Defining our SAP model Post #3

Currently we are doing our best to scale-back game features and functionality in order to solidify a SAP (simple as possible) model for our minimal working product (this is simply for scholastic requirements, we will not be stopping at an incomplete game just because we've graduated).

The necessary graphic simplification has caused me (Clay, well... Zach too of course) a little headache about what Client-side implementation we want to use for graphics.  JMonkey Engine 3 has proved to be too cumbersome for our needs, and additionally would require the user to download our client-side app.

Our main requirement for UX (user experience) is the option to go mobile (really just for tablets because of screen real estate requirements) with our game.  i.e.  having touch/swipe controls and a slick UI (user interface) for an RTS style game.  Ideally making the mobile experience of our game as rich and responsive as the PC version.  Something our group believes has yet to be done successfully for the RTS genre.

This requirement has steered us towards Javascript (WebGL/HTML5) for our game client.  Javascript has a huge support community and some great books on HTML5 game development as well as a "native" WebGL API called ThreeJS (which is also amazingly documented).  We had initially ignored Javascript simply due to our misunderstanding of it's graphics processing power.

Examples like this (www.chromeexperiments.com/detail/100000-stars) have caused us to believe that WebGL/HTML5 will have all the GPU power we should need especially if we keep our graphics clean and use HTML5/CSS best-practice for rendering optimizations.

Zach has completed the Host "game shell"* and much of the server functionality for game initiation (logging on/off, dropped players, etc...).

Recap:
We are moving forward with a Javascript (WebGL) implementation for the client.  Focusing on UX for our SAP leaving us the job of re-factoring graphics implementations after gameplay/UX is fully functional.


*By "game shell", I mean the data structures/file system of the game minus any of the actual game logic for Unit behaviors.