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[johnki]

Alright, I'm looking into making my Fall Festival entry in HTML5, as opposed to whatever else I was going to use, to make it a sort of micro-game in a browser that I know everyone would be able to access.

That and I'm really interested in this whole "lightweight browser-based" technology thing.

Taking into consideration that I've got coding experience, but not a whole lot of experience with JavaScript (well, I have SOME...basic...experience...my site is suffering due to that heh), are there any engines you'd recommend? Is it actually easier to make games in HTML5 from scratch?

After seeing the Quake 2 HTML5 port (and Illyriad's tech demos!), I'm definitely optimistic about the future of HTML5...

I just have no idea where to start. I'm even having issues finding tutorials (EDIT: That go beyond the very basics, I mean...I haven't seen anything on input or any of the more advanced concepts needed for games)...

I guess what this mid-length post is all about is...anyone have any good resources for HTML5 learning/development?

EDIT: I should be looking for JavaScript and WebGL tutorials shouldn't I? If so, I feel slow.

[JoeManaco]

I really like the tutorials from html5rocks.

[Sanojian]

An engine will certainly save you many hours of fiddling with game loops, animation, input,  etc.  I have been having some success with Craftyjs.  I don't know if you can consider it HTML5 since it works in older browsers as well (albeit much more slowly).

As for JavaScript, the important thing to know when using it is that JavaScript is not a procedural (like C or Java) language!  It is actually closer to a functional language (like Lisp or Scheme).  Using it as a procedural language severely limits its abilities, which is probably why it is considered a bit of a joke to many C programmers I know.

Here is a better explanation on the subject.

[Momeka_]

http://www.canvasdemos.com/ have some tutorials on making games.

Gave it a try awhile ago but really didn't like working in javascript.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQVTIJBZook a presentation about javascript and things you should keep in mind when working with it. Might be helpful.

[Fallsburg]

I've only played around with it briefly, but I know the guys behind it, so I might as well give it a plug.

Akihabara is a good engine if you want to make 8/16-bit style 2d games.  It's somewhat akin to either FlashPunk or Flixel, only html5 not Flash.

[johnki]

Thanks for the suggestions.

Crafty, in particular, is looking really neat.

I actually found Canvas Demos shortly after posting this.

[schipman]

Check out melonJS its really great!

[johnki]

Check out melonJS its really great!

Wow, that does look great. Pretty neat that it uses Tiled too!

[zovirl]

Because you can never have too many links:

This book is a pretty good summary of what html5 is (except for webgl):
  http://diveintohtml5.info/

I like MDN's reference docs:
  https://developer.mozilla.org/en/HTML/HTML5
  https://developer.mozilla.org/en/JavaScript/Reference

When I'm using <canvas> I find the spec very helpful:
  http://www.whatwg.org/specs/web-apps/current-work/multipage/the-canvas-element.html


If you would use an engine in a different language, use one for html5 too. Personally I've been starting from scratch instead of using an engine for my html5 projects, but I do this in python too. This may not be optimal.