4 replies to this topic

[jorgen]

I have a lot of experience in webprogramming and programming. ASP, scripts, .CSS, ASP.NET, C#. I have also learned a little java.
I now am beginning a new project and in this project we need online games of different kinds. Maybe I will not program myself but only be the project leader. It is an ongoing project and we will meet a lot of different demands depending on what ideas the customers and others involved will come up with on the way.
The games must not be dependent of one type of browser.
Some of the games are meant for entertainment, others are meant for demonstration and simulation.
Examples: driving with cars, controlling machines, games with from one to many players with different types of objects...
Sometimes with sounds or music, sometimes without
I would like to stick with C# and .NET but is it possible at all?
I have other possibilities. For example I know some very competent Flash-programmers if it is the best solution.
I need some advice and input from people who have practical experience with game programming so I can get an overview of the realistic possibilities before I make any decisions.

[Reedbeta]

If things need to be highly interactive on the client side, then Flash or Java Applets are probably your best bet. It is not possible to execute C# on the client side if you want the program to run in different browsers and on different platforms.

If a more limited kind of interactivity is all that is needed, you may be able to get away with Javascript in some kind of AJAX-like system, but even then it would likely be easier to get working if you used Flash.

[jorgen]

Thanks very much.
Can you help me with links to sites with Flash?
So I can see some examples similar to what I describe in my first post?
It would be a big help.
I haven't spent time on games for a very long time.
Normally I use so much time by the screen on work that I prefer to use my time on other things when I am not working.

[Reedbeta]

Check out http://www.popcap.com for a website that has a lot of different games done with Java applets.

[Morgan360]

It sounds like you could use some 3D and physics support, if the environment was easy to work with. I just started using Unity, and found it easier to get into than Flash even. It's one of the few 3D engines that can deliver to a Web browser (as well as standalone games for Mac and Windows).

The official site http://unity3d.com has some examples, but in the community forums there you will find much better ones. Unity's own examples are sometimes just quick "proof of concept" things. But seeing what real developers are making in the forums is another matter--a lot of really slick stuff being done. Unity has the Aegia PhysX engine which is very cool, and painless to work with even if you're only a casual scripter and not a hard-core programmer.

Best of all, Unity is based on .NET, and lets you do your coding in C# (among other languages) :)

Don't be afraid to try a 2D concept in Unity, either--a lot of people are doing 2D games in Unity... you just gain a really cool 3D look! (Or you could just use polygons to display bitmaps as flat "sprites.")

Message me if you'd like the URL to my 3D browser game done in Unity. I have one level up and ready to play. Only 5MB, and a lot of that is the music!