A lot of developers will tell you how HTML5 is so great and that you can do wonders with it. Well, this might be the truth since it does give you an edge over the older set of codes. Now, how to build a cross-platform game with this program language? This is a tricky one and do not try it unless you have plenty of free time, or not?
First things first
Why HTML5 and why you should start seriously thinking about it? Trying to run a game on different platforms, while using a single set of codes, is good for both developers and publishers. This is something that was waited for a long period of time. Publishers have finally got the opportunity to reach for the entire market; no matter what the platform is used by an end user.
Imagine a world where you will be able to develop a game for an iPhone, Android, Facebook….in a single shot. One code, one game, multiple platforms. You don’t have to imagine if you decide to go with HTML5. It is as good as they say, and it brings a lot of changes. The biggest one being cross-platform usability.
How to
Once you decided to use the HTML5 for coding you should start thinking about mobile devices. There are millions of players outside playing games on their mobile devices. This is something your game should be prepared for. There are so many screen sizes and you have to scale the game to fit all screen sizes.
Once you finished scaling your screen resolution, try to boost your CSS knowledge a bit more, since you’re going to need CSS through entire game development. Remember, this is not a simple game development, it is cross-platform and it is going to take you a lot of time if your CSS skills are average. With CSS3 you have a lot of options and one of these options is to scale down menu size to fit every platform (this is merely an example)
Sound is a very important part of any game. There is a problem with sound and music not being able to play at the same time. Try using sound API, something like SoundManager2, a powerful API that will award your game with the cross-platform usability in no time. Anyway, if you don’t find this API helpful, have in mind that the sound is still in its early ages of development. Time will bring more stable solutions for the sound.
How about focusing on the other details while trying to develop the sound to its highest quality? At the moment there is not much (if any) competition working on the cross-platform games which means everyone can take the great start positions.
Conclusion
Sure, there are sound problems and some other bugs but a good problem solver could be a great developer. If you are being that great developer, who is trying to develop the next big thing, try copy-pasting some codes (basic scaling for example) from the forums, it will help you find time for other details. Those details have the power to make or break. Try to develop a “simple” HTML5 game just to see how everything is going to work on different platforms. Once you see your mistakes you can try to deliver a home-run with your next game. We’ve just opened this topic and some might say we didn’t say much but this is a developing story and we hope to come back with fresh news as soon as we see how some of the problems are solved. Maybe you can share your experience with us?
