Technology

Engine


The PlayCanvas Engine is a professional quality 3D game engine for making HTML5 browser games. Designed from the ground up to get next-generation performance from JavaScript in the browser whilst integrating seamlessly with the PlayCanvas tools platform.

  • Graphics – dynamic lighting, shadow maps, 256 bone limit skinning, post effects
  • Animation – keyframed hierarchical system, skeletal blending
  • Audio – 3D spatial audio
  • Scripting – fully integrated Entity-Component system
  • Input – keyboard, mouse, gamepad, accelerometer

We’re programmers too and we know how painful a bad API can make your life so not only do we think long and hard about how to design the engine interface but we fully document it too. Unbelievable, we know.

However, we can’t think of everything so all developers have access to the full uncompressed source code of the engine. So you can see exactly how everything works and extend it to suit your needs.

Platform


The PlayCanvas Platform powers the tools from behind the scenes.

  • Asset management – Keep track of changes and the development status of your game
  • Code Repositories – Integrate with your version control system
  • Export – For self-hosting your games
  • Publish – Push live to the web using the PlayCanvas Apps site
  • Manage – control permissions and team access

Designer

The Designer really sets PlayCanvas apart from other game development platforms. A visual editing tool which allows designers and artists to build your game. Seamless real-time collaboration is the key feature which means you can see the changes your team-mates are making as they work. Whether your colleagues are at the next desk, or on the other side of the world, making games together is now as simple as drawing on the same sheet of paper.

Art pipeline


We’ve worked hard to ensure that artists feel the same love we are giving programmers and designers. Our exporter works with all the major 3D packages including Maya, 3ds Max, and Blender. Out of the box we support all the default materials so that what you see on your screen is what you get in the game.

The Visualizer tool ensures rapid iteration time and allows you to preview content before committing it.

Publishing


Once you’ve completed your game, you’ll want to get it out there. With PlayCanvas it’s so simple. One click publishes the game live to the web on our PlayCanvas Apps site. Which means a single link to share and anyone can be playing your game.

Alternatively, you may want to host your game on your own site, in your own way. That’s what the free and open web is all about and so that’s what we offer. Export your game and you’ll get a zip file with the complete contents and you can do anything you like with it.