Uploading your WebGL Game
In my previous article, we covered the basics of building our game for Windows and WebGL. The Windows build is pretty self-explanatory, but you might wonder how people can play the WebGL game.
If you own a website with a hosting package and domain then you can easily upload your files and have your game hosted on your own domain. But if you do not have that facility then the next best is to upload it to a third-party site.
Simmer.io
Simmer only allow WebGL uploads which is a much simpler solution if you just want to show off your game to family and friends without the extras.
If you want to upload to simmer.io then head to their website and create an account if you don’t have one already. Once you’ve signed in you can upload your game. Make sure you don’t zip your game. Simmer.io prefer that you upload the folder as it is. Once the game is finished uploading, you can then give your game a name and click the“Save Upload” button. On the next page, you can provide all of the relevant info like a description of key bindings, how to play and lastly add the relevant tags. If you’re satisfied you can click the “Save” button.
Itch.io
Itch is a very popular site for indie developers and content creators. Here you can upload your game in whichever format you prefer be it a standalone game or uploading your WebGL game to their website where users can play your game in a browser. Itch is my preferred platform since they do so much more than just hosting your games. They provide a platform for people to host Game Jams, upload and sell game assets and being able to sell your game or related products on their platform.
To upload to Itch.io you’d first need to zip the files. Once you’ve done that you can head to the website. From there you need to create an account or log in if you already have one, and head to the “Dashboard” page. On the dashboard page, you can create a new project under the “Project” tab which is usually selected by default.
Once the “Create a new project” page has loaded you can proceed to give your game a title and fill in all of the important information. Under the “Kind of project” section, you would have to specify “HTML” since we’re uploading a WebGL game. If you choose you could do a pricing structure, but I advise not to for a game that’s in an unpolished or early stage. Once you’re happy with your game’s page and the provided information you can click the “Save & view page” button. Once the page is done loading, you can customize your page with a theme and custom fonts but I chose not to. I clicked on “Draft” and scrolled to the bottom and set the game to “Public” and click the “Save” button again.
Conclusion
Now our game has been uploaded for friends to play and enjoy. I really prefer using Itch.io since you have a lot of control over your game. You can create Dev Blogs and such if you plan on updating your game on a regular basis and work on releasing your game to major markets.
