PlayCanvas - The Web Graphics Creation Platform (2024)

FAQs

What is PlayCanvas used for? ›

Built for modern browsers, PlayCanvas is a fully-featured 3D game engine with resource loading, an entity and component system, advanced graphics manipulation, collision and physics engine (built with ammo. js), audio, and facilities to handle control inputs from various devices (including gamepads).

PlayCanvas is offered across three pricing plans, outlined below. A free version is available.

PlayCanvas is an open-source 3D game engine/interactive 3D application engine alongside a proprietary cloud-hosted creation platform that allows for simultaneous editing from multiple computers via a browser-based interface. It runs in modern browsers that support WebGL, including Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome.

The PlayCanvas Engine is open sourced on GitHub under the MIT license.

Scripts are how you make your PlayCanvas application interactive. They are written in regular JavaScript the same programming language that is used to program web pages. You can think of your application as divided into two separate code bases.

With PlayCanvas, which is in my opinion the best application for game developers, I can not only start my own projects but also invite other people of my team to simultaneously work on my same project! Classic editor is my favorite one and is the easiest WebGL Game Engine to use.

Key Differences Between PlayCanvas and Godot

Coding Environment: PlayCanvas features an online, real-time multi-user editor, while Godot operates on a scene and node system for building games.

Create new material directly from the PlayCanvas Editor interface. In the Asset panel use the + button to open the New Asset menu and select Material. This creates a new Material Asset and brings up the Material Editor on the right-hand side of the screen. In the Material Editor rename the Material to "Box Material".

Self-hosting on your own server​

In order to host your application independently of PlayCanvas' servers, do the following: Go to your Project and open the Editor. Click on the  button in the left hand side toolbar or click Publishing in the top left Menu.

WebGPU is a JavaScript API provided by a web browser that enables webpage scripts to efficiently utilize a device's graphics processing unit (GPU). This is achieved with the underlying Vulkan, Metal, or Direct3D 12 system APIs. On relevant devices, WebGPU is intended to supersede the older WebGL standard.

What the heck is WebGL? ›

WebGL is an API. WebGL is accessed exclusively through a set of JavaScript programming interfaces; there are no accompanying tags like there are with HTML. 3D rendering in WebGL is analogous to 2D drawing using the Canvas element, in that it is all done through JavaScript API calls.

In the WebGL API, allowing an application to observe potentially uninitialized GPU memory carries high risk; for example, it might be possible to see stale contents of other windows on the system. For this reason, all GPU resources allocated by a WebGL application are initially cleared to zero.

PlayCanvas is a visual development platform for interactive web content. Both the tools and the web apps you build are powered by HTML5. The platform is web hosted so there's nothing to install and you can access your work from any device that runs one of the supported web browsers.

With an archive zip file created from one of the methods in 'Backing Up a Project to an Archive File', you can import it as a new project on PlayCanvas. Click on 'Import Project' on the left hand side of the Projects page and select the zip file to import it.

GDevelop is the most powerful, open-source, no-code game engine. Make 2D, 3D and multiplayer games without limits. Publish everywhere: iOS, Android, Steam, web, gaming platforms. Reach millions of players like other hit games and experiences powered by GDevelop.

Canvas is a course management system that supports online learning and teaching. It allows professors to post grades, information, and assignments online. It is being used by universities and colleges all over the world.

A Canvas App is one of the two types of Power Apps in the Power Platform. It is a low code app, which means that you can do all your development with little to no coding. The app enables you to use data from multiple different data sources.