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[quantumpotato]

Hi, how does HTML5 work with consoles? Steam? Controller integration?

I saw that Nintendo offers an HTML5 devkit, which is promising.

I've been developing 2 Player Javascript games that I'd love to port to Steam & consoles without re-writing the code, only adding in support for controllers.

[quantumpotato]

From https://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/442z2y/what_consoles_run_html5/czn0uoa

How much of HTML5 do you need? I know the 3DS browser supports some, but not all, of HTML5.
I've not used either browser but I found some documentation that might help you.
Xbox One's web browser is very close to Internet Explorer 10. IE10 has HTML5 support. From the MSDN
"Internet Explorer for Xbox One and Internet Explorer 10 differences
Windows Internet Explorer for Xbox has the same HTML5 features as Internet Explorer 10 for Windows, except for the changes shown here: (See Link) "
The PS4 web browser apparently only supports HTML4 according to this random PDF.

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn532261%28v=vs.85%29.aspx#html5features
http://www.scei.co.jp/content/dam/corporate/jp/guideline/PS4_Web_Content-Guidelines_e.pdf

[InfiniteStateMachine]

Using their browser won't be an option.  Those are standalone applications.

theoretically you could use one of the solutions that converts javascript to code or a framework that has a web context widget

[Cheezmeister]

You can run Javascript without a monumental effort by dropping v8 into your game. It's something I've been meaning to try, using JS to drive game logic. Though now that I think about it, I'm unsure whether v8 would compile to consoles.

HTML5 on the other hand, is not so easy. Basically, at that point you're talking about shipping a browser. Browsers are not easy things to make--let alone for unusual hardware.

[Vadinci]

I don't know about consoles, but for Steam (and likely any desktop distribution system), you can use wrappers such as Electron. Basically it is a standalone browser using node.js, so you get some cool additional features to utilize the power of desktop apps. It should also run on any major OS with no to little changes in your codebase! (just download the wrapper for the appropriate platform and feed it your app)

Greenheart Games made GameDev Tycoon using HTML5, and it runs on desktop in a similar fashion (afaik, Electron didn't exist back then). They also open sourced the libary they used to connect to the Steamworks API through node.js: Greenworks.

I know some projects got controller input working in browsers, so getting it to work in a desktop app should be very doable.

[quantumpotato]

I don't know about consoles, but for Steam (and likely any desktop distribution system), you can use wrappers such as Electron. Basically it is a standalone browser using node.js, so you get some cool additional features to utilize the power of desktop apps. It should also run on any major OS with no to little changes in your codebase! (just download the wrapper for the appropriate platform and feed it your app)

Greenheart Games made GameDev Tycoon using HTML5, and it runs on desktop in a similar fashion (afaik, Electron didn't exist back then). They also open sourced the libary they used to connect to the Steamworks API through node.js: Greenworks.

I know some projects got controller input working in browsers, so getting it to work in a desktop app should be very doable.

Thank you, both useful repos!

@Cheez - Javascript, I follow you there with V8. I'd love to just draw directly to a canvas... Chromium, maybe?

[Polly]

I'd love to just draw directly to a canvas... Chromium, maybe?

As mentioned by Vadinci, there are a slew of applications which let you wrap a HTML/CSS/JS project into a standalone executable .. and even though i can't recommend the applications* i have experience with anymore, it seems like AppJS ( Chromium-based ) is a popular choice nowadays.

*Mozilla Prism has been abandoned & Appcelerator Titanium has become paymium.

[Cheezmeister]

Greenheart Games made GameDev Tycoon using HTML5, and it runs on desktop in a similar fashion (afaik, Electron didn't exist back then). They also open sourced the libary they used to connect to the Steamworks API through node.js: Greenworks.

Woah, that's amazing! That gives me warm fuzzies and makes me want to throw money at Greenheart.

[quantumpotato]

I'd love to just draw directly to a canvas... Chromium, maybe?

As mentioned by Vadinci, there are a slew of applications which let you wrap a HTML/CSS/JS project into a standalone executable .. and even though i can't recommend the applications* i have experience with anymore, it seems like AppJS ( Chromium-based ) is a popular choice nowadays.

*Mozilla Prism has been abandoned & Appcelerator Titanium has become paymium.

Yeah app.js looks great, thanks!

I'm not sure the difference between app.js & electron.js, anyone? I found a brief description here http://www.tivix.com/blog/nwjs-and-electronjs-web-technology-desktop/ saying app.js comes with more built-in routing.

So.. big question... how about controller support? Is the Gamepad API any good?

[quantumpotato]

UPDATE: Yes the Gamepad API is fantastic. Minus one annoyance that you have to press a button before the controller will register (an anti-fingerprint mechanism, I haven't bothered trying to override).

I'm yet to publish on Steam but I've uploaded zipped binaries to itch.io no problem.

Xbox & PS4 look to be non HTML from what I've gathered. Nintendo offers an HTML5 kit for Wii, but I've been unable to register as of recently https://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=57340.0.

[Amirai]

From what I understand, it seems that HTML5 games are possible on the Xbox one.

[quantumpotato]

From what I understand, it seems that HTML5 games are possible on the Xbox one.

Wow, thanks! It looks like they haven't supported the Gamepad API yet, which.. um...