The Web Game Developer's Cookbook: Using JavaScript and Html5 to Develop Games

Want to start building great web games with HTML5 and JavaScript? Moving from Flash or other game platforms? Already building HTML5 games and want to get better and faster at it? This book brings together everything you need: expert guidance, sample projects, and working code!

Evan Burchard walks you step-by-step through quickly building 10 popular types of games. Each chapter implements a game within a well-understood genre; each introduces a different free, open source, and easy-to-use HTML5 game engine; and each is accompanied with full JavaScript source code listings.

Each game “recipe” uses tested and well-proven patterns that address the development challenges unique to that genre, and each shows how to use existing tools and engines to build complete substantial game projects in just hours. Need a quick JavaScript refresher? Evan Burchard provides that, too!

Coverage includes:

• Mastering the full HTML5/JavaScript toolset: browser, text editor, terminal, JavaScript console, game engine, and more
• Accelerating development with external libraries and proven patterns
• Managing browser differences between IE, Firefox, and Chrome
• Creating interactive fiction “gamebooks” that leverage new CSS3 features
• Building party game experiences around the lightweight atom.js engine
• Developing puzzle games with the easel.js graphics rendering engine
• Writing platformers with melonJS and its integrated tilemap editor
• Coding intense 2-player fighting games for web browsers with game.js
• Building shooters with the DOM-based gameQuery renderer
• Creating convincing pseudo-3D first-person experiences for RPGs or racing games
• Engaging players with content that encourages exploration
• Building RTS games that incorporate server components

Turn to The Web Game Developer’s Cookbook for proven, expert answers - and the code you need to implement them. It’s all you need to jumpstart any web game project, and quickly create compelling games that sell!

The 50 billion dollar video game industry started with small teams of hackers.  Even as large studios have come to dominate the market, there is a renaissance brewing of small, independent teams working on games.  Distribution platforms supporting these efforts have sprung up by the dozens, but nowhere is this revolution more pronounced than in the humble and often overlooked web browser arena.  Backed by advancements in browser technology, hundreds of free game engines are available that allow even a solo game designer to create games that are memorable, personal, fun, and potentially lucrative.  Whether you are interested in games, web technologies, or just getting started with programming, this book can be your first step to accessing this new and wonderful world of web game creation.

This book covers:

• How to create games quickly in 10 different top game genres, including: RPGs, FPSs, and platformers
• HTML5, CSS3, and browser-based JavaScript APIs
• JavaScript frameworks such as jQuery and node.js
• A guide to choosing and working with free and open source game engines to create games
• A reference of inspirational games, idioms, and common task
• Image asset creation and implementation
• A JavaScript primer

Evan Burchard recognizes that he is not the first or last person driven to learn programming by an interest in creating games, and seeks to empower others to take full advantage of the modern, free, and game-friendly web.

In addition to designing games with electricity, ice, fire, and the latest browser technologies, he enjoys extremely long walks (his current record is Massachusetts to Iowa). His languages of choice are Ruby and JavaScript, which he uses daily as a lead engineer at Indiegogo.

Introduction

Chapter 1: Quiz Game

Chapter 2: Interactive Fiction (Zork, Choose Your Own Adventure books)

Chapter 3: Party, Rhythm, Button Mashing (Rock Band, Mario Party)

Chapter 4: Puzzle/Arcade (Bejeweled)

Chapter 5: Platformer (Super Mario Bros, Sonic the Hedgehog)

Chapter 6: Beat ‘em up/fighting (Double Dragon, Castle Crashers)

Chapter 7: Scrolling Shooters: Top (Galaga) and Side (Gradius)

Chapter 8: FPS (Similar to Doom)

Chapter 9: RPGs: Action (Similar to Legend of Zelda) and JRPG (Final Fantasy)

Chapter 10: RTS (Starcraft)

Chapter 11: Conclusion: Leveling Up

Appendix A: Javascript Basics

Appendix B: It won’t work! (Troubleshooting and Debugging)

Appendix C: Adapting this book for other genres

Appendix D: Engine Feature Comparison

Index