WebGL Framework

Question

I plan to write a 3D FPS game based on WebGL.

• Should I use some WebGL environment?
• What is the most active and popular WebGL library today? Does it support LOD, Heightmaps, COLLADA and some material system?

Thank.

Answer 1

Surprised no one mentioned Three.js . It has a strong community that adds new features on a regular basis. You can try and play with him on the WebGL playground:

http://webglplayground.net/

There is a Three.js template for new projects.

Answer 2

Yes, you should definitely use the WebGL framework, this will save you a lot of work.

The WebGL ecosystem is currently in such a rapid state of change that it is quite difficult to choose a specific library. However, of all the libraries I've seen, I would suggest Copperlicht, as it seems to target FPS games in particular. There are so few published WebGL games that it’s hard to say which library is popular.

Answer 3

You can also take a look at GLGE and SceneJS. As Liam says, there are no established leaders yet, but from what I saw, the two and Copperlicht are the most talked about. SceneJS in particular has a very active mailing list.

Answer 4

I recently looked at various WebGL libraries.

SceneJS is the one I've already experimented with. It is lightweight and focused solely on creating and manipulating the scene graph. The objects and scene graph data are defined in JSON, which I enjoyed working with. Graph nodes are later discovered by the identifier and can be managed by them.

Comprehensive documentation is provided, although there are some bright holes. Good community support through the Google group.

Compared to GLGE and Copperlicht, this is very short on features. No skeletal animation, no collision detection, no particle system, no ambient light!

In the future I will look at GLGE, C3DL and the WebGL port CubicVR.

Answer 5

About a year has passed since you asked, and WebGL now ships in firefox and chrome and firefox for Android.

If I thought about it now, I think that I will go with GLGE for beginners in OpenGL, SpiderGL , if you already know OpenGL, and maybe look at PhiloGL if you are an ExtJS / Sencha developer and how this style of work works. Sencha Touch will make more sense for a 3D application when the built-in web kit on mobile devices comes with WebGL.

Answer 6

Several new options arose after this question was first asked.

For games, Turbulenz has a very good library: http://biz.turbulenz.com/developers

Playcanvas seems to be good too: https://playcanvas.com/

Depending on your needs regarding download size, Unity may also be a good choice. With it, you can export your game to almost any platform. The only drawback is the relatively large files that it produces. http://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/webgl-gettingstarted.html

Answer 7

There is a WebGL library dedicated to the development and implementation of web games called Babylon.js. http://www.babylonjs.com

Its strong advantage is that it provides many rendering effects in the library, and you can simply call these functions.

Of course, Three.js is the fundamental library for WebGL, and all things can be implemented by it, it just may take a lot of time to develop games. But I suggest you start with Three.js to familiarize yourself with WebGL, and then use Babylon.js for your game.

Answer 8

Depending on your platform, if your FPS game runs on a PC browser with a powerful graphics card and processor, unit3D is the best option for you.

If your game is aimed at a mobile phone, perhaps you can try THREE.js or SceneJS.

And if your time is limited and your game is a bit complicated, I recommend you LAYABOX, for its complete ecosystem and complete tools that could save a lot of work. Hope this helps.