Forums » Help » How to start with HTML5 game programming

Hi,

I have heard this friendly community from a book called "Introduing HTML5 game development" :) So here I am just to find some help from you guys.

My background is that I'm a software developer. Have been dealing with PHP, JS HTML & CSS for few years. Currently, I'm a front end developer working with angularjs to create simple page applicaion. So in general, I'm not a stranger for development or front end tech.

Personally, I also like playing games since my childhood, I have the dream to make my own game for a long time but I didn't do it until now. But I'm very confused about how to start with it, since somebody said it requires a lot of math knowledge, I really would like to hear from you guys to get some advises about this.

The final purpose is to make a multi-player online game using HTML5, CSS3, nodejs etc. if I set this as the goal to archive, where should I start?

Thanks in advance for your input!

Where do you start? Tetris.

Read this: How do I make games?

Forget about the multiplayer online game for now. You can do this after you've done 10 other games that are more simple.

You don't need a lot of Math, if you don't write an engine. However, you need some Math. How would you rotate an entity to point towards your mouse for example?

Most games have some sort of physics and while there are libraries for almost everything, a bit of a mathematical understanding isn't too bad. Makes life easier.

Quote from Apiheld
Where do you start? Tetris.

Read this: How do I make games?

Forget about the multiplayer online game for now. You can do this after you've done 10 other games that are more simple.

You don't need a lot of Math, if you don't write an engine. However, you need some Math. How would you rotate an entity to point towards your mouse for example?

Most games have some sort of physics and while there are libraries for almost everything, a bit of a mathematical understanding isn't too bad. Makes life easier.

Thanks Apiheld!

As a beginner, a following question is, should I buy the impact to start with it? Or I should first experience with some other free libraries and get back once I got some experience?

What libraries would you suggest in order to make 2D games (not intend to do anything relate to 3D at the moment)

Thanks!

Impact is great to get started, especially if you know JS already. It gives you a framework to get some decent results pretty fast. Make sure to watch the intro video to make your first game in 15 minutes: http://impactjs.com/documentation/video-tutorial-create-a-game

If you don't have the cash, you could take a look at phaser. It is less mature but you can get some results, too.

But generally speaking, I'm pretty happy with Impact, because the code is very readable. You can have a look into the engine and see how stuff works, there are tons of plugins (but you don't need some at first), there are tons of open source projects (like my own Tetris) to learn from.

So, basically there is no need to get another engine or framework to get you started. It's probably the other way around. The more mature the engine, the more you can focus on game mechanics. Polishing a game is everything!

Edit: Some arguments against phaser here: http://impactjs.com/forums/impact-engine/webgl-and-impactjs/page/1#post29226

Impact is a pretty solid library to learn game development with because the code is written in a very simple and sane way, which means less "fighting" with the code to accomplish what you want.

However, I've heard some of the other free libraries are also decent. Phaser for example.

Whatever you work on first, it helps if it's exciting. Tetris is an OK idea, but if that's not exciting or interesting to you, maybe pick something that is.

I like the Gameboy Pokemon games. I also like the idea of making an MMO. So I enjoyed this tutorial on making a top-down MMO style game.

Depends what you want to make.

Btw. this article Apiheld linked is 14 years old but still a timeless piece of advice. Thanks for the link.