Producing Games - Building JavaScript Games for Phones, Tablets, and Desktop - page 367

Chapter 30
Producing Games
This chapter covers several topics related to producing games. I talk first about designing HTML5
games and then about development. I briefly cover game asset production as well. Finally, you
see the operational aspects of producing games, such as how to collaborate with multiple people
on the same code and how to work on a game-production team. Both Mark Overmars and Peter
Vesterbacka share thoughts and tips about these topics throughout the text.
Peter Vesterbacka: “HTML5 and JavaScript have been called the future for a long
time when it comes to game development. They haven't quite lived up to their full
potential yet, but I see a lot of promise. At the same time, native development tools,
interfaces, and ease of use also have improved a lot. Of course, in an ideal world,
it would be great to be able to use JavaScript and HTML5 code all over the place.
I think there is room for both native apps and HTML5/JavaScript applications.”
Designing Games
This isn't a book about game design. Game design is a large field of study, and many topics have
been written on the subject. The topic Fundamentals of Game Design by Ernest Adams (New Riders,
2009) is a very good place to start reading about game design. Another interesting book is The Art of
Game Design: A Book of Lenses , by Jesse Schell (CRC Press, 2008).
Mark Overmars: “While designing our games, we always keep in mind that the code
needs to be efficient. For example, we won't design a game where it is important
that tens of thousands of characters move around on the screen, or where a lot of
visual things are happening at the same time, or where a very smooth motion is
crucial.”
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