Stemkoski made an example which uses a particle system in Particle Engine. I am looking to use the logic for the candle, but will be making multiple candles and the frame rate tends to drop with just the single instance in his example.
Looking online, I came across another example of a particle system, but on a much larger scale by Ian Webster. One of the things he talks about using is web workers to prevent the UI from locking up and it seems to be the best way to go (from what I can tell).
I have tried breaking down some web worker examples, such as This, and implementing the logic into the particle engine, but I am not having any luck. Anyone know if this is even the best way to handle a larger load of particles and particle systems? And if so, what would need to be done for this situation?
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I'm a frontend developer and now I have a task to create a game.
Example is ⇾ http://redcarpetrampage.com/
The player should run via two buttons, only if event is "onkeyup" (or maybe "tap" on mobile).
The logic of all game is 95% like in example. Game hero should run, jump and collect something and in the end will get some score (and I should save it in database).
Popular game framework for 2D games in JS is Phaser, but I don't find any nice example for my type of like, like in example.
Game from example is created with Construct. I never used it before.
My experience in gameDev is - creating a few small games by tutorials without frameworks, and I have some knowledge with webGl (3d).
So I don't really know what should I do with it. Now I start a small tutorial based on Phaser, but I'm not sure is it right or not.
Hope, someone has some recommendation for me :)
Note: I'll not list game engines already mentioned, (that are very good anyway).
CraftyJS
As the game mechanism is very simple you can try out Crafty, it is opensource and very simple for prototyping.
It has built-in all the behaviors you are seeking for:
jump
movements with keyboard
collisions in order to colllect items
...many more built-in along with a lot of useful 3rd party components
PixiJS
If you need performances and also mobile compatibility you can take a look at the stunning PixiJS which is more a rendering engine than a game engine, but has by far the best performance vs other engines, take a look at the performance of your device in examples section.
Newbie here. I am working with phaser, specifically with the isometric plugin.
I would like to know if it is possible to create games in phaser similar to agar.io, in terms of handling real-time multiple connections, generating a enormous map with about 300 players in it and all this without having too much impact in game performance. I seriously don't know how to handle the multiplayer part (probably sockets, node.js) for it to work really well. And as for generating a really big map I am quite blank too.
Is it possible, in phaser, to create a isometric-type game that handles multiples real time multiplayer and HUGE maps that are generated when the user gets to the edges of the visible "map"? How?
If not, what should I opt for (game engine in js and other applications) in order to achieve what I want?
You're not asking the right question, but you're close!
Your first guess is correct. You wouldn't handle multiplayer with Phaser, you'd use web sockets, or nodejs, or some other backend. So Phaser does not really limit you in what you can create with regards to multiplayer, since none of the networking code has anything to do with Phaser.
The idea of handling a huge map also just depends on how you optimize your graphics, regardless of what platform or framework you're using. For example, if you have huge or infinite maps, you can always just only show what's on screen, or around the edges of the screen, and use object pooling to show the rest of the map as the players move.
For multiplayer in Nodejs, check out Socket.io. It's really easy to use. I've set up a barebones example using it here. And in case you might find it helpful, here's an open source game I made for Ludum Dare in Phaser, with networking (this one is only p2p, so it's only made to handled 2 players connected to each other, but like I said, that's only a limitation of the multiplayer framework I used, in this case peerjs.com, and has nothing to do with Phaser itself, which can take care of all your rendering and game logic needs.)
Hopefully this helped answer some of your questions!
Phaser (at least in its 2.0 version) is not a good candidate for implementation of real time game networking as explained here.
If you're looking for a Javascript Multiplayer game engine you should check out Lance, which was written specifically for this purpose. You can then choose a renderer of your choice (Pixi.js, for example, if you're aiming to implement something like Agar.io. It's the same Renderer Phaser uses)
Regarding PhasedEvolution's comment above - Firebase is a nice tool if you're doing turn based games. It's not up to par for real-time game development as it doesn't allow low level access for any game-critical features that mitigate latency like client-size prediction, bending, interpolation and extrapolation.
Proper disclosure: I'm one of the co-creators of Lance :)
So, I have thought about designing a WebGL Graphics Engine, which will facilitate designing 3D Interactive Graphics for web. Now, my question is :
WebGL is Javascript API, so in order to design an engine for WebGL graphics, do I need to have a JavaScript compiler or anything ? What I want is a system which will let users see what they are creating (for example, like blender workspace, if you draw up a scene you can see and make changes simultaneously)
You would have to create some kind of engine, or framework that you'll build your system onto.
Creating only framework/engine would take at least 2-3 months, and if you plan creating something really big and advanced, that supports various effects rather than simple rendering primitives, than that might come down to 5-6 months. After that you could start creating your web application. So 6-7 months time for that? That shouldn't be a problem.
I don't know how advanced you are, how many people are you working with, but that seems very plausible and doable. But is worth of it? In a year, many different things will change, maybe new openGL ES version for webGL, changing api, supported browsers (IE recently joined the game),... it's really questionable.
You wouldn't need any kind of JS compiler or anything like it, just knowledge of advanced JS and many different techniques used in 3d, and since you plan building system that is far beyond just-graphic-stuff, then it adds even more to overall complexity and time consumption.
So, to answer your question: yes, it's very doable in a year, but will it pay off?
Similar things already exist in some form:
http://errolschwartz.com/projects/threescene/
http://badassjs.com/post/12885773103/threenodes-js-a-visual-webgl-scene-editor
CopperLicht engine has its own real-time editor
there are more lab-playground-like editors
I'm trying to put together a small(ish) summer school project for some of my advanced students and am researching how to do it best and what to use - hopefully somebody here could point me in the right direction.
What we are interested in is researching if HTML5 came far enough to create a real-time collaborative drawing whiteboard in it - purely by using web technologies without plugins (so CSS, HTML5/DOM and Javascript). What we'd ultimatelly strive for is this - for example have an online canvas/page on a central server displayed on a big screen in the classroom. Then our students/users would take out their smartphones, load the page in their mobile browsers (I'm perfectly ok with limiting this to webkit mobile browsers for now) and draw on their screens with touch/fingers (or on PCs with the mouse - guessing this doesn't make a lot of difference) and it would get updated in real time for everybody - both on their screens and on the central big screen in the classroom.
I'm guessing push/get requests would be too slow for this - could it be solved by websockets? Does anybody have any good JS libraries to recommend for this?
Also what would the ideal (but easier for students to understand) architecture look like. Lets say you have 30 simultaneous users in a clasroom - each of them would connect with websockets to the server and the server would pool/combine all of their requests into one and then return the combined file (some sort of minimal JSON or even just coordinates) for every connected user?
Would websockets and (I'm guessing) canvas be able to take this? So that everything still looks snappy? Are there (jQuery-like) JS libraries available to make our lives easier - or do you think its something thats too complex for a 2-week summer school project?
here's a tutorial describing how to create a multiuser whiteboard with javascript/html5/canvas:
http://www.unionplatform.com/?page_id=2762
the example uses a collaboration framework and server named "union platform". even if you decide to roll your own server and client framework, the messaging in the example should give you an idea of how to structure the code.
for an apples-to-apples speed comparison of websocket vs comet, see:
http://www.unionplatform.com/?page_id=2954
in my tests, a basic ping over WebSocket is normally about twice as fast as the ping over http. both websocket and coment are more than fast enough to create a collaborative whiteboard.
Definitely check this out:
http://wesbos.com/html5-canvas-websockets-nodejs/
For the networking side of things, try looking at node.js for the server, along with socket.io for the client.
As for the drawing itself, a few popular choices are processing, raphael and cakejs.
When it comes to the implementation, you may want to look at how networked games deal with similar issues (gamedev.stackexchange.com could be useful).
What you are going to be doing is essentialy the same as a simple top down multiplayer game, with each 'player' in this case being a students fingertip, and the 'level' being the canvas. You need to update the server as to their position and whether or not they are 'shooting' (drawing).
I'm guessing push/get requests would be too slow for this - could it be solved by websockets? Does anybody have any good JS libraries to recommend for this?
If you need real-time infrastructure I've created a list of real-time technologies which might be of use to you. These include hosted service, such as Pusher who I work for, and self-install technologies such as WebSocket and Comet solutions.
WebSocket sounds like the idea choice of technology for you since they have become part of HTML5 and offer the most efficient for of realtime bi-directional communication between a web server and a browser (or other clients).
Also what would the ideal (but easier for students to understand) architecture look like. Lets say you have 30 simultaneous users in a clasroom - each of them would connect with websockets to the server and the server would pool/combine all of their requests into one and then return the combined file (some sort of minimal JSON or even just coordinates) for every connected user?
It sounds like you should probably store the current state somewhere and on the initial load of the application display that state. Then use your real-time infrastructure to send deltas on that state, or if it's a drawing on canvas, just information on the line etc. that has been drawn and information about who drew it.
Would websockets and (I'm guessing) canvas be able to take this? So that everything still looks snappy? Are there (jQuery-like) JS libraries available to make our lives easier - or do you think its something thats too complex for a 2-week summer school project?
Real-time collaborative drawing is most definitely achievable and there have been a number of examples created of this. A google bring up a number of possibilities.
If this technology is completely new to you and you would prefer to concentrate on building the collaborative application then I would consider using a service for your app rather than going through the hassle of learning how to install and configure, or even code, your own infrastructure (I'm not just saying this because I work for such a service. I honestly think it makes the most sense).
I'm looking for a good plugin for:
a) rapid rendering of
b) lines, shapes, and imagery on top of a
c) rectangular canvas area who's size can be declared at load time.
It needs to run at 20-30fps without putting a heavy load in the browser. It also needs to be able to interface with JavaScript and the DOM.
Creating my own Flash plugin is the first choice, but I'd like to aim for a free, open-source and/or non-proprietary solution first. HTML5 canvas is out of the question - it renders way too slowly.
Anyone happen to know of anything that does these features? (I'd even be okay with a pre-made Flash plugin that meets the requirements mentioned above)
Your request is still vague. What do the lines and shapes need to do? Sit there looking pretty?
If your lines, shapes, and imagery are going to be fewer than say 5,000 objects total, I'd recommend using SVG and perhaps the Raphael library to go with it. Every SVG object is a DOM object from the get-go, which will save you some associated headaches with trying to use Flash or Canvas.
If you really need a lot more performance or plan on having 50,000 objects on screen, Canvas may be for you.
"Creating my own Flash plugin is the
first choice"
I'm unclear what you mean by "plugin" here - I assume you just mean "flash file" (an SWF?).
I think #WTP is making a good point. You say "rapid rendering" but of what? how complex is it? Flash has very good speeds when it comes to vector graphics, and much faster rendering of optimized bitmap data (the technique of choice is blitting here). It all comes down to optimizations / complexity of graphics. No matter the plugin / tech solution, you will always be able to cripple a machine with inefficient design.
To answer your question, Flash will definitely meet your needs.
I would also venture that Canvas/JS would as well, but apparently you've tried that already? I've seen quite complex scenes running quite rapidly, so that surprises me.
I'll note, also, the upcoming Molehill APIs for Flash. This provides low-level access to the GPU - and will create the potential for breathtaking 2d/3d performance in the browser. But its still in alpha, so... don't hold your breath ;)
I know of only four major players in the "Vector graphics capable" department -- HTML Canvas, Flash, Silverlight, and Java applets. Aside from canvas, all them are proprietary in some way or another. The good news is that all of them have the ability to compile for free in some way or another and they are generally faster than canvas by my understanding. Now, I happen to know Flash so that might color my opinion, but I am fairly certain that it is your best option. It has decent performance and a solid install base. It also runs on Linux and does not raise major security issues.
Look up the Flash Builder (Flex) sdk. There is command line compilation for it.