Javascript 3d..WebGL

[hallsofvallhalla]

I have been toying with 3D through the browser using WebGL and was just curious if anyone else has any experience with it or any engines they have tried. I am currently toying with copperlicht and 3JS

[Jackolantern]

I learned years ago 3D isn't for me, but for some perverse reason I still kind of keep tabs on it. Copperlicht to me seems like one of the better straight-up WebGL engines. However, Turbulenz is by far the most impressive 3D I have seen in the browser. It uses some tricks and I think even a plugin to ensure it can work on IE as well (IE is a huge weakness for WebGL, and one that I believe Copperlicht ignores). But I believe it is pluginless on the better browsers.

[Chromeozone]

Shhhhhh
http://alternativaplatform.com/en/

[Jackolantern]

That is Flash, though. True that Flash has some decent 3D. It is also heading the way of the Dodo. More and more people are moving to exclusively accessing the web from mobile devices, and Flash just isn't there (true Flash is on Android, but the performance is far too poor to run any kind of 3D through it at all).

[a_bertrand]

Well any JS intensive site (like my work in progress) is anyhow way too much for a mobile device. 3D or not, flash or not doesn't change here.

[Jackolantern]

True, but at least the technology is moving forward, and one day HTML5, WebGL, etc. will work on mobile devices perfectly. Flash will never come to iOS, and it is officially dead on all mobile platforms it was ever made on. So Flash is a dead-end for mobile, and will never be 3D capable there, but HTML5 and allied technologies are advancing rapidly on mobile

[hallsofvallhalla]

I got accepted into Play canvas beta and very pleased with it so far. It has a web based world editor, collaboration development, model optimizer and a 3d api. Will update on my progress

[a_bertrand]

For sure I would not pick Flash yet as main development platform, but I'm somewhat still skeptic about JS. I don't know if developers really accept to give away sources without even compilation for example, but there is more, like having to load all files separately (a good jar equivalent would be better). I don't know if the syntax is good enough to have a clean code, etc...

[Jackolantern]

The openness of source is definitely a problem for the web to really take over as a game distribution channel. Right now there are people fighting tooth and nail to keep DRM out of the HTML5 umbrella. Whether you don't mind DRM or you hate it (no one really likes it, right? So those are the only options), the truth is that things like Netflix can't exist without it because no movie publisher will put up completely unprotected movies. Just like AAA game companies won't put games with $10M budgets in the browser with the JS code and assets just sitting there, able to be copied and pasted, put on torrent, etc. While the idea of a game company even doing that seems like a fantasy right now, in the coming years it may not be as browsers advance so rapidly.

[hallsofvallhalla]

It is a single simple solution that is not if but when. At some point someone will come up with a solution and change it all. Kind of like websockets. When using async ajax we were all like "well my issue with js and ajax is I want something more sync and yet easy to use", then nodeJS came along and problem solved. I realize we are talking about two different things but no doubt there is a unthought of solution for hiding code, single file compression, or whatever. The fact HTML5 has blown up so fast says a lot. The fact flash was so big and has fallen so fast says even more.