Creating Games Online
Introduction
The web is an exciting place as of late in terms of video games. With exciting new technologies like HTML5 and WebGL coming online and joining cool stuff being done with browsers like Chrome and Firefox (IE always seems to be a few steps behind) with optimizing for Javascript and even running native code from your browser, games are really starting to push to the forefront online even more than before. Previous technologies like Flash and Shockwave used to dominate the scene, but now are on the defensive or largely forgotten. Though Flash is really trying to keep relevant, and with its latest release boasting 3D GPU acceleration support and Unreal and Unity porting their engines over gives that some serious mettle. And recently Google just announced its PlayN library, which gives you a good grounding to build code once and have it work on lots of online platforms.
My Game Projects
Over a year ago I decided that I would make some games in my spare time. I decided on a racing game in homage to Rock and Roll Racing, which is one of my favorite games. I decided that I would use XNA and C# and went about creating some tools and the basics of a game. I admit that I haven’t spent a lot of time on this project as I find that I rather spend the little free time I have either with my family, watching movies, or playing games (and after programming all day, I tend to get a little burned out). Some of my lack of motivation likely also comes with the feeling that I am treading a lot of the same ground that I have before with my normal job and previous hobby projects. Plus having to work in Windows Forms primarily for UI is a bit of a bummer (I didn’t spend much time researching other UI options, I admit). So there hasn’t been a whole lot of progress since I started it.
Accessibility
Part of my thought process with going with XNA (outside of the fact that I get a good game engine to start with) is that it is a technology I have had experience with before and it is tailored towards games. I also have the pipe-dream of finishing a game and possibly playing it on the Xbox360 (which XNA allows with the member subscription) and publishing it in some capacity for my friends (and other people) to play. I am building my tools with the idea that I can release them and other people can build levels or cars or anything else that in the same way that I will for the game. Granted, the chances of people actually doing that are slim, but I think it is good practice and a useful learning tool for myself.
But I find myself thinking that it would be neat if people could check out my work and give feedback (if they are so inclined) while it is in progress. Doing so now would require them to download and install the program, which can be a bit of a pain especially if I need to worry about removing old versions or data. It would be a lot easier if they could just go to a webpage and mess with things there. And if I make the game and tools available online and through a webpage then pretty much anyone on the planet could check it out with ease.
Online Games
So as you can likely guess, I am going to explore the possibility of moving my personal game development online. I think this will be doable since UI is what the web was made for. And with the recent push for more game friendly technologies, I should be able to make simple 2D style games without too much hassle. Here is an example of an XNA sample that I came across that is done in the web browser: XNA-Platformer. This also gives me ample opportunity to try and learn new technologies, though I imagine that will make things take a little longer since I will be new to a lot of this. But I am excited about this idea and I look forward to seeing what I can do to make this happen.
Further Info