Book Image

Going the Distance with Babylon.js

By : Josh Elster
Book Image

Going the Distance with Babylon.js

By: Josh Elster

Overview of this book

Babylon.js allows anyone to effortlessly create and render 3D content in a web browser using the power of WebGL and JavaScript. 3D games and apps accessible via the web open numerous opportunities for both entertainment and profit. Developers working with Babylon.js will be able to put their knowledge to work with this guide to building a fully featured 3D game. The book provides a hands-on approach to implementation and associated methodologies that will have you up and running, and productive in no time. Complete with step-by-step explanations of essential concepts, practical examples, and links to fully working self-contained code snippets, you’ll start by learning about Babylon.js and the finished Space-Truckers game. You’ll also explore the development workflows involved in making the game. Focusing on a wide range of features in Babylon.js, you’ll iteratively add pieces of functionality and assets to the application being built. Once you’ve built out the basic game mechanics, you’ll learn how to bring the Space-Truckers environment to life with cut scenes, particle systems, animations, shadows, PBR materials, and more. By the end of this book, you’ll have learned how to structure your code, organize your workflow processes, and continuously deploy to a static website/PWA a game limited only by bandwidth and your imagination.
Table of Contents (20 chapters)
1
Part 1: Building the Application
7
Part 2: Constructing the Game
13
Part 3: Going the Distance

Extended Topics

Where to start? There are simply so many interesting things and possibilities to explore! Here are just a few ideas for things you can do to further your learning and enhance SplashScreen:

  • Add a camera animation to the beginning portion that has the camera moving and rotating along a path in such a way that the billboard panel grows in apparent size at about the same rate as the volume of the music rises
  • Add background environmental effects to the Scene, similar to what we did with the Main Menu and the Procedural Starfield texture
  • Replace the final static image with a mesh, texture, material, or something else

The input system is also a great source of ideas. Here are a few to consider:

  • Implement support for your favorite gamepad or joystick device. Use this testing site to see the various inputs and values emitted by your device: https://luser.github.io/gamepadtest/
  • Modify the input system to allow for multiple simultaneously connected...