AirConsole HTML5 game contest 2016

[end3r]

I've teamed up with the AirConsole guys and we're organizing a competition for HTML5 game developers. You can win 1500 USD and the Construct 2 Business license while implementing their API, and there are also 10 runner-ups with 100 USD each for honorable mentions.

Compo website: developers.airconsole.com/#/competition-2016-01

The interest in the compo is still pretty low so you have a huge chance to grab that easy 100 USD. You keep all the rights to your game and will get an extra promotion through their store. I personally was always interested in Gamepad API, Panasonic smart TVs and such, so having the AirConsole API available to control the game on a TV with the mobile phone as a remote sounds awesome - hope it sounds interesting to you too.

If you have any questions feel free to ask here.

[b10b]

Competition aside, AirConsole is a very well presented service.  From a technical perspective I admire the multiple fallbacks in the networking (WebRTC, WebSockets, Http) - and time syncing is smart too.  it is great to see something often discussed as "the architectural ideal" actually deployed and made available to use in such a friendly way!

Unfortunately I just don't like using a phone as a controller.  There's a certain disconnect in touch screens generally, but when the eyes aren't looking at the device for visual feedback I think the issue is exaggerated further.  It's a poor joypad substitute.  Thinking of compelling and exclusive use cases will be a challenge - a bit like WiiU?

[end3r]

32 minutes ago, b10b said:

Unfortunately I just don't like using a phone as a controller.  There's a certain disconnect in touch screens generally, but when the eyes aren't looking at the device for visual feedback I think the issue is exaggerated further.  It's a poor joypad substitute.

I think it depends on the game and their controls - for me it was playable for the games I tried.

I'd love to see the Gamepad API support in TVs, it's coming for Panasonic TV with Firefox OS. I can tell you that the TV remote feels awkward as a game controller too, so any working alternative is worth checking out.

[AhmedElyamani]

Not sure if it's because of my slow internet connection or not, but anyway I tried it and It's quite slow and most irritatingly: restarts way too often. It would be fun developing for this kind of system if it was less buggy.. 

EDIT: Apparently I was getting that error because of browser not assigning enough memory for webGL games. I'm currently experimenting with it a little bit and it seems nice!

[end3r]

19 hours ago, AhmedElyamani said:

EDIT: Apparently I was getting that error because of browser not assigning enough memory for webGL games. I'm currently experimenting with it a little bit and it seems nice!

Great to hear you resolved the problem, good luck with the API!

[totor]

the problem is not solved, some games on the website has the "memory for webGL games problem" and randomly crash the browsers more or less violently... The same happens with playcanvas, it's probably a webgl problem support from the browser, hard to test.

[end3r]

The contest deadline was extended to March 20th.

There are only a few submissions so far, so if you submit your entry you’ll have a huge chance to win those, plus you’ll probably get a guaranteed 100 USD bonus for one of the top 10 mentions.

Compo URL: developers.airconsole.com/#/competition-2016-01

[AliceFromAirConsole]

On 2/19/2016 at 8:30 PM, b10b said:

Competition aside, AirConsole is a very well presented service.  From a technical perspective I admire the multiple fallbacks in the networking (WebRTC, WebSockets, Http) - and time syncing is smart too.  it is great to see something often discussed as "the architectural ideal" actually deployed and made available to use in such a friendly way!

Unfortunately I just don't like using a phone as a controller.  There's a certain disconnect in touch screens generally, but when the eyes aren't looking at the device for visual feedback I think the issue is exaggerated further.  It's a poor joypad substitute.  Thinking of compelling and exclusive use cases will be a challenge - a bit like WiiU?

Hi! I work for AirConsole, glad you like it.

We put a lot of effort into making our controllers feel good despite the lack of tactile feedback. I actually wrote a blog post about that topic a few weeks ago, check it out if you're still interested.

On 2/22/2016 at 6:06 PM, totor said:

the problem is not solved, some games on the website has the "memory for webGL games problem" and randomly crash the browsers more or less violently... The same happens with playcanvas, it's probably a webgl problem support from the browser, hard to test.

What browser is this happening with? Memory exceptions can happen of course, especially with the somewhat more demanding Unity3D games, but it shouldn't happen so often...

[b10b]

8 hours ago, AliceFromAirConsole said:

We put a lot of effort into making our controllers feel good despite the lack of tactile feedback. I actually wrote a blog post about that topic a few weeks ago, check it out if you're still interested.

I found that an excellent read that explains the issues and benefits well.  Thank you for sharing.  Controller-first design is an interesting paradigm, perhaps the big screen is best suited to the passive view.

[Marius]

Good luck