OSAKit for Games

So you want to put your game in a browser, but don't want to have to redevelop it in Flash or Java? Well OSAKit is the answer for you. Using any engine or language, including 3D, you can share your games with friends or launch your website into a profitable, secure and easy to use online gaming portal without having to recode any of your existing game or any loss in performance.

How Does it Work?

Well, OSA Kit is an ActiveX control which helps you pass to it your game URL and forget all about it. OSA Kit will do all the dirty work for you. The ActiveX control will run the game inside the users browser just as if it were originally developed using Java or Flash!

http://www.osakit.com/pages/games.php

Interesting :)

Yes, so interesting its been discussed at length numerous times before here.

OSAkit is not at all comparable to Flash/Java as its Windows only. Even then on loads of people's systems (mine included) it didn't work.

If you want to develop browser games then you're much better off using the right tools for the job, imho.

With Gfk on this one, Windows only for a browser only game is a no-no

I'm afraid I don't get the "no-no" aspect of being Windows only in a browser, unless you also consider downloadable Windows only games a "no-no", which you don't seem to.

In order for there to be a distinction between the two markets, there would have to be people downloading Windows games who can't play games in a browser. Who are these people and how are they downloading games without using a browser?

Well since I don't own a Mac I can only theorise. But I'd imagine I'd get pretty peed off if every other browser game I tried didn't work because it was Windows only. Why doesn't it work? Why didn't this programmer use Flash instead of some weird-ass thing that only works on Windows?

Not sure what you're getting at with the "downloading Windows games" thing. Don't Mac users look for the Mac version, and download that? But yes, if the Mac version they downloaded turned out to be "Windows only" despite the promise of being a Mac version, I'd sort of take your point.

And if my game is Windows only, why would I care whether a Mac user is pissed off or not? He's never going to be able to buy it or even play it, so whether he's incredibly impressed with me or unbelievably annoyed doesn't actually affect my bottom line at all. What's he going to do? Go around telling everyone I'm an idiot because my game doesn't run on his Mac? The only affect that's going to have on Windows users is to amuse quite a few.


Edzup clearly says that Windows only is a no-no for a browser game, which implies that it's not a no-no for a downloadable. I can't see a difference since the target market is the same, unless - as I hypothesized - there are people out there downloading games without a browser.

Very true!
But how much time, effort and money will you spend to port your game to Flash or Java?


Weird! I thought the opposite is true. It works on loads of people's system and a few people reported it does not (you are one of them)!

There is a free version for everyone to try it before he decide to upgrade to the pro version. I can tell many people are using the free version based on the number of downloads I get and direct contact with me through email.

I am impressed by the number of people (especially Brazilian fellows) who are using it for applications (not games!).

What I was refering to is a game that runs IN a browser is very different from something you went to the site to download, browser only games can theoratically be run on any OS that has internet capability and a decent browser. You would be pissing loads off by making it windows only.

As Gfk said if you want to write browser games use flash or java.

Ah right, so I was right, you were saying that browser games are completely different from downloadable games. Of course your reasoning is entirely spurious since downloadable games can be ( and often are ) developed in Java, Flash, Shockwave or Unity, and those can run on exactly the same platforms as the browser equivalents. BlitzMax, even, is about as cross platform as any browser game.

This is true to an extent that it can be compiled on its native platforms for a version for those platforms, Java can run on all platforms without fluffing around.

As an example run a BlitzMax MacOSX compiled binary natively in Windows Vista or Linux. With Java/Flash this wouldnt be as big a problem. Browser games written in Java are truely cross platform as long as the browser supports Java you can normally run it fine.

On this page: http://www.osakit.com/pages/games.php, I see that the flash animation shows many game making technologies/brands colliding with the OSAKit image diagram. What does that mean?

Also, aren't you supposed to add trademark notices for using the name or images from other game makers?

Don't take this as bashing please. OSAKit seems really good and I'll take a look once I'm not at work. :)

byo : It means OSAKit supports many engines, technologies...etc

and you are right, I should contact my website designer to add trademark notices for every respected owner.

Thanks.

Is this thing reliable yet? I really want it to be.

i am trying to turn my game into the website but failed,
it's compiled by bmax using OpenGL driver!!

i will send you my zip file if the author want to do some test!

I got Sensational Soccer working but only on IE...
http://www.newstarsoccer.com/sensational.html

DreamLoader : plz give me a link to your try and I will help... I did that with many people.

siread : why do not you add FF, Opera.... etc support too. it is easy with the new update of OSAKit.

Does it support Chrome as well?

yes it does support Chrome!

hi Sphinx,thanks for concerning!
this is the rar file link,just use winrar to make it zip.
i wrote this using my own gamemakeing tool(written in bmax)

ps:please help changing the file and folder name to mygame.exe because i won't upload another zip file due to bandwidth....

the file link:
http://www.dreamloader.net/dreamloader/coldsteel2.rar

shots:

I tried the sensational soccer game but it goes gray as soon as i press a menu button in the game.

DreamLoader : that's a big size! I think you should have start testing OSAKit with a little game/demo of yours but I will try it anyway :)

Update : I downloaded your game and found that your game window title has some Chinese characters which will prevent OSAKit from embedding your game into the browser's window. Please make it English only and it should work without a problem!

I just got Osakit working last night.
I've been talking to Maher for a couple of days, and of course it turns out that all the mistakes were _mine_.
So when I'm happy with my demo I'll be writing 'An Idiots Guide to Osakit' - a step by step guide for idiots like me - for Maher.

And (just to really irritate people) I don't know even one person with a Mac.
Like I could give a hoot about Mac owners.

Sphinx, I tried to get it working on Chrome, FF etc but had no luck. Will check my version of OSAKit...

thanks Sphinx
i will test this!

Windows still has over 90% market share of OS's

Just becuase its in a browser shouldn't mean it guarentees it to have to work on mac. The internet on Wii can't view flash over version 7, and flash doesn't even work on iphones.

What OSAKit does well is lets people put thier existing game without alterations into a browser. Sure if your entire games distribution plan involves using browsers and working in a mac then you should make games a technololgy that is designed to work that way. If you have already made a game, or want to perhaps put the demo inside a browser, then OSAKit offers this at a fraction of the time, hassle and cost of redevelopment.

Something that concerns me about OSAkit, is that presumably it could be used for nefarious purposes once you have the plugin installed. Correct me if I'm wrong!

Yes, it could. But couldn't anything you install?

Nope. Cos I know what and when it's being installed. What happens if you have the OSAkit plugin previously installed, and then later you visit a website that has a hidden (and naughty) OSAkit app embedded in it?

Beaker : You are right!

But how do you make sure what you installed does not have a hidden behaviors or actions!

If you have a good and up to date anti virus, firewall or whatever defensive arsenal (Deepfreeze or the better freeware Returnil) then you can be safe and happy with any software you are installing/using and same applies to OSAKit.

Anyway, OSAKit is a service which is available to anyone, you can do/don't pick at any time as a developer. As a user you are facing many dangerous sites on the net which does not necessarily have OSAKit!

If it warned you everytime an OSAkit app was going to download (& run) OR you could have an on/off switch for it, then it would be safer. I'm a little scared of it as it stands. pjio(?) seemed better in this respect because you had to register your application before you could distribute it.

I could also use Sandboxie I suppose. /me shuffles off.

But isn't it just as possible for Flash player/Java to execute malicious code?

I'm not really 'up' on these things, Beaker. I'm not having a go - just throwing legitimate questions in.

It warns you before you download the installer/runner.
But then, so does Flash.

Would you accept that as a developer?


I do not get it?
If you mean a parameter to allow the warning message then it is useless as anyone who uses OSAKit for nasty things will turn the switch off!!


Good, what if their server went down?
It is an advantage to have your own license on your own server so you are not attached to OSAKit server!

It would be great if we lived in a world where none of this was a problem, but we don't.

GfK - Flash has no real access to your system. It can only read files that it knows are there inside the app folder. It cannot scan directories, nor can it write files. Java also runs in a sandbox. There can be problems but they generally get nailed down quickly.


Yes, I would accept almost anything if it made my customers feel secure and happy.


I meant a switch on the browser that the browser user could toggle. Similar to how I can turn NoScripts on or off.


It is an advantage, but at what price (to security)? I just think there is a potential problem here. I'm not sure what the best/easiest/smoothest answer is, but it could be solved, as many other plugins have had to do. (I recognise that OSAkit is not like other plugins in that it lets you run any code/app you desire, but this is also its biggest issue).

Well, This is already there in IE
You can go to Tools | Internet Options and click on 'Custom Level' button and then scroll down to ActiveX and plugins and make :
Disabled - Allow previously unused ActiveX controls to run without prompt
Prompt - Run ActiveX and Plugins

And since OSAKit is hosted in a plugin which embed IE into other browsers then same security is applied to FF, Opera,....etc


I think this is answered above so I see it as advantage..... have a look here http://www.chenzopark.com/blog/?p=95

Does the whole game have to be downloaded into the user's browser or does it stream? If I have a multi-hundred megabyte game will it simply show the appropriate screens , play on the server and show the images/interaction at the client end, or does the client have to actually download the full game effectively.

OSAKit has a stream download feature along with interacting with the browaer through Java or VB scripts.... please have a look here http://www.osakit.com/pages/pro-version.php

You can download it and have a look at the help file which will clear things up!

Chris a Blitzer fellow wrote this http://www.blitzbasic.com/codearcs/codearcs.php?code=2331

I think it will help you better handle download stream and other messaging system of OSAKit