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Show HN: I spent two years working on an HTML5 game. I finally released it
- mgkimsal 14y agois it really B&W? was that a stylistic choice only, or are there some performance benefits? some of the artwork reminds me a lot of Yellow Submarine stuff.
- fiblye 14y agoFull black and white, yes. My original reason was that I'm not at all good at working with color, and especially not creating colored sprites. By sticking with black and white I could easily draw images with my tablet and modify them pixel by pixel to look sharp. I eventually came to like the look, so I suppose it's also stylistic. It wasn't intentionally done for any sort of performance reason, but oddly enough, it kind of ended up that way in the end. If I'd gone with full color sprites, there's no way I would've fit within the 10 MB constraints of the Chrome store. Images with one black and one white compress much better than images with dozens or hundreds of colors.
- leephillips 14y agoI think the B&W contributes to the intriguing visual style.
- Vekz 14y agoI think the black and white is a great atmospheric choice. It reminds me of Frank Miller's Sin City. Also from the video I got a bit of feel of Metriod 2 on the GameBoy. Which was B&W and had a very creepy subterranean feel. You could present color in a future sequel or expansion and even use it as a plot device.
- Alex3917 14y agoI like the black and white graphics. It reminds me of dark castle, which was arguably the best non-educational game for the original Macintosh: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCkbp4wurW0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCkbp4wurW0
- shardling 14y agoThe B&W style plus the minimalist music in the demo remind me a lot of Metroid II.
- MartinCron 14y agoI made a fog-of-war Asteroids variant (you can only see the Asteroids that are close to you) a few years ago and every time I tried to add any color, it was disastrous.
- Evbn 14y agoHmm. Super Nintendo games fit in well under 10MB.
- fiblye 14y agoThey were also written in assembly and had their audio encoded in a midi-like format, so they're designed from the ground up to fit in tiny storage.
- kylelibra 14y agoCongrats on shipping. You should post this on /r/gaming on reddit, they are really supportive of indie devs producing games.
- ciferkey 14y agoAlso /r/gamedev and /r/indiegaming. However reddit is currently down right now.
- theceka 14y agoMake sure you use your personal account when you do this: self promotion is only allowed if your account is contributing to reddit in some other way. I tried to create a separate account to promote my iOS game Super Smart but the post was immediately removed for that exact reason. Congratulations on shipping!
- hkmurakami 14y agoout of curiosity, is it acceptable if you're only contributing to other subreddits?
- theceka 14y agoThis should be no problem. However, I am talking about a significant amount: I was told that at most %10 of total contribution (posts, comments) could be self-promotional. The problem for me was that my personal account contained stuff I did not want to share as a game publisher. Now I am trying to use the game account as my main, just to catch up.
- wpietri 14y agoNeat! Please release a simple playable demo. The video is enough to intrigue me, but not enough to get me to buy. (I just bought Osmos for my Android tablet, and it was the playable demo that pushed me over the line.)
- fiblye 14y agoI'll do that. I'll try to have it done in a couple of hours.
- celer 14y agoTrying the demo, loving it so far, just broke it. At http://ektomarch.com/games/SubbaniaDemo/Subquest.html http://ektomarch.com/games/SubbaniaDemo/Subquest.html At large scale, pure black. At small scale, normal swaying white dots with small transfer point, upwards arrow. Happened after the "you don't have the clearence" cut-scene. I had gotten the extra armor. When I scale up, I see the white dots for a fraction of a second, swaying as always, before they are seemingly covered up by blackness.
- rrbrambley 14y agoThis looks awesome. Congrats.
- fmoralesc 14y agoCool stuff. Congrats! It's nice you also released your notes for it. ;)
- robbiea 14y agowebsite was down for me, then i refreshed and it was up. If anyone is having a problem viewing, go here: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/subbania/epnejcjdggmaccchaieajonlhjkngokd https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/subbania/epnejcjdg... It has the youtubelink & buy now button.
- tayl0r 14y agoKnowing 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?
- mikeknoop 14y agoA recent blog post by OP: http://ektomarch.com/blog/?p=36 http://ektomarch.com/blog/?p=36
- fiblye 14y agoIf 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 14y agoI 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 http://ekun.nukenine.com/two/game.html
- jschrf 14y agoThis is really cool, nice work. I really like the art style.
- sprokolopolis 14y agoCongrats! this looks great! It brought back memories of an old game that I loved as a kid called Sea Dragon: http://homeoftheunderdogs.net/game.php?id=3871 http://homeoftheunderdogs.net/game.php?id=3871
- johncoltrane 14y agoThe artwork is beautiful. I second the request for a playable demo, though.
- mcmire 14y agoThat's pretty impressive. I know this because I spent a good nine months working on a clone of one of the Zelda games (I didn't make it very far, although granted, I went down a huge rabbit hole) and it is tough. So many things you have to think about if you are designing your own game engine. Mad kudos for sticking with it.
- ntide 14y agoLooks amazing, I bought a copy. :)
- fiblye 14y agoDemo uploaded to mediafire because I don't want to completely kill my server: http://www.mediafire.com/?hh5x0jcvvkiwd5i http://www.mediafire.com/?hh5x0jcvvkiwd5i I tried to get it out fast and just barely tested it, but it should be stable. The demo has three bosses, ~25 areas, and a good taste of the gameplay. My server seems to be intermittently dying, so Chrome Store link for anybody interested in purchasing (buying through my site would be preferable, though): https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/subbania/epnejcjdggmaccchaieajonlhjkngokd https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/subbania/epnejcjdg... The demo now lets players skip cutscenes by hitting the Enter/Return key. Z/X/C (or 1/2/3 if you don't have a QWERTY keyboard) control actions and the arrow keys control movement.
- abrichr 14y agoMaybe I'm just impatient, but after the third consecutive cut-scene I just closed the window and uninstalled it. I think you should give the option to the user to skip the cut scenes altogether.
- fiblye 14y agoI did originally have the option to skip cutscenes, but removed it. Is holding X to skip through dialogue not enough? Because I could re-add skipping.
- shardling 14y agoIn a demo it should be skipped by default.
- fiblye 14y agoI just re-added the ability to skip cutscenes by hitting Return/Enter.
- MartinCron 14y agoI think that in terms of pacing, it would be a lot better to have a much shorter cutscene followed by at least a little gameplay and then have some more cutscenes. I only kept going because so many people here praised the art style (which is brilliant, by the way). Pacing. Pacing. Pacing. Three cutscenes in a row isn't a video game, it's a lecture :)
- shardling 14y agoDid you use any existing js frameworks in making the game? I've been writing a little puzzler/platformer using Crafty JS, and it seems to have a pretty flexible approach. Fair amount of bugs/undocumented behavior, but hey, I can always go straight to the source. :)
- fiblye 14y agoAbsolutely none. Most of my fun comes from solving every problem myself and Subbania was started before such engines and libraries even existed. However, I probably would recommend something like CraftyJS because it can help take some of the cross-platform troubles off of the developers' shoulders.
- louisstow 14y agoHey, I'm the developer of CraftyJS and now the lead SDK engineer for Game Closure. I would love to talk further about the tech and potentially working together. You can reach me via twitter (@louisstow) or my gmail louisstow AT gmail.
- jiggy2011 14y agoLooks cool , I like quirky games. Since it uses JS , can I use my 360 pad or am I stuck with keyboard?
- fiblye 14y agoNo gamepad support yet.
- jqueryfan33 14y agoBought a copy. Good stuff. Some feedback: - get the option to skip cutscenes back in - these octopus dudes come way too close. It is too hard to dodge them. - if you get killed, you should start over in the sub-area you were in, and not the main level.
- zizee 14y agothere are save points along the way.
- elliottcarlson 14y agoWould you be willing to provide a follow-up on how your launch of the game goes? Always interesting to hear various metrics after a product launch. Good luck!
- fiblye 14y agoWill do. Expect it in a week or two. Thanks.
- almost 14y agoThis looks really cool and $2.99 it really wasn't a hard decision. I look forward playing it! Well done for getting it out, 2 years is a bloody long time!
- tsieling 14y agoCongratulations, it looks really playable and responsive. Fun style, too.
- Narretz 14y agoLooks really cool, and I love that the tech is pure html / js. I'd wish there was another option to buy except PayPal though.
- Spoom 14y agoNice! This is very encouraging to me as I'm also working on an HTML 5 app that I plan on using with CocoonJS to distribute as a native iOS / Android app, in addition to the web version. Have you looked at mobile HTML 5 "players" like CocoonJS? You could double your potential market if it works (though it requires that the game be drawn entirely through a canvas, not sure if that's what you did here).
- mike-cardwell 14y agoIn the comments of that page: Q.) "I’m really interested in the game, but dont want to support paypal. Is there any other method of purchase?" A.) "The only easy way for me to distribute through my own site was with Paypal. I did have Amazon Payments, but Amazon randomly locked down my account for reasons unbeknownst to me and they only gave me generic automated responses." This is becoming a habit.
- dylanpyle 14y agoHow about something like Gumroad?
- kin 14y agoYou know I was hoping when Gumroad released that I would start seeing tons of things being sold through Gumroad. I have yet to single a single thing. Good to know it's still on people's minds.
- thealphanerd 14y agoStripe is a decent alternative https://stripe.com/ https://stripe.com/
- nlh 14y agoAlso, shoutout to WePay: https://www.wepay.com https://www.wepay.com
- sskates 14y agoCongrats on your release! I love the camera effects, definitely adds a lot to the atmosphere.
- austinsarner 14y agoIs this inspired by In The Hunt for PS1?
- fiblye 14y agoIt's more inspired by Metroid, Yume Nikki and Thunder Force, but I suppose a little bit was taken from In The Hunt. The original game was going to be much closer to In The Hunt, however.
- smweber 14y agoAlso bought a copy - good work!
- smweber 14y agoAlso bought a copy - good work!
- TazeTSchnitzel 14y agoLooks great! Any chance of IE9 or IE10 support? I hear it's pretty fast for 2D games (certainly in my experience it has higher FPS than Chrome and FF)
- fiblye 14y agoHaven't had a chance to test it on IE yet and I don't have access to a machine running it at the moment. I'd be glad if somebody else would be willing to test it or the demo on IE and tell me how it runs.
- kevingadd 14y agoIE10 can't run the demo because you use ES6 features (const, looks like) that it doesn't have. The doctype detection also seems to drop it into quirks mode. You could probably fix that by using a standards doctype, but you could also just put in the meta tag that forces IE to run in standards mode for quirks documents.
- jjacobson 14y agoYou are really good at your own game! Love the demo video!
- jay_m 14y agoI really love the music and audio from the trailer video. The gameplay and art style looks great too. I'll be buying this in a couple of days once my exams are over. Congratulations on shipping!
- pud 14y agoI love the audio too. Sounds like a real underwater recording. Is it? Creepy (in a good way)
- wslh 14y agoAny opinion about SVG? the last time I used it on Google Chrome was very buggy (objects leaving a trail behind)
- msie 14y agoGreat looking game, love the music, but I don't want to play a Nazi.
- taskstrike 14y agoThe boundary of html5 has been pushed far beyond this before. In this the author said most HTML5 games are pacman, etc. If you look at Bastion for the chrome store, it's a very complex game with great graphics on HTML5.
- numo16 14y agoI was under the impression Bastion was made with monogame and compiled to NaCl for the chrome store, which is a bit different than HTML5. http://supergiantgames.com/?p=1611 http://supergiantgames.com/?p=1611
- taskstrike 14y agoah, I was mistaken there. What about this: http://www.scirra.com/arcade http://www.scirra.com/arcade
- tby 14y agowhy in the world would you pick a nazi as your character?! D:
- areeve 14y agoI'm curious as to your reasoning behind spending 2 years developing this in HTML5? The art style is great and all, but you could have knocked up a game like this in an engine like Unity within 3 months and deployed it to iOS, PC/MAC, even Xbox Arcade.
- hack_edu 14y agoProbably did it mostly as an excuse to learn HTML5 in depth. Cashing in is clearly not the goal, so how you deploy it matters little.
- JackdawX 14y agoI think that's an optimistic prediction for a game of professional quality, done by a single person. I reckon most of the work is edge cases, art & sound, tweaking, bug fixing, not working on the generic engine. You could save time by doing this though, as you say. I'm leaning more towards the idea of reusing code and trusting other peoples engines at this point. But we've all made our own engines and, as other posters have said, this is the guys hobby, and most likely a labour of love.
- shawnphoffman 14y agoVery cool. The sounds made my dog freak out like I've never seen her before. Good work!
- ralphholzmann 14y agoWhat's with the all seeing eye?
- yogrish 14y agowhy most of the games emulate Mario? I am not a gamer, but for me, the first impression appears to be like mario...though the plot and creatures are different.
- jeromeparadis 14y agoNice! It takes dedication to release something like this. The look is awesome, the atmosphere sounds creepy and intriguing. I haven't played it yet but looking forward to purchase it.
- donkeylipstick 14y agoThe dialogue scenes are way, way, way too long. To the point where I didn't even want to play anymore since the dialogue was taking too long.
- trifu 14y agocan you talk about your sales so far and if it's been promising?
- martinbc 14y agoGreat work! Needless to say, you have to play listening to Pink Floyd?
- comex 14y agoBug report: In Safari, holding down X makes the level disappear(!) instead of continuing to fire.
- fiblye 14y agoI don't even know how the hell that managed to happen. Was this the demo or the full version? The last time I tested the full version on Safari (~5 days ago), it ran just fine. I'll look into it.
- altschuler 14y agoAny way to transfer progress from demo to full?
- fiblye 14y agoYou should be able to open the Javascript console in the demo and run the following: JSON.stringify(states) Copy what's displayed. Then open the main game and do this in the Javascript console: states = JSON.parse(paste your copied data here) I actually did have that feature in the game, but I deactivated it once it seemed my apparent save corruption issue was gone (didn't want to bring attention to any possible bugginess). I should reactivate it in an update.
- scotty79 14y agoPlease consider allowing people to pay with bitcoins for your game. http://mtgox.com http://mtgox.com has a shopping cart that is trivial to integrate and allows people to pay with their bitcoins (also buy some if they don't have them yet).
- scotty79 14y agoSince I got downvoted I'd like to point out that I'm not trying to lure the author of this game to bitcoins or to mtgox and I'm not downplaying the integration effort for this purpose (it's really easy, I tried it). I'm just suggesting alternative mode of payment that would be useful fore some of his customers. You can set up mtgox cart so that all bitcoins you receive are immediately sold and money transfered to you so the whole process is transparent for the seller. (S)he doesn't have to have any knowledge or interest in bitcoins. You can set price in dollars and the amount the customer should pay in bitcoins is automatically determined. You'll also get more money for each dollar your customer pays than with PayPal.
- pacomerh 14y agoVery inspiring man, also love the music/fx. (High hopes for JS + HTML5)
- ommunist 14y agoPlay your destiny against the chtonic gods of despair. I like the setting. Great taste and gameplay looks well weighted. You rock, man! You shall carve your niche with it, but it won't be Quake. (Disclaimer: I formerly led JavaME games production)
- becomevocal 14y agoThis is great, and I have bought in support. Kudos on shipping!
- quattrofan 14y agoLove the strange atmospheric music, also the visual style is cool. Good job.
- mitsche 14y agoBought it on impulse because I love the aesthetics of it (both sound and imagery).
- treenyc 14y agoI like the theme of the game as well, very occult.
- padenot 14y agoThis does not work out of the box on current Firefox nightly (19).
- stackthatcode 14y agoAfter seeing the trailer, all I can say is: wow, just wow. The mood is a post-modernish film noir mixed with vintage 8-bit style. And the visual effects are striking. Very much looking forward to buying and playing. Lately, I've been spending a crap-load of time coding in JavaScript, and in spite of its obvious quirks (and haters) very much enjoy it. I'll be interested to see how you managed complexity on such a large code base. Kudos, man: you shipped.
- p0nce 14y agoI was very sceptic then I saw the trailer.
- sgdesign 14y agoI love the style and artwork, and if this was an iOS game I would definitely buy it. But for me the problem of browser-based games is just that: they're browser-based, and the browser is just not the environment I like to play in. I'm not familiar with what's involved in porting this to iOS but if you can, you should definitely consider it.
- fiblye 14y agoWould you pay for a PC game in general? Because it's essentially a desktop game that's (at the moment) only easily played through the browser due to its language. It doesn't require an internet connection, if that's an issue for you. As for an iOS port, it'd be nice, but it's simply not possible without me heavily modifying and diluting the game. Touchscreen controls wouldn't feel comfortable (maybe that's just me) and games of its difficulty and type don't port well. I've played other action-heavy 2D games on iOS, e.g. Dodonpachi, and so much needs to be sacrificed just to make it playable. If anything, I could maybe attempt an iPad port. There's no way it'd be comfortable on the iPhone, though, and I wouldn't feel right completely killing the difficulty just to make it playable.
- hcarvalhoalves 14y agoLove, love the art on this. You should host a playable demo on your site!