Setup a cloud gaming Windows Virtual Machine on AWS using Terraform

TL'DR

We are launching a few commands on MacOS Terminal to install Terraform, link it to our AWS account, spin up a Windows Virtual Machine at very high specs on demand on AWS, auto-install Steam/Epic Launcher, and use it for playing AAA games. This works on any client, great if you have an old MacBook and you want to play triple-A games on it.

Quick start

Note: This project deploys resources into your AWS account. You WILL BE charged money for running this. Gaming instance like the g4dn.xlarge are billed at around £0.4/hour (Prices here). If you use it a couple of hours every day it's only £10~20/month. If you leave it running 24/7 it will cost you up to £300/month if left running 24/7 D: Follow my instructions to terminate the machine when not in use.

1. Install Terraform. You can also use https://brew.sh/ to install Brew, and then launch brew install terraform
2. If you don't have an AWS account, quickly sign up for one. Obtain your access and secret key as per this guide.
3. Set your AWS credentials as the environment variables AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID and AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY: Open Terminal and launch export AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID="replaceYourAccessKeyHere" export AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY="replaceYourSecretKeyHere"
4. Create a working folder with this repo inside: git clone https://github.com/mattiaborsoi/gaming-on-aws-with-terraform
5. Jump in the working folder with cd gaming-on-aws-with-terraform
6. Run terraform init.
   1. this will initialize Terraform.
7. Run terraform apply.
   1. this will check the code, preview the changes about to happen and ask you to "enter value" yes to confirm.
   2. It'll take a couple of minutes to deploy and start Windows.
   3. Leave Terminal open, you will need it later.
8. Let's connect to the Windows VM via Remote Desktop:
   1. Head to AWS Console, select the Instance and click Connect on the top. This lets you download the Remote Desktop profile to use with Microsoft Remote Desktop App
   2. As you login into Windows and the setup is finalised, open Parsec in both Windows and your Mac. Use that to control Windows. Parsec offers better remote control with lower latency, wich is 100x better than using Remote Desktop.
9. Close RDP and use Parsec to setup and launch any game.

Don't forget!

Once you are done playing for the day, remember to run the below command to clean up and delete all resources we previously created. In Terminal. run terraform destroy The destroy command will terminate and delete all AWS configurations, so you won't be billed any further.

To do:

• [fixed but needs further improvements] to avoid having to reinstall all games each time, you can set up Windows as you like it, take a screenshot of the drive, and when you re-launch Terraform have it link it to the backup. Change the "custom_ami" variable to your own ami to do this.