS GameKit uses to create your game backend.

Install the plugin

Download the AWS GameKit package and install the plugin for a C++ Unreal game project.

To install the plugin:

1. Get AWS GameKit for your game engine. Download the .zip file from the AWS GameKit for Unreal Engine GitHub repo: aws/aws-gamekit-unreal.

2. Unpack the .zip file.

   1. Find the directory path for the C++ Unreal game project that you want to use AWS GameKit with. Open the directory folder Plugins/Marketplace. For example: ... > Unreal Projects > MagicChickenGame >Plugins > Marketplace. If this folder doesn't exist, create it.

   2. Extract the AWS GameKit plugin zip file contents and place the files into the game project folder. The extracted files are organized in a folder called AwsGameKit, with the AWS GameKit plugin descriptor file, AwsGameKit.uplugin, at the root. Unreal Engine recognizes this file as a plugin.

      Note

      To install the plugin for use with any Unreal project, place the files in the directory path for your Unreal Engine installation, in the folder Plugins/Marketplace. Don't try to install the plugin in both locations, as this results in errors.

3. Rebuild the project with AWS GameKit.

   1. Go to the game project's root folder and look for a solution (*.sln) file. If none exists, find the .uproject file and generate project files.

   2. Open the solution file and build or rebuild the project.

4. Enable the plugin for the game project.

   1. Open the game project in the Unreal Editor. In the main menu, open Edit, Plugins and search for the AWS GameKit plugin.

   2. Select the Enabled box to turn on the plugin for the game project. This action generates a prompt to restart the Editor. If you get an Editor prompt "Project is out of date. Would you like to update it?" choose Update.

   3. Restart the Editor with the game project. If you get an error message that prompts you to build or rebuild your project, repeat step 3.

5. Verify that the plugin is installed. Look in the Content Browser for the AWS GameKit content. If you don't see the content, make sure that your View Options setting has the Show Plugin Contentoption selected.

6. Update your project's .Build.cs file.

   1. Locate the [project name].Build.cs file and open it in your IDE. For example: ...Unreal Projects\MagicChickenGame\MagicChickenGame.Build.cs.

   2. Add the following strings to PublicDependencyModuleNames: "AwsGameKitCore" and "AwsGameKitRuntime".

      For example:

      PublicDependencyModuleNames.AddRange(new string[] { "Core", "CoreUObject", "Engine", "InputCore", "AwsGameKitCore", "AwsGameKitRuntime" });
      PrivateDependencyModuleNames.AddRange(new string[] { "AwsGameKitCore", "AwsGameKitRuntime" });