Web Based dame development. Making a language choise

[ktsangop]

Hello everyone!

I would like some suggestions on picking a game development technology/language.

My requirements are :
1) On line / Web based game only
2) 2d animation only (for the time being). Using mostly sprites and modelling only simple 2d shapes.
3) No need for an advanced physics engine. I am starting a slot machine game like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYOvcPnBi-A
4) Game should run on a browser only and not require a client side application to be installed.
5) Will run on windows OS machines exclusively.

My experience is :
1) More than 3 years experience of system/interface programming using C/C++/Visual C++/python
2) Basic knowledge of web programming PHP/HTML/CSS/MySQL
3) Little knowledge of DirectX programming.

I know that there are 2 basic rivals when it comes to on-line gaming. Flash/Actionscript and JAVA.
The company i work for has developed Flash and Java games. So there is code i can reuse/study.
But they abandoned Flash because it added too much overhad and was CPU intensive (at least 5 years ago).
So Java is my only choise now that i will start game development.
Or is it not????

Which brings me to my question:
Is there an alternative way to go in web based game development?
Is it worth the trouble?

I was thinking of a more open source way to go such as using only HTML5/Javasctipt, but i have no clue if there are any kind of tools to help me for game development.

Any suggestions are most welcome!

[deltascrow]

I was thinking of a more open source way to go such as using only HTML5/Javasctipt, but i have no clue if there are any kind of tools to help me for game development.

You were right. If you want a simple 2D game, HTML5 is the right way to go. If you want to know where to get started, or rather, if you do know where to get started and want to look into some pre-made stuff before, go here: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/demos/detail/runfield

Download the source and look through it. Some pretty useful tools are available at http://www.html5gamedevelopment.com/html5-tools.

[ktsangop]

Thanks for the links!
Very useful for start.

So if use html5/javascript without WebGL (not supported by older Graphics Cards), do you think i will be able to produce a commercially acceptable product?

Because all i could find was experimental stuff.
Perhaps it is too soon to pick it as a proffessional solution...(?)

Thanks again!

[deltascrow]

I believe you should use WebGL if you want to produce something that is commercially viable. Though, if you do want to know, there are commercially viable games made with plain HTML, PHP, and images, such as Travian, which I used to play; and believe me, people are ready to throw money at that game. The concept is what essentially matters. About your second question, whether or not it is too soon to pick a professional solution, that solely depends upon you.

[ktsangop]

It seems that using only javascript/html5 is not enough for producing high quality motion graphics.
It handles sprite animations quite impressively but it really struggles with moving objects.

BTW i used EASELJS library.

P.S. I mangaged to code 3 animations in a couple of hours without any previous knowledge, and i remember doing the same for the first time in DirectX... it took me almost a week...
:)

I have to try WebGL i suppose.. but i remember OpenGL being more difficult than DirectX and i am afraid of it..!

[ktsangop]

I would like you to check out a sample i made and give me any instructions of how i can increase performance.

Open this link :
http://www.psygnus.t15.org/reels_test.html

It simulates a slot machine reel spinning with the help of TweenJS library.

In the PC i am working right now (core 2 duo, 2GB RAM) it is tearing and flickers quite much.
Is there anyway to improve performance and eliminate (as much as possible) the flickering?

Can i use something like double buffering in HTML5/javascript or any other technique?

Any suggestions would be great!

Thanks!