BrowserQuest, new MMO by Mozilla, demonstrates HTML5 gaming

Mozilla decided to get creative and show off its HTML5 talent with a new game called BrowserQuest. It is designed specifically for browser-based gaming and BrowserQuest trademarks itself as a ?tribute to classic video games with a multiplayer twist.?

BrowserQuest can be played by thousands of players simultaneously distributed across different instances of the in-game world. Players are able to communicate between each other with an in-game chat system as well. They can also team up and fight enemies together.

The game is of an exploration aspect ??the more dangerous the places you go, the better the rewards as you set off as a young warrior driven by the thrill of adventure. There are no princesses to save, just the dangerous world filled with riches to discover.

Mozilla says, ?BrowserQuest is a demo of how this technology can be used today to create a real-time multiplayer game in a single webpage. The game is powered by Websockets, which is a new technology enabling bi-directional communication between the browser and a server on the web. Each server hosts multiple world instances and handles the player synchronization and game logics within all instances.”

The different web technologies that are used in the game are HTML5 Canvas, which powers the 2D tile based graphics engine; web workers, allows the initialization of the large world map without slowing down the homepage; localStorage, which lets you save your character?s progress; CSS3 Media Queries, so that the game is able to resize itself and adapt to many devices; and HTML5 audio, so you are able to hear your enemies die!

You are able to play it on multiple browsers such as Firefox, Chrome, and Safari. There was no mention of Internet Explorer at this time. It is also compatible with iOS devices and tablets and phones that run Firefox for Android.

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