[HN Gopher] GameBox is a programmable, turn-based, WebAssembly g...
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       GameBox is a programmable, turn-based, WebAssembly game platform
        
       Author : neuronicnobody
       Score  : 106 points
       Date   : 2023-04-28 13:03 UTC (9 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (extism.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (extism.org)
        
       | nilslice wrote:
       | If you're interested in making your own game, please feel free to
       | reach out on Discord: https://discord.gg/cx3usBCWnc
       | 
       | Or refer to some existing WASM game examples:
       | https://github.com/extism/game_box/tree/main/games - currently
       | games can be built using Extism PDKs in any of Go, Rust,
       | Javascript/Typescript, Zig, Haskell, AssemblyScript or C/C++!
        
         | redundantly wrote:
         | Is there anywhere I can try playing those game examples without
         | downloading and running it myself?
        
       | bobsmith432 wrote:
       | [flagged]
        
         | tsunagatta wrote:
         | Ask the Flash game community
        
           | bobsmith432 wrote:
           | Flash games knew their limit and could easily be
           | redistributed. Most online JS games are total hell to
           | save/archive and most are lost to time when their host rips
           | it down.
        
         | tomrod wrote:
         | Fun and profit, the two primary motivators of all seemingly-
         | useless things that exist in abundance.
        
         | nilslice wrote:
         | You sound really smart, so I'll engage :)
         | 
         | > by making it on a web browser
         | 
         | Do you mean "making it" as in to develop the game within a web
         | browser? If so, this is inaccurate, though you probably are
         | aware and just typed the wrong thing here. Easy mistake! I'm
         | sure you're deep in flow on some incredibly fascinating
         | technical challenge. Games are developed in whichever
         | IDE/editor you'd like, and you can even use whichever language
         | you like to build the game! as long as it compiles to
         | WebAssembly, and exports a few functions we expect, people can
         | play your game.
         | 
         | If you actually mean "making it playable (in) a web browser",
         | then yes! The reason is to make it extremely accessible by
         | anyone with the most widely deployed game console in the world
         | (the browser). You probably already knew that too though..
         | going back to the smart person comment!
         | 
         | Thanks for your comment, happy Friday!
        
           | hot_gril wrote:
           | Idk what the parent comment was, but I'm guessing it's the
           | "REAL code runs in binaries" or "there is no cloud" you see
           | sometimes around here. Best not to take it personally.
        
             | yarg wrote:
             | > Is there any valid reason for crippling a game by making
             | it on a web browser
             | 
             | That's what it said, you can see it yourself if you enable
             | "showdead" in settings.
             | 
             | https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=hot_gril
        
               | hot_gril wrote:
               | Oh, thanks!
        
             | nilslice wrote:
             | haha I don't take it personally, but I do think people
             | deserve to be called out when they are flagrantly
             | disrespectful not only to the individuals who work on the
             | primary project, but the second-order disrespect to people
             | around the world advancing capabilities of the web and
             | making technology more accessible.
             | 
             | I appreciate the advice though, thank you!
        
               | hot_gril wrote:
               | They'd be upset about my stack too. It catches up with
               | them at some point anyway.
        
           | spacephysics wrote:
           | I understand why the tone is as such, but I feel this is just
           | as toxic as the parent comment only in the positive sense
        
           | nerdchum wrote:
           | Doesn't WASM even use native machine hardware and video
           | cards?
           | 
           | So like the gap is closing between a binary and a browser.
        
             | nilslice wrote:
             | WASM is run in a "brain in a jar" type execution model,
             | with basically zero knowledge or access to its external
             | environment (the "host"). So it could absolutely take
             | advantage of these kinds of peripherals, but the host
             | enviornment would provide import functions that enable it
             | to interact with resources like a video card.
             | 
             | The gap is definitely closing as you say, and WebAssembly
             | provides a path for it, as well as a security model that
             | doesn't put users at risk.
        
             | [deleted]
        
             | hot_gril wrote:
             | Uses it, but with more abstraction / less directly than
             | machine code would.
        
         | 999900000999 wrote:
         | It's much easier to get someone to visit a website vs
         | downloading a random binary.
         | 
         | Edit: I don't get why OP was flagged though, it's just a
         | question. Shouldn't offend anyone ...
        
       | parentheses wrote:
       | Front matter calls out "fly.io" - should be "fly.dev"
        
         | detaro wrote:
         | Why? The company is clearly called Fly.io
        
       ___________________________________________________________________
       (page generated 2023-04-28 23:01 UTC)