Hanno Braun computer game developer living in Darmstadt, Germany

I updated my prototype from last week. Here’s a list of the improvements:

• You can place/remove cells more easily by keeping the mouse button down.
• Added a cursor that shows where a cell will be placed/removed.
• Improved browser compatibility: It runs in Firefox 3.6 now. I also included a fix for a problem with Safari, but haven’t had a chance to test it.

Here’s a new game prototype! It’s an implementation of Conway’s Game of Life in HTML5 and JavaScript.

I created this yesterday within a few hours, so it’s pretty basic (still a lot of fun, however). Maybe I’ll add some more features soon. I haven’t made up my mind yet.

Important: I’ve tested this in Chrome 10/11 only. If you have problems running it, try using the newest version of your browser. If it still won’t run, please let me know!

The prototype:
http://prototypes.hannobraun.com/gameoflife

I didn’t get a prototype done last week, but I did one the week before. It’s basically the extension of Gravity, my previous prototype. I finished that one in about 7 hours and took 5 more hours to refine the underlying technology.

Just as the week before, I did this one in JavaScript using the HTML5 Canvas element.

The original idea was to let the player start a rocket from a planet into orbit, but again, I didn’t get that far. I started with a rocket in space and got carried away working on the underlying framework, that is starting to develop out of these prototypes.

But who cares, I’m happy with it, it was fun, so I can count this as a full success. Take a look at the source code or  check out the prototype. You can control the rocket with the cursor keys: Use left and right to change direction, up to accelerate.

Last week, I created a small prototype in JavaScript, using the HTML5 Canvas element.

My original idea was simple:

• The player shoots a projectile at a target in space.
• Between the player and the target are some gravity wells.
• Consequently, the player has to take gravity into account when aiming.

My goal was to finish this project in less than 10 hours. I didn’t get as far as I hoped in that time, but I’m still happy with the result. I managed to get the core physics done and working with JavaScript and the Canvas API was more fun than I expected.

I also implemented a simple entity system for this game. I’m pretty sure I’ll use this in future projects and extend it further.

But enough talk. You can check out the source code at GitHub or watch a live version of the prototype (won’t work without a current version of Chrome, Firefox, Opera or Safari).