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Hmm, while the games made with it look quite good, I'm not sure whether to call it a "true" HTML5 game engine or not. You have to download a plugin for your bro

by WA 14y ago

Hmm, while the games made with it look quite good, I'm not sure whether to call it a "true" HTML5 game engine or not. You have to download a plugin for your browser to play these games.

Drakim 14y ago
huh. I would say that it's not really a HTML5 game in any sense of the word if you have to download a binary blob that runs in your browser window.
- dr3daemon 14y ago
  The engine uses WebGL. If your browser supports WebGL you are good to go, if not, we have a plugin that allows you to still play the game.
  - Drakim 14y ago
    Ah, I see. That makes sense.
donpark 14y ago
Which plugin are you referring to? I was able to try Save the Day, Polycraft, and Score Rush [1] w/o installing anything. [1] http://news.turbulenz.com/post/49430669886/turbulenz-engine-goes-open-source http://news.turbulenz.com/post/49430669886/turbulenz-engine-...
ch0wn 14y ago
You don't. You can run https://turbulenz.com/games/polycraft/ https://turbulenz.com/games/polycraft/ in a modern browser without any plugins. The plugin only exists as fallback for older browsers.
manuletroll 14y ago
That's absolutely not the case, I just tried their games with all plugins disabled in Chrome and it works perfectly. This looks like a great engine!
jamesaustin 14y ago
This is a classic problem of trying to be helpful and it's confusing people until they understand the details. The engine uses HTML5 and WebGL. When the required APIs aren't present it falls back onto a plugin. This is supposed to be helpful for developers because it means the games will work on pretty much all browsers include IE. But it confuses people because some people think a plugin is required. So what's better - 1. Not providing the fall back and telling users they need to switch browsers? Good for helping people to understand it doesn't require a plugin, but not great for developers who want everyone to be able to play their game, or 2. Providing the fallback. Additionally, it's worth noting that the games and engine don't have to provide any plugin support. It is actually the game site application code that is doing the detection and trying to be helpful. The Turbulenz Engine is an HTML5 / WebGL framework.
- WA 14y ago
  Yes you're right. Thing is, I used Safari 6 to check it out which has WebGL disabled by default. The site offered a download immediately instead of hinting that I might have to enable WebGL. The fallback is quite a good idea, but it should've detected that I do have a modern browser which simply might be misconfigured for the game experience.
  - jamesaustin 14y ago
    Yep, you're right. We could definitely do a better job of detection. But at the moment we're looking for the 'feature' rather than the browser.
- ensignavenger 14y ago
  An alternate approach would be to prompt the user, telling them that using an updated browser with WebGL support (Obviously worded better for the non-technical) would not require a plugin, but give them the option to download a plugin if that is what they want to do.
  - jamesaustin 14y ago
    Yep, you're also right. We should improve the case you describe. Thanks for the feedback.
melling 14y ago
Now I'm curious. Which browser are you running? The two major browsers support WebGL.

by WA 14y ago

Hmm, while the games made with it look quite good, I'm not sure whether to call it a "true" HTML5 game engine or not. You have to download a plugin for your browser to play these games.

Drakim 14y ago

huh. I would say that it's not really a HTML5 game in any sense of the word if you have to download a binary blob that runs in your browser window.

dr3daemon 14y ago
The engine uses WebGL. If your browser supports WebGL you are good to go, if not, we have a plugin that allows you to still play the game.
- Drakim 14y ago
  Ah, I see. That makes sense.

donpark 14y ago

Which plugin are you referring to? I was able to try Save the Day, Polycraft, and Score Rush [1] w/o installing anything. [1] http://news.turbulenz.com/post/49430669886/turbulenz-engine-goes-open-source http://news.turbulenz.com/post/49430669886/turbulenz-engine-...

ch0wn 14y ago

You don't. You can run https://turbulenz.com/games/polycraft/ https://turbulenz.com/games/polycraft/ in a modern browser without any plugins. The plugin only exists as fallback for older browsers.

manuletroll 14y ago

That's absolutely not the case, I just tried their games with all plugins disabled in Chrome and it works perfectly. This looks like a great engine!

jamesaustin 14y ago

This is a classic problem of trying to be helpful and it's confusing people until they understand the details. The engine uses HTML5 and WebGL. When the required APIs aren't present it falls back onto a plugin. This is supposed to be helpful for developers because it means the games will work on pretty much all browsers include IE. But it confuses people because some people think a plugin is required. So what's better - 1. Not providing the fall back and telling users they need to switch browsers? Good for helping people to understand it doesn't require a plugin, but not great for developers who want everyone to be able to play their game, or 2. Providing the fallback. Additionally, it's worth noting that the games and engine don't have to provide any plugin support. It is actually the game site application code that is doing the detection and trying to be helpful. The Turbulenz Engine is an HTML5 / WebGL framework.

WA 14y ago
Yes you're right. Thing is, I used Safari 6 to check it out which has WebGL disabled by default. The site offered a download immediately instead of hinting that I might have to enable WebGL. The fallback is quite a good idea, but it should've detected that I do have a modern browser which simply might be misconfigured for the game experience.
- jamesaustin 14y ago
  Yep, you're right. We could definitely do a better job of detection. But at the moment we're looking for the 'feature' rather than the browser.
ensignavenger 14y ago
An alternate approach would be to prompt the user, telling them that using an updated browser with WebGL support (Obviously worded better for the non-technical) would not require a plugin, but give them the option to download a plugin if that is what they want to do.
- jamesaustin 14y ago
  Yep, you're also right. We should improve the case you describe. Thanks for the feedback.

melling 14y ago

Now I'm curious. Which browser are you running? The two major browsers support WebGL.