JavaScript And The Gaming Industry
JavaScript is a fun and flexible programming language. It’s one of the core technologies of web development and can be used on both the front-end and the back-end.Common examples of JavaScript that you might use every day include the search box on Amazon, a news recap video embedded on The New York Times, or refreshing your Twitter feed.
Incorporating JavaScript improves the user experience of the web page by converting it from a static page into an interactive one. To recap, JavaScript adds behavior to web pages.
What is JavaScript used for?
JavaScript is mainly used for web-based applications and web browsers. But JavaScript is also used beyond the Web in software, servers and embedded hardware controls.
Here are some basic things JavaScript is used for:
1. Adding interactive behavior to web pages
JavaScript allows users to interact with web pages. There are almost no limits to the things you can do with JavaScript on a web page — these are just a few examples:
- Show or hide more information with the click of a button
- Change the color of a button when the mouse hovers over it
- Slide through a carousel of images on the homepage
- Zooming in or zooming out on an image
- Displaying a timer or count-down on a website
- Playing audio and video in a web page
- Displaying animations
- Using a drop-down hamburger menu
2. Creating web and mobile apps
Developers can use various JavaScript frameworks for developing and building web and mobile apps. JavaScript frameworks are collections of JavaScript code libraries that provide developers with pre-written code to use for routine programming features and tasks — literally a framework to build websites or web applications around.
Popular JavaScript front-end frameworks include React, React Native, Angular, and Vue. Many companies use Node.js, a JavaScript runtime environment built on Google Chrome’s JavaScript V8 engine. A few famous examples include Paypal, LinkedIn, Netflix, and Uber!
3. Building web servers and developing server applications
Beyond websites and apps, developers can also use JavaScript to build simple web servers and develop the back-end infrastructure using Node.js.
4. Game development
Of course, you can also use JavaScript to create browser games. These are a great way for beginning developers to practice their JavaScript skills.
Features of JavaScript :
- Versatile and robust
- Front-End friendly
- Back-End friendly
- Enables web applications
- Game Development
- Mobile Apps
JavaScript and the Gaming Industry
JavaScript can be used to make games using a variety of platforms and tools. Both 2d and 3d libraries can be used in combination with JavaScript to create fully-fledged games in the browser or external game engine platforms.
t should be noted that the majority of JavaScript game development focuses on creating games used for the browser. This in itself creates some limitations.
Common gaming aspects such as collision detection or other rendering tasks typically require heavy calculations using GPU computation. However, since we’re confined to the browser the computation power is not as powerful as other game rendering engines and technologies.
As a result, JavaScript is currently not a sufficient tool for making AAA games. The lack of rendering pipelines, true OOP and advanced memory management hinders it for these types of titles.
Additionally, since the majority of JavaScript game frameworks are also targeting the browser. These games will essentially not be native. However, just because the majority of the games are targeting the browser, doesn’t delegitimize the scope and capabilities that some JavaScript games are striving to achieve.
After all, the power of browsers is increasing significantly year by year. It’s only a matter of time where they can provide experiences comparable to other game platforms.
Having a sturdy framework is necessary in order to create an exceptional game. Multiple game advancement frameworks are now available at high numbers, they are better known as game engines.
Let’s look at some of the examples of game engines :
- Three.Js (Cool Javascript Game Engine)
- Famo.Us (Javascript Game Engine Open Source)
- Goo Engine (Javascript 3D Game Engine)
- CooperLicht (Javascript Based Game Engine)
- Voxel.Js (Android Based Javascript Game Engine)
- Godot (Game Engine For Easy Coding)
- Unity (2D Game Engine With IDE)
- Allegro (Javascript Game Engine)
Some external tools/frameworks used along with JavaScript frameworks include:
Some of the most popular frameworks for mobile game development with JavaScript include:
Few examples of diverse games built using JavaScript are :
- HEXGL-HexGL is a fast-paced racing game built primarily with HTML5, JavaScript and WebGL.
- Underun - Underrun is another sleek production, that exhibits the artistic vision that can be used in JavaScript games.
- CrossCode -Quite possibly the most comprehensive JavaScript game available. CrossCode was created using HTML and ImpactJS.
- PolyCraft- Polycraft offers a resource collection, 3d tower defense game. Its probably one of the most polished JavaScript games available and it run incredibly smoothly in most web browsers.
Conclusion :
Overall, it’s evident that JavaScript games are still early in their lifecycle. The depth of these games are destined to evolve over time. What is particularly impressive are the tools available to construct creative browser experiences.
And although the depth of the games are in their infancy, to underestimate JavaScript game development could be quite unwise. The sheer talent of the developers working at Google, Microsoft, Mozilla, and Apple will ensure that browser-based development becomes much more viable, especially given how lucrative the mobile gaming market has been.
As the power of the browser advances, JavaScript games will also take a step forward. It is an interesting space to be in as the potential reach of a JavaScript game is only limited by a device that can not use a modern browser.
