HTML5 Curation

HTML5 games are not nearly as endangered as Flash games, and are in fact often cited as replacing the Flash medium. However, they still pose a risk of disappearing at some point in time, and therefore should be considered for curation just like other web game formats.

The following page is a tutorial on how to curate HTML5 games to add to Flashpoint.

Before You Start

This tutorial will assume you've read the standard Curation Tutorial, which is highly recommended to go through. Try curating a Flash game before moving on to HTML5.

Identifying HTML5 Games

If a web game doesn't ask to enable Adobe Flash Player and there's no sign or mention of any of the other Platforms, it is very likely an HTML5 game.

To confirm this, press F12 to open the Developer Tools of your browser and click the Network tab. Look for a .html file, likely with the filename "index.html". Copy the file's link and go to it. If it plays an unobstructed version of the game, you've found the source of your Launch Command.

Make sure to always use http:// instead of https:// to make sure Flashpoint grabs files from the fake Internet instead of the real one!

Grabbing The Game From The Internet

Use cURLsDownloader to create a content folder with your Launch Command. Simply copy the Launch Command's URL, open cURLsDownloader, paste in the URL, and hit Enter.

Responsive Design Mode and Mobile Elements

Some games will have mobile controls, loading different assets.

Unlike traditional plugins, HTML5 allows games to be played on both Desktop and Mobile. This means that some games will implement Responsive Design elements so games work better on mobile platforms. This can load new assets such as the pages, scripts, elements, images, etc.

To check wether a game has these elements, play the game both in desktop and Responsive mode. On Basilisk in the developer console, enable Responsive Design Mode, then on the Responsive menu enable Touch Events, and make sure to reload the page as these elements might not have been loaded on Desktop mode. Use the Rotate button to test, as some games do not allow you to play in a certain orientation and will load warning messages.

Make sure to skim trough the entire game where these elements might show up, like parts with game controlls or menus.

Moving The Game Into Flashpoint

Create a new curation in the Curate tab of Flashpoint Core and fill it out with as much information as you can, including the Launch Command you found earlier. The Platform should be HTML5, and the Application Path should be FPSoftware\Basilisk-Portable\Basilisk-Portable.exe, referring to the Basilisk browser used for HTML5 games.

Copy the content folder outputted by cURLsDownloader, select the "Open Folder" button on your curation in the Curate tab, and paste the folder into the "content" folder in your curation.

Test your game with the "Run" button. Don't be surprised if it doesn't work at first, because there are an extremely low number of HTML5 games that are single-asset. Your curation is almost guaranteed to be multi-asset. From here, you have two main options, both of which are described here.

Alternatively, if you don't want to jump back and forth between getting 404s and downloading them, you can use MAD4FP. Please be careful when using this, as it downloads every file requested by the game that still exists on the live web, meaning you can get a lot of files that are unnecessary for the game to work.

Wrapping It Up

Follow the proper Curation Format, just like with any curation.

Pack everything into a single .7z or .zip file and submit it to the #other-game-curations channel of the Flashpoint Discord. Use the HTML5 emoji when submitting.