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tayl0r | 13 years ago

Knowing what you do now, with the memories of the terrible bugs you had to work through due to Chrome / OSX, would you still choose HTML5 over other cross-platform game engines like Unity?

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fiblye|13 years ago

If javascript could run outside of the browser, I'd use it for everything.

Javascript was nothing but pure bliss to work with, but the browsers were hell. Overall I know I'm definitely going to keep making short, simple games with javascript because it's a wonderful tool for the job. Long-term projects are a bit risky due to browser issues, so this'll probably be my last huge game with the language (sadly). If you're planning on doing a 2D game, javascript is a great language. Flash would still be "best" at this point in time due to all the support and speed at which you can create something, but, in a way, the problem solving and brain wracking is what makes development fun.

Unity's something I've been looking into for a while now, so it's a possibility for future projects.

The OS X issues have been screwing me over inside of outside of the browser. Performance dropped like a rock after Snow Leopard, so the real question is whether or not I'll continue using OS X.

epaik|13 years ago

I couldn't agree with you more. It's really fun to hack a game together in Javascript. I tried out JS + HTML5 two Ludum Dares ago and managed to create something fun within 72 hours[1]. The biggest issue I had at the time was dealing with cross-browser compatibility issues. Although my game would run flawlessly on Chrome, every other browser had at least one issue. I've been meaning to get around to fixing it up, but it's not much fun debugging browser compatibility weirdness...

I suspect most browsers have improved a lot in the time since then. I'd like to use Javascript for another game soon; I really like the language, despite its rough edges.

[1]http://ekun.nukenine.com/two/game.html

AdamTReineke|13 years ago

On the language comments - Have you looked into any higher level languages that compile to JavaScript, such as the newly released TypeScript? It is a superset of JavaScript with static typing and structural types. [Disclaimer: I was a test intern on the TypeScript team.]

You also say this is the last huge game with JS. Why is that?

a1k0n|13 years ago

> If javascript could run outside of the browser, I'd use it for everything.

node.js?

doublerebel|13 years ago

JS does run outside of the browser, many people are creating games on several platforms. Appcelerator's keynotes this morning at Codestrong included an OpenGL ES wrapper for Appcelerator. Exciting times for JS.

undergroundhero|13 years ago

I'm working full time on a game development project in Unity. I have nothing but good things to say about it. The community is great, and our development would take twice the time without community-created tools like NGUI and PlayMaker. Unity 4 will address some major irks of mine (esp. animation handling), and a new UI engine is down the road.

Its Javascript support is probably what's drawing you to the engine though (I use C#).

sesteel|13 years ago

I don't know if you've looked at it, but I'm pretty sure Unity allows you to use Javascript.

reedhedges|13 years ago

Would you use a library or framework that dealt with some of the browser issues? If so, what kinds of things would you be looking for in such a framework?