Top 10 Advantages of HTML5 in Game Development
Over the last few years, gaming has become one of the most popular mobile phone activities. Of course, there still remains a large gaming community using consoles and PC’s.
The fact that you can be connected to the Internet wherever you go, even when no Wi-Fi is available, has opened up a massive sector of development. For game designers, the quest to come up with the best game that offers an experience that players will want and which is also safe to play. Using HTML5 in game development makes a lot of sense for several reasons, including the fact that it is cross-browser and cross-platform, which is perfect for mobile apps and games.
Previously Adobe Flash Player was considered the best technology, and at the time, it did give us a new experience, but now HTML5 has been proven to be even more transformative. For lots of reasons, HTML5 is now the favourite development technology for web developers and game developers. It can offer both 3D and 2D graphics, coma offline assets storage, audio APIs, and full support for nearly every web browser imaginable.
So here are the top 10 advantages of using HTML5 in game development.
1. Optimised for Mobile Devices
Mobile traffic now makes up more than half of how we connect to the Internet. Although people obviously do still use desktop and laptops as well as tablet devices, it is important that everything created by developers is mobile friendly. HTML5 has the advantage of being wholly mobile-ready and means that websites can be built and apps can be produced that are entirely optimised for each individual mobile device available. There is nothing more frustrating than trying to use a website that has not been optimised for mobile use and is a sure-fire way to put customers off.
2. Cross-Browser Support
Of course, another thing that users have a choice over is the browser they use. Mac users tend to use safari, and there is Google Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Internet Explorer and more. Again, it is vital for developers to take this into consideration and make sure that everything they design is going to work on each different browser. Otherwise, you potentially exclude a portion of your intended audience. HTML5 doctype is explicitly designed with this in mind. It even offers access ability to users who might be using IE6 or a simple installation of JavaScript as these users will still be afforded access to the site seamlessly.
3. Simple Audio and Video Implementation
It almost goes without saying that a good game is going to require video and audio support. In the past, you would have the slightly frustrating requirement for Flash Player or some other third-party media player, and often this meant that games would grind to a halt until users had installed it onto their system. HTML5 has brought in lots of new elements, including the and tags which allow developers to bring in aspects of multimedia without any issue or complication.
4. Geolocation API
Everything we do in-app and game development is about catering to the needs of the user. With the HTML5 Geolocation API, you are able to automatically locate where your user is in the world and ensure that the content is catered to them. Of course, there are some consent issues here in order for you to be tracking the location, but due to the benefits of web browsing with Geolocation on, most people will be happy for this to take place.
5. Doctype
This is undoubtedly a backend improvement for the developer, as it cuts down on the coding and tags. Using the doctype tag <!DOCTYPE html> means you can get away without copying and pasting sections of code that look horrendous and are virtually unreadable. It also works with legacy versions of all browsers, including IE6.
6. Accessibility Enhancements
Another aspect of designing a good game or website is to ensure that access ability is available for all. This means that no matter what the screen size, Resolution orientation of the device being used, the experience will be the same for all users. Screen readers are more easily able to access the sections they require without any effort.
7. Code is Cleaner
Keeping your code clean is something that has been taught in classrooms around the world for web programming languages across every genre. HTML5 now makes it easier for you to do this as any semantic and descriptive code can be written cleanly and separated off in style form without any complex effort.
8. Specific Gaming Tag
As if all of this is not enough, there is also a specific <canvas> tag that has been added to HTML5 specifically for game development to ensure things are accessible and exciting to code.
9. Engagement
Also, within the new features, there is a drawing element that brings about the facility for animation and other essential user engagement elements. This means that HTML5 is now even better when it comes to marketing and selling your game.
Storage Improvements
Of course, storage is another prominent feature of game design, and HTML5 has made improvements here too. Whether its client-side database storage or cookie style storage, you get a much better level of security and also have capabilities for simultaneous storage.