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Going the Distance with Babylon.js

You're reading from   Going the Distance with Babylon.js Building extensible, maintainable, and attractive browser-based interactive applications using JavaScript

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Product type Paperback
Published in Sep 2022
Publisher Packt
ISBN-13 9781801076586
Length 426 pages
Edition 1st Edition
Languages
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Author (1):
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Josh Elster Josh Elster
Author Profile Icon Josh Elster
Josh Elster
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Table of Contents (20) Chapters Close

Preface 1. Part 1: Building the Application
2. Chapter 1: The Space-Truckers Operation Manual FREE CHAPTER 3. Chapter 2: Ramping up on Babylon.js 4. Chapter 3: Establishing the Development Workflow 5. Chapter 4: Creating the Application 6. Chapter 5: Adding a Cut Scene and Handling Input 7. Part 2: Constructing the Game
8. Chapter 6: Implementing the Game Mechanics 9. Chapter 7: Processing Route Data 10. Chapter 8: Building the Driving Game 11. Chapter 9: Calculating and Displaying Scoring Results 12. Chapter 10: Improving the Environment with Lighting and Materials 13. Part 3: Going the Distance
14. Chapter 11: Scratching the Surface of Shaders 15. Chapter 12: Measuring and Optimizing Performance 16. Chapter 13: Converting the Application to a PWA 17. Chapter 14: Extended Topics, Extended 18. Index 19. Other Books You May Enjoy

Summary

The next thirteen chapters each represent their own signpost denoting the progress of our journey, and there is much yet to see and accomplish. Pulling onto the Space-Highway, it can appear like the space-road ahead is stretching out toward infinity. The truth is every road seems that way at the start of a trip. By keeping the focus on what’s immediately ahead, the infinite can become finite, and overwhelming complexity becomes manageable tasks.

Much like this book is separated into sections and chapters, Space-Truckers is separated into distinct phases or states. The Landing Page is the launchpad (pun intended) for starting the game, while the Splash Screen prepares the audience and sets the mood. Meanwhile, the Main Menu Screen serves as a navigation hub between the main gameplay states and the others.

There are two(ish) phases to the gameplay. Route Planning is where players use an orbital mechanics simulation to plot a course for their Space-Cargo to get from the origin to the destination planets. The direction and force of the launch are set by the player prior to launch, with the timing of the launch also a major factor in how players dictate their route.

Having planned a route, the next game phase sees that route being used to create a tunnel filled with obstacles (random encounters) that the player now must navigate their Space-Truck through to reach the end point. Time matters, but so does bringing the cargo to its destination in as good a condition as possible. Once the destination has been reached, a third, pseudo-game phase enters the stage.

Scoring is done using several factors that will be outlined in detail as part of Chapter 9, Calculating and Displaying Scoring Results. Players’ decisions from Route Planning impact the final scores in multiple ways ranging from time goals to fuel costs. Only the top scores get persisted into the High Score Screen, a feature available in both the web and PWA versions of the application.

The place where all the work around Space-Truckers is tracked and managed is in Space-Truckers: The GitHub Repository. Additionally, each chapter of the book (with a few exceptions) has its own branch in the source code. This allows you to view the state of the overall application in context with the content of the corresponding chapter. Additional assistance can be found by posting in either Space-Truckers: The Discussion Boards or on the BJS official community forums.

Next, we’ll start by gradually building some momentum through a back-to-basics review of the BJS framework and ecosystem. We’ll look at some of the tools, resources, and techniques and if necessary (re)introduce ourselves to how rendering in BJS works. We’ll learn about the Playground and begin the process of building our application by creating a simple loading animation. Buckle up, Space-Trucker – we’re hitting the road!

You have been reading a chapter from
Going the Distance with Babylon.js
Published in: Sep 2022
Publisher: Packt
ISBN-13: 9781801076586
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