Why HTML5?

I have a list of things I’d like to learn about and experiment with for MakingVsPlaying and I decided that HTML5 fits my life the best right now. It applies to some of what I do at work (I admit I have some knowledge here already, but not of version 5 specific tags), it applies to this website, and it is a platform independent language. Also, at work I have access to a learning service called SkillSoft and I found it has three sequential classes on HTML5. I have to take a few classes a year anyway so I’ll achieve two goals at once!

How?

First, I wanted to warm up on a quick overview of what was new in HTML5. I found an article fitting that description with a quick Google search.

After the classes from SkillSoft (or during/in between them), I’ve got another source of examples that I’m looking forward to exploring. Have a look at Hakim’s website and try out some of his games and experiments, especially Sinuous!

Additionally, I’ve found a list of HTML5 game engines (generally also using Javascript) here. I’m going to try a couple of them and find one that I like as I have an idea for a game to build a prototype for.

Expected Results

I expect that I’ll be adding a page (or pages) to this site for me to experiment on. My general goal is to share source for any experiments that I share in this or future learning efforts. However, if I come upon something I think could be turned into a more developed game I might hold onto it for a bit longer and find something else to share more immediately.

After I choose an HTML5 engine, there is this game idea I’ve been incubating for a couple months concerning decomposition. Don’t worry I won’t link you to the wiki article… The original idea came from a walk I took where a particular bit of moss growing under a tree gave me some inspiration. Describing my thoughts so far to a couple friends has confirmed that it might gross some people out. But really it could be “skinned” any number of ways, so first I need to see if the mechanics would be any fun.