The web app marketplace Mozilla is working on will prove very handy as well

Dec 19, 2011 19:11 GMT  ·  By

Last week, Mozilla introduced the first tangible stage of its Mozilla Labs Apps project which, much like the name implies, aims to create a platform for web applications. This being Mozilla, it will be an open platform and an open market place, one that will also be cross-browser.

Since the web apps platform will use only standard web technologies, making the apps work in different browsers has more to do with the browser makers' desire to do so rather than the technical difficulties.

As the web apps project gets underway, Mozilla is highlighting what it's doing for a particular type of app, games.

Mozilla has been one of the few groups to work on creating a pure HTML5/JavaScript gaming platform. Work on that continues, but in the meantime, Mozilla listed some of the features in Firefox or the web store that will help games.

"It’s important to remember that although we often talk about apps as pieces of software that each serve a particular task, they can also be games," Mozilla wrote.

"After all, if you pull away the story and graphics, a game is really no different to what you would normally consider as an application — it uses the same platform and programming languages, HTML and JavaScript in this case," it said.

One Mozilla technology that comes in very handy is the emerging BrowserID. It will enable games to implement an user profile system based on an open standard and technology.

On the one hand, users will keep their saved games and achievements no matter where they play from, on the other, developers don't have to worry about a complicated login system.

Mozilla has also added two more technical features to Firefox that do wonders for a very important thing in games, immersion. The full-screen API enables games to take over the entire screen, removing the browser UI and everything else.

At the same time, the Mouse Lock API makes it possible to hide the mouse cursor and use its movements to guide the sights in first person shooter, for example. The Mouse Lock API is only available in the Nightly builds, but it's slowly making its way downstream.

Of course, you can ditch the mouse entirely with the Gamepad API also available in Firefox now, also in the Nightly builds.

One of the more interesting technologies that Mozilla is working on, dubbed WebRT (web run-time), which seems particularly suited for games, is the ability to package web apps to 'install' like regular applications on the user's computer, adding a launcher and completely removing the browser UI.

You can read detailed explanations on how to actually implement any of these features, and a few more, for your games or apps in Mozilla's post.