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WebGL Water

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Re: WebGL Water

#11

Post by jallirs »

Ocha wrote: post #9
jallirs wrote: post #7

This works on my iPhone in chrome. I really like that. I am aware of the fact that it’s old. The fact that it still works in chrome on my phone makes it more awesome. I’m sure it’s probably elegant and awesome under the hood to make that work. Going to take this positive feeling, eat and ice cream bar, rub my tummy, watch some Babylon 5 and go to sleep with all of these happy feels. :)

It doesn’t matter that you are using chrome. All browsers on iOS use safari under the hood.

My tummy is still being rubbed and I’m over here with all these happy feels. You should get ice cream too.

Re: WebGL Water

#12

Post by pdenton »

jallirs wrote: post #11
Ocha wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn’t matter that you are using chrome. All browsers on iOS use safari under the hood.

My tummy is still being rubbed and I’m over here with all these happy feels. You should get ice cream too.

You're cute, thank you.

Re: WebGL Water

#13

Post by pjmlp »

sillysaurusx wrote: post #6

It's interesting to think of the reasons we don't have browser-based 3D renderers. Sure, WebGL exists. But it seems like the promise fizzled out, and I'm not quite sure why. Maybe it's as simple as "Steam is the money pipeline, and everyone makes native games on Steam."

Easy, so many reasons beyond just blaming Apple,

- WebGL is a subset of ES 3.0, when the hardware can do GL ES 3.2

- WebGPU, when it arrives sometime during 2022, it will be a 1.0 MVP of the features from Metal, Vulkan and DX 12, with yet another shading language that looks like a mix of C++/HLSL/Rust, WGSL.

- If you just want compute, now WebGPU is the only option, although GL ES 3.2 has it. After two failed attempts from Intel, Chrome folks managed to force everyone to use WebGPU instead, so that is ready when WebGPU is ready.

- Lack of tooling, to debug WebGL you have basically to debug the browser process and try to track down your 3D calls from the browser own ones (there is a SpectorJS, which is quite simple when compared against something like Pix or REnderDoc)

- Browsers black list consumer's hardware/software, so content producers have no idea how well it actually runs.

- Indie game development moved from Flash into mobile, where tooling is much better.

Finally, I leave you the Flash demo for Unity 3 using CrossBridge[0] and Stage 3D [1], back in 2011.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQiUP2Hd60Y

[0] - https://adobe-flash.github.io/crossbridge/

[1] - https://help.adobe.com/en_US/FlashPlatform/reference/actions...

Re: WebGL Water

#14

Post by astlouis44 »

sillysaurusx wrote: post #6

It's interesting to think of the reasons we don't have browser-based 3D renderers. Sure, WebGL exists. But it seems like the promise fizzled out, and I'm not quite sure why. Maybe it's as simple as "Steam is the money pipeline, and everyone makes native games on Steam."

"Steam is the money pipeline, and everyone makes native games on Steam." This is 100% it, everyone thinks browser games are a thing of the past and that's it, end of story. Well, they couldn't be more wrong and I'm happy to explain why. The tooling for developers traditionally just hasn't been there. Developers coming from the native game engine world typically don't have a firm grasp of web technologies, so the ones that do target it get massive file sizes which turns off anyone who would actually try it out, but ends up getting frustrated and closes the tab.

Shameless plug, but my team and I are on a mission to solve this for Unreal Engine developers looking to export their projects to HTML5. The potential for the gaming and metaverse opportunity in the browser is enormous, so to this end we're bringing the full power of UE4/UE5 to WASM, in combination with WebGPU + WebXR to deliver experiences that rival anything on Steam or other storefronts or app stores.

In addition to our hosting platform for deploying, maintaining, and monetizing, we offer a suite of tools for optimization that include compression for drastically reduces file sizes, and on the fly asset fetching to keep load times as short as possible. The goal is near native performance, with faster deployment and accessibility than Steam.

For developers and creators, there's no unnecessary 30% cut of your virtual worlds and real-time 3D applications to walled gardens. Add in that you only have one codebase to main that when deployed, it just works everywhere with a browser.

For users, play is a single click away, no local installs or dedicated clients required on computers or mobile.

Link to our website: https://www.theimmersiveweb.com/

Link to our Discord: https://discord.gg/zUSZ3T8

Re: WebGL Water

#15

Post by kingcharles »

steve_adams_86 wrote: post #5

The first time I saw this I was in awe of how far we’ve come, realizing the first 3d rendering I ever did took several seconds and was accomplished within DOS. Now we have things like this in the browser running in real time. Since then I’ve had my mind blown several more times, but this demo has a special place in my mind. I was so excited at the prospect of WebGL.

Are you talking raytracing or real-time? I loved POVRay in the early 90s for raytracing. It blew my mind. As a little kid in the 80s, John Lasseter was my hero; I had a picture of Luxo Jr I used to eye regularly.

By '92 I had built a whole software 3D renderer in x86 and had the T-Rex from Jurassic Park stomping around in real-time on my 286.

Re: WebGL Water

#16

Post by robbedpeter »

sillysaurusx wrote: post #6

It's interesting to think of the reasons we don't have browser-based 3D renderers. Sure, WebGL exists. But it seems like the promise fizzled out, and I'm not quite sure why. Maybe it's as simple as "Steam is the money pipeline, and everyone makes native games on Steam."

The browser is not an appropriate medium for games that need non trivial access to local storage and system input. Browser compatibility, and being subordinate to multiple third parties isn't great, either. Rather than fighting with browser limitations, it's easier to package, deliver, and maintain a stand-alone application.

Steam isn't a major consideration once you've gone into the weeds of implementing software that colors outside the usual browser lines.

Re: WebGL Water

#17

Post by kingcharles »

astlouis44 wrote: post #8

This demo is more recent, and FAR more impressive in my humble opinion: https://doom-portal-in-webgl.vercel.app/

The fact that this runs like a dream in my browser on my $300 Acer laptop, on my second monitor, is actually unbelievable.

Re: WebGL Water

#18

Post by binarynate »

sillysaurusx wrote: post #6

It's interesting to think of the reasons we don't have browser-based 3D renderers. Sure, WebGL exists. But it seems like the promise fizzled out, and I'm not quite sure why. Maybe it's as simple as "Steam is the money pipeline, and everyone makes native games on Steam."

Unity's WebGL player is alive and well:

https://docs.unity3d.com/2021.2/Documentation/Manual/webgl-g...

Re: WebGL Water

#19

Post by lukebitts »

astlouis44 wrote: post #8

This demo is more recent, and FAR more impressive in my humble opinion: https://doom-portal-in-webgl.vercel.app/

What’s more impressive about it? Two static lights and some normals maps, compared to caustics, wave simulation and physics. One of these is much harder than the other, in realtime no less
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