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[Benjamin385]

What are your thoughts on this?

I have been looking at a few kits for game development with HTML 5.

Does any one here use HTML 5?

if so what kit do you use? Custom or Pre-built?

Edit: BTW TIGSource needs a HTML 5 Message Icon

[genka]

HTML5 is a marketing buzzword, not a standard, and is therefore best left where it belongs: the gutter.

[Player 3]

I'd recommend against it. Tests show how slow it is when used in similarly complex applications done in Flash. Not all browsers support it, unlike Flash, and in general, is a lot more work to just get something in place.

Verdict: Stick with popular browser plug-in-based stuff, like Flash or Unity.

[Desert Dog]

I don't program directly in html5, but I use GM-html5. Code in GML, out pops html5.

You can view a few of the projects I've done with it here:
Fiefdom
WENAH (kinda runs on smart phones.. I need to optimise/figure out more about smart phones! Needs multi-touch, and iOS 5 for decent performance)
DD Racing
DD Snake

The last 2 are small projects.. few days to a week to make. Although the first 2 didn't actually take much longer...

I'm pretty happy with the sort of performance I'm getting with html5. Sound's a bit of a downer.. music has to be uploaded as both a .ogg, and .mp3 to be compatable with all browsers, for instance, which isn't so great for file size.

I don't know an awful lot about the 'business side' of it all, but I believe there is a bit of a niche market being created for smart phone 'web' games.. the whole flash game portal thing that exploded X amount of years ago, well a similar trend seems to be happening now for smart phones, only we're using html5 to create them, instead. E.g. portals such as Spil Games.

It depends on you. I feel the flash market is full of great dev's&dev teams, and tons of big games, and same with other 'plug-in' web solutions.. like Unity.
If your a solo-dev, and you work on things for a month, or two, and don't really plan on making 'big' projects, then html5 could be a very good option for you... hard to get drowned in a puddle of water.

[Wireless Mouse]

What kind of game?

http://undum.com/

[Trevor Dunbar]

HTML5 is NOT READY YET.

Sound doesn't work at all or is incredibly spotty.

Processing speed for graphics is all over the place in different browsers. Oh, and it's not even close AT ALL to speeds you could get from native code in a DirectX or OpenGL game.

WebGL 3D support is pretty much only in Firefox

It's not as easy as working with Flash, where you can animate things on the flash stage by hand and manipulate it with code.

All your code work will pretty much be open source and anyone who wants to get into your code can do so easily.

Writting stuff in javascript blows.

Javascript itself blows.


I had a hell of a time even getting my test game to use nearest neighbor/point sampling at all. I had to look through a bunch of obscure forum posts, find the functions that turn it on, and then through incredible trail and error, I got it barely working. This is after several hours, and it just fixed itself for no apparent reason. Oh, yeah, and the filtering I changed it to only works in firefox and IE9. Oops.

[Raptor85]

It's easy enough to write stuff directly for html5/canvas, be careful with the sound though, it works well enough but right now the only format that works on all browsers is wav.  It's benefits I'd say are it's far...far less of a resource hog than flash, and works on platforms where flash doesnt, downsides are it's not a full standard yet so there's a chance of functions changing down the road, where you may need to re-write something later, and IE and Safari don't support the open vorbis formats, which are basicly the only non-patenented formats that are legal for all browsers to use.

[Rob Lach]

Dunno what you guys are on about.

HTML5 is definitely happening and games will be there as well.

"HTML5 is NOT READY YET."

Good. Anyone doing it now will have a massive head start when propping up of the foundation settles.

[tametick]

Cardinal Quest actually started out as an html5 game, and I've written before about why i switched to flash.

Now, keep in mind that this article was written almost a year ago and the situation has improved some in the meanwhile, but IMO html5 isn't up to par yet, but at least there are some better tools for it now compared to before.

Good. Anyone doing it now will have a massive head start when propping up of the foundation settles.

As someone who jumped on the html5 bandwagon in April of last year (1.5 years ago) & still dabbles in it once in a while I disagree - sure, coding directly in js and to the bare canvas/audio api you'll learn some platform specifics.

But if you use one of the newfangled libraries/frameworks that are coming out in droves (and you should) it takes all of a week (tops) to learn the ropes if you are a competent programmer (they are about the same level of abstraction as programming in as3/flash using flixel or flashpunk, only the results you get are not yet as good), especially if you've done (non-game) web development with html/js before.

This is not the same as learning obj-c in 2008 so you could program ios - the skill set from making flash games transfers pretty smoothly.

Well, I guess it is if you've been making mac apps with cocoa before anyway, but honestly who was doing that before ios? On the other hand making games with as3/flash is pretty much the most common situation here (next to gamemaker).

At any rate as a programmer you should regardless do your best to expand your skill set & not get too comfy with any single tech - they all come and go & you should either be able to adept or start learning some (any, even html5) new languages/platforms now so that you develop the skills to adapt quickly when your current platform of choice's inevitable demise arrives.

[Polly]

It's easy enough to write stuff directly for html5/canvas, be careful with the sound though, it works well enough but right now the only format that works on all browsers is wav.

Hopefully Web Audio API will catch on quickly

[moi]

Dunno what you guys are on about.

HTML5 is definitely happening

Yeah
IT KEEPS HAPPENING
WAY TO GO HTML5

I TOLD YOU

[adamredwoods]

monkey (http://www.monkeycoder.co.nz/) is a trans coder that also does HTML5 as well as Flash, win, mac, android, ios, etc.

So when I publish for HTML5, wow the game is laggy. I don't know how well the HTML5 groundwork is laid out, but HTML5 has a long ways to go before it's at the level of Flash, when using the same code as monkey basic.
On the flip side: HTML5 is working in more and more places where Flash can't reach.

I'd use it for slow games.

Also note that HTML5 has no built-in obfuscation of your graphics and code, so it's basically OPEN to the public! Flash at least packages it into a single unit to keep the casual user out.

EDIT:
but dont take my word for it: http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=22888.0

[Benjamin385]

I found the following which is a browser based MMO Strategy game and is made soley in HTML5 as far as I have heard.

http://www.moddb.com/games/illyriad

As for what game - Cannot say at least yet as everything is not planned out yet... I really would like to open my mouth though

[HelenaC]

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