Html5 advantages

[cyberparkstudios]

Hate to show my lack of knowledge on this topic, but I am not totally sure what all the benefits of the Html5  api, versus building apps presently with the corona sdk for mobile devices, and if you want you can build for the mac or pc as well using the standard sdk.

My guess is the Html5 may help with dealing with all the various device resolutions and display sizes?  Maybe there is a way to market your apps that are done with Html bypassing the mobile stores?  I just am not sure.

Can anyone maybe list the advantages to using Html5 here as part of the Corona SDK?

Thanks

Bob

[roaminggamer]

Bob,

To me the advantages and benefits are:

#1 It gives one another way to distribute content and thus to get games in front or more eyeballs.  This gives one other monetization routes as well as ways to show off a game and or advertise it.

#2 If you only target HTML5 (and assuming you have a server or a place to host the game),

• It is easier than making a desktop release as you don’t need to sign the app, upload it to a store, …
• You’re 99% guaranteed the platform it is run on will have much higher computing power than almost all mobile devices, including more memory, more capable CPUs, possibly integrated video cards, regardless you will typically have much higher GPU capabilities, …

#3 You can easily take advantage of a huge pool of JavaScript (and other) code by integrating via self-written plugins: https://github.com/develephant/corona-html5-plugin-boilerplate

There are probably more numbers 4, 5, 6, … but those are the top things that come to mind for me.

[anon63346430]

To be fair let’s also look at disadvantages…

#1 and probably the biggest: AFAIK unable to monetise via ads or IAP

#2 not all plugins work yet

#3 not a proven platform yet (Corona’s implementation)

#4 inability to call scripts from another domain without having to proxy them

#5 large games are slow to load compared to having an app installed

@ed do correct me if these things are now wrong as I am not 100% current with it.

[roaminggamer]

I value responses from @SGS as a proven game developer making a real living from Corona games.  

However, I am also very happy Corona HTML5 is a thing, even if it is currently imperfect.

These are some counter-comments I’d present.

#1 Monetization - I don’t think we’ll be seeing a huge rush to self monetizing via ads, but instead users will upload their HTML5 to traditional web game sites and let them put ads around the display area.

#2 Plugins -  Agreed, but I think, many of the plugins simply don’t apply (unless one wants to port an existing game that uses them). 

Also, new DIY plugins are just fine so I don’t think there is a problem there.

#3 Unproven - HTML5 is proven, but I think you mean there could be bugs, surprise missing features, features with different behavior than other targets in Corona’s implementation of HTML5.  These are all valid points.

#4 Cross domain anything - Agreed, and I hope this is solved by Corona or a smart developer. 

I am ignorant of the underlying causes of this, but I too see that this is something that can make it hard to develop certain kinds of games.

#5 Large Game Loading and Startup Times - Agreed.   First loads are slow and in some cases I’ve seen slow startups after the initial load.  That said, small games are fine so many of the developer here are good to go.

Unfortunately, I don’t think we’ll see a monetized HTML5 Designer City hooked into the same back-end as the mobile versions soon.

[Develephant]

Hi,

Just to throw in my 2 cents.

#1 You could easily integrate your own ads directly on the page hosting your game/app. I’m sure Corona will come up with a monetization of some type at some point.

#2 Can’t argue that point. I guess it depends on what your needs are. But they are not very difficult to write.

#3 I’m not sure if you’re talking Corona HTML5 specifically, but HTML5 games are well proven http://html5games.com/ and that thing called Facebook. There are quite a few mature HTML5 engines available.

#4 This has been misrepresented in my opinion, as it depends on the service you are calling and/or how you’re hosting your game/app.

#5 This is going to be based on how you handle your assets and level loading. But any HTML5 game will have to deal with this.

Most developers here are focused on the mobile space, but the HTML5 game space is a huge market. The addition of HTML5 builds is a fantastic gift for Corona devs.

EDIT: @Ed beat me to some of these points, so apologies for repetition. 

-dev

[anon63346430]

@dev openSSL and utf8 at a bare minimum.  Facebook, ideally as I have a lot of code tied into SSO.

For many reasons I wouldn’t host frontend and backend on the same server (I am sure you understand why) so cross site scripting limitation is a thing.

I think the concept is amazing… just it is not for me (yet).  Now Switch support is a whole different story!

For you guys that do client stuff I’m sure its a great boost.

[cyberparkstudios]

Many Many Thanks to each of you.

It is great to get such detailed thoughtful responses from 3 of the best devs on the forum.  Some excellent points from each of you that I will devour with my simple little mind.

Thanks for taking your valuable time… hopefully other devs, particularly the newbies can read and digest this as well.

Bob

[Develephant]

Hi,

My general feeling is that there won’t be much “hybrid” development (I could be wrong). Devs will either be making mobile apps or HTML5 apps with Corona.

Using some of the other HTML5 engines in the past, I am just really stoked that Corona is supporting the HTML5 builds. It blows away the competition as far as ease of development is concerned.

-dev

[Develephant]

Hi,

@SGS - As far as hosting the frontend and backend on different servers it’s just a matter of setting up CORS properly. I do agree on the openSSL and utf8.

-dev

[remiduchalard]

With HTML5 you can update the app when you want. You won’t have user who complain about a 6 month old version.

User are more likely to load a website than a new apps. And if the user like the app on HTML5 you can purpose to download the app and keep the savegame by copy past a online savegame id

[cyberparkstudios]

@remiduchalard 

Thanks for your input. Very interesting thought.  I was not clear on what you meant by …

‘keep the save game by copy past a online save game id’

Bob

[rob]

@cyberparkstudios, if you’ve been playing a game on Android and you want to switch to iOS, wouldn’t it be nice to continue your progress on your new device? The came concept applies to HTML5 apps. You can discover the app on HTML5 and decide to get the mobile app version. It would be great to have your saved game data ported to your new device.  I believe that’s what @remiduchalard was referring to.

Rob

[anon63346430]

I allow cross platform gameplay but that does require a suitable backend and also a mechanism to identify the user across platforms.  4

I use Facebook SSO for this but there may be other mechanisms like username/password combos that would work.

[cyberparkstudios]

Thanks Rob & Sphere for clearing that up for me.

[remiduchalard]

@cyberparkstudios sorry for my english.

I only wanted to show how we can share the progress between different device. You save the progress on your server in a file with a random name and you display the name to the user like this the user can enter it in his device and get back his progress.

If it’s not crystal clear you can try gate of heroes and see how it’s work from the user interface.

[cyberparkstudios]

Remi,

Thanks for the clarification. I understand now.  Your game ‘Gate of Heroes’ …is a really good tower defense game. Nicely done!

Bob

[roaminggamer]

Bob,

To me the advantages and benefits are:

#1 It gives one another way to distribute content and thus to get games in front or more eyeballs.  This gives one other monetization routes as well as ways to show off a game and or advertise it.

#2 If you only target HTML5 (and assuming you have a server or a place to host the game),

• It is easier than making a desktop release as you don’t need to sign the app, upload it to a store, …
• You’re 99% guaranteed the platform it is run on will have much higher computing power than almost all mobile devices, including more memory, more capable CPUs, possibly integrated video cards, regardless you will typically have much higher GPU capabilities, …

#3 You can easily take advantage of a huge pool of JavaScript (and other) code by integrating via self-written plugins: https://github.com/develephant/corona-html5-plugin-boilerplate

There are probably more numbers 4, 5, 6, … but those are the top things that come to mind for me.

[anon63346430]

To be fair let’s also look at disadvantages…

#1 and probably the biggest: AFAIK unable to monetise via ads or IAP

#2 not all plugins work yet

#3 not a proven platform yet (Corona’s implementation)

#4 inability to call scripts from another domain without having to proxy them

#5 large games are slow to load compared to having an app installed

@ed do correct me if these things are now wrong as I am not 100% current with it.

[roaminggamer]

I value responses from @SGS as a proven game developer making a real living from Corona games.  

However, I am also very happy Corona HTML5 is a thing, even if it is currently imperfect.

These are some counter-comments I’d present.

#1 Monetization - I don’t think we’ll be seeing a huge rush to self monetizing via ads, but instead users will upload their HTML5 to traditional web game sites and let them put ads around the display area.

#2 Plugins -  Agreed, but I think, many of the plugins simply don’t apply (unless one wants to port an existing game that uses them). 

Also, new DIY plugins are just fine so I don’t think there is a problem there.

#3 Unproven - HTML5 is proven, but I think you mean there could be bugs, surprise missing features, features with different behavior than other targets in Corona’s implementation of HTML5.  These are all valid points.

#4 Cross domain anything - Agreed, and I hope this is solved by Corona or a smart developer. 

I am ignorant of the underlying causes of this, but I too see that this is something that can make it hard to develop certain kinds of games.

#5 Large Game Loading and Startup Times - Agreed.   First loads are slow and in some cases I’ve seen slow startups after the initial load.  That said, small games are fine so many of the developer here are good to go.

Unfortunately, I don’t think we’ll see a monetized HTML5 Designer City hooked into the same back-end as the mobile versions soon.

[Develephant]

Hi,

Just to throw in my 2 cents.

#1 You could easily integrate your own ads directly on the page hosting your game/app. I’m sure Corona will come up with a monetization of some type at some point.

#2 Can’t argue that point. I guess it depends on what your needs are. But they are not very difficult to write.

#3 I’m not sure if you’re talking Corona HTML5 specifically, but HTML5 games are well proven http://html5games.com/ and that thing called Facebook. There are quite a few mature HTML5 engines available.

#4 This has been misrepresented in my opinion, as it depends on the service you are calling and/or how you’re hosting your game/app.

#5 This is going to be based on how you handle your assets and level loading. But any HTML5 game will have to deal with this.

Most developers here are focused on the mobile space, but the HTML5 game space is a huge market. The addition of HTML5 builds is a fantastic gift for Corona devs.

EDIT: @Ed beat me to some of these points, so apologies for repetition. 

-dev