Getting Started

[RyaanIXD]

I am interested in creating html5 games. I am learning html5, css, javascript, and jquery in school and I like video games so why not learn by making a game. How can I get started? What tools do I need?

[RyaanIXD]

Setting up the web server is confusing me.

Do I really need to do this?
 

[alex_h]

There are security restrictions around loading files into the browser directly from the file system, so yes you need to run a web server so that you can load your game content via http.

[lumoludo]

For setting up your local web server, I would recommend WampServer. It's a breeze to set up (there are instructions on that site, but pretty much just involves running the installer), and using it is as simple as putting your webpage in the right folder and then pointing your browser at an address like 'http://localhost:8080/mylocaldirectory/'.

[mattstyles]

It's worth learning how to scaffold a quick static server, even if you've no interest in server programming, learning how your stuff actually hits the browser, even at a high level, is something that will serve you well if you keep going, and yes, it is confusing at first.

If you're serious about javascript then you should install node, it comes with npm (node package manager) and there are about 5000 different static servers that can be accessed used with zero config i.e. just install them and run them and done! This does require knowledge of using the command line to run scripts, again, this can be confusing if you've no experience of it but is another crucial bit of knowledge that will be useful to you, even if you're only strictly interested in client-side programming. If the command line is really scaring you there are programs with a GUI that will set up a basic zero config static server, which is all you need to get going (note that this stuff is fairly trivial if you're running a unix-like OS, trickier on windows but still fairly easy once you get your head round it).

There are many good tutorials around for whatever platform you're developing on (note that many IDE's, even skinny ones like Atom, Sublime or Brackets, have zero config plugins for starting a static server), just follow one of those and you'll have a static server up and running in no time. Once you've done this, you likely won't have a need to touch it again for a while, until you need something slightly more complex so it's worth spending a small amount of time getting it right now and then diving in to client-side coding.

As you're learning this at school an excellent point of contact would be your teacher/tutor, make sure you get as much info from them as possible, many people learning JS etc don't get face-to-face access to mentors until they've got a job (even then it can be tricky depending on who employs you) so make the most of it!