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Could someone explain the USP of utilizing the browser platform for game dev? As far as I know, the usual suspects in the game engine world can compile to web a
by mekkkkkk 6y ago
Could someone explain the USP of utilizing the browser platform for game dev? As far as I know, the usual suspects in the game engine world can compile to web as well as the other major platforms. Wouldn't relying on web runtimes and all the bloat associated be a detriment?
Is it the JS ecosystem and [insert framework] UI that's tempting? Or just the shared dev environment?
- OmarShehata 6y agoCompiling from most major non-web game engines to the web leads to incredibly bloated products. See: https://blog.playcanvas.com/playcanvas-versus-unity-webgl/ https://blog.playcanvas.com/playcanvas-versus-unity-webgl/ The blog is 4 years old but I think it's still relevant.
- terrycody 6y agothank you so much for this reference, yeah really worth a reading, still very relevant today!
- hombre_fatal 6y agoYou don't see the USP of websites, apps, and games that run at a browser url instead of requiring app download? I encourage you to throw out your prejudices and try to answer that one yourself. Runescape is a good example. It ran on the school and library computers when nothing else could (much less anything that needed installation). Runescape is finally beta-testing native mobile apps, and it's hard to imagine it rising to so much fame for such a long time without its decision to run in the browser.
- hoten 6y ago> You don't see the USP of websites, apps, and games that run at a browser url instead of requiring app download? Unity, Unreal, Godot ... they all support the web as publishing targets. Without downloading a plugin. supporting the web is not unique. but if you design for the web, the engine will run better than compiling to it. > Runescape is finally beta-testing native mobile apps, and it's hard to imagine it rising to so much fame for such a long time without its decision to run in the browser. They've had a mobile version of "Old School Runescape" for over a year now I think, and it certainly did get me to play again for a bit. Mostly out of a curiosity of how they managed to fit all that UI on a mobile screen (turns out, pretty well).
- esperent 6y agoUnreal no longer supports the web as a publishing target. They've marked that feature as deprecated. Unity still does, however, from what I've heard it's not a great platform to use for the web. Godot's wasm compile target is very new, I'm looking forward to seeing what comes from it.
- mekkkkkk 6y agoThe choice of hosting the game on a website seems like an orthagonal decision to whether or not to build it using web tech nowaday, as I mentioned.
- mschuetz 6y agoTraditional game engines work in ways that aren't suited for browser based gaming. There is quite a bit of work that needs to be done in optimizing asset streaming without the need for long wait times.
- mrmaxm 6y agoMany native engines "can" compile. But really it is only experimental and commercially non-viable option. Unreal engine decided not to continue support webgl target. Unity lifted off "experimental" from webgl target, but really nothing changed - it is still huge build, crashes mobile, and development process for web in unity, simply awful. So it can compile, but commercially it can't compete with webgl-first engines on similar projects.