Firefox Turns On Its WebGL 2 Support

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Firefox Turns On Its WebGL 2 Support

For users of Firefox Nightly builds, WebGL 2 support is now enabled...

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Firefox-WebGL2-Nightly

[kaprikawn]

I've seen WebGL demos, read about how the likes of Unity can export to WebGL and have been suitably impressed. But honestly, I don't think I've ever used it, and I can't see that changing, at least for a while. While the idea of playing some old Id Software game in a browser seems kinda cool, if I wanted to play an old Id game I'd probably want to install it and play it native.

Is there any compelling WebGL content out there that may have passed me by? For example is there a site for WebGL games rather like how miniclip or kongregate were for flash games back in the day?

[bug77]

I've seen WebGL demos, read about how the likes of Unity can export to WebGL and have been suitably impressed. But honestly, I don't think I've ever used it, and I can't see that changing, at least for a while. While the idea of playing some old Id Software game in a browser seems kinda cool, if I wanted to play an old Id game I'd probably want to install it and play it native.

Is there any compelling WebGL content out there that may have passed me by? For example is there a site for WebGL games rather like how miniclip or kongregate were for flash games back in the day?

Well, it fits the trend of stopping selling software to end-users and rent it instead. The more you keep on your server and stream/serve on demand, the more you control it.
Personally, I strongly dislike the idea of reinventing the desktop within the browser, but that's the way things are headed. The only upside I see is that the more capable the browser becomes, the harder it is for various producers to justify walling their content behind proprietary apps (I'm thinking mainly about mobile).

[schmidtbag]

I've seen WebGL demos, read about how the likes of Unity can export to WebGL and have been suitably impressed. But honestly, I don't think I've ever used it, and I can't see that changing, at least for a while. While the idea of playing some old Id Software game in a browser seems kinda cool, if I wanted to play an old Id game I'd probably want to install it and play it native.

Is there any compelling WebGL content out there that may have passed me by? For example is there a site for WebGL games rather like how miniclip or kongregate were for flash games back in the day?

I was thinking the same thing. There just seems to be too many issues with this to be worth pursuing. There is generally no use for WebGL outside of web games. If it isn't a game, it'll either come with a plugin (such as Blender) or you're better off downloading a standalone executable. When it comes to games, most are a little too resource-intensive to be playing in a web browser. But suppose that weren't an issue, the vast majority of people who would be playing such games tend to use outdated browsers and outdated PCs that wouldn't be able to handle these games.

I don't really mind that this is in development - it's not like it's a bad thing to have WebGL. But considering Mozilla's limited developer resources, I'd rather them focus on other things more important.

[smitty3268]

I've seen WebGL demos, read about how the likes of Unity can export to WebGL and have been suitably impressed. But honestly, I don't think I've ever used it, and I can't see that changing, at least for a while. While the idea of playing some old Id Software game in a browser seems kinda cool, if I wanted to play an old Id game I'd probably want to install it and play it native.

Is there any compelling WebGL content out there that may have passed me by? For example is there a site for WebGL games rather like how miniclip or kongregate were for flash games back in the day?

I certainly agree that the tech is way overhyped and not of much use to most people.

The one site I've seen that is using it in a cool way is the Star Citizen website, which has loaded assets from their game into the websites encyclopedia pages.

Interactive map - https://robertsspaceindustries.com/starmap
Individual ships - https://robertsspaceindustries.com/p...aliator-Bomber (click holo viewer button)

WebGL isn't required for any of this, of course, but it does take things to the next level.

[trifud]

COMSOL Server does utilize WebGL. You can build a multiphysics simulation app and deploy it on a server so that it can be accessed by a web browser:

[woife]

Is there any compelling WebGL content out there that may have passed me by?

I haven't used WegGL a lot myself either, but just a few days ago I was playing around with FreeCAD [1], and was surprised it has a WebGL export (into a single HTLM file). This means I can model some stuff, upload it somewhere, send the link to my friends and they can have a look at my idea, and actually browse the model in 3D.

This is of course only a niche, and surely no reason why anyone would *need* WebGL, but it is very nice

[1] http://www.freecadweb.org/

[mr_tawan]

Just because you don't use it (neither directly or indirectly) doesn't mean that no one use it.

[significant-bit]

Check out http://www.floored.com/3d-services
and Blend4Web.

[schmidtbag]

Just because you don't use it (neither directly or indirectly) doesn't mean that no one use it.

That's not really the point. The problem is when it comes to websites, standardization is imperative for a good user and developer experience. This is why web developers despise older versions of IE and will sometimes outright refuse to support it. Implementing something like WebGL is not an easy task. There are other more important features that other browsers have that firefox doesn't (or at least not as well). That being said, there are also things firefox does that others can't do.

Without consistency of compatibility and functionality, features like WebGL just simply can't get a large enough userbase, and I get the impression WebGL isn't very polished on any platform, though I could be wrong.

For me personally, it's all about priority, not whether or not the feature is useful. WebGL has a LOT of potential, but there are more important things to improve or add first.