WebAssembly in Web Gaming: Bringing C++ Speed to Browsers

Have you ever wondered how web games simulate the bouncy motion of a cyber ball in Cyber Breaker or the falling flap of Cyber Bird? Behind every smooth web arcade game is a lightweight JavaScript physics engine executing mathematical equations on every frame.

In this article, we examine the fundamental physics equations used in HTML5 browser games and see how developers transform math into fluid, responsive gameplay.

1. Velocity and Acceleration

In 2D canvas physics, an object's position on screen is represented by coordinates (x, y). To simulate movement, developers apply velocity (vx, vy) and acceleration (ax, ay) on each game loop tick:

position.x += velocity.x dt position.y += velocity.y dt

To simulate gravity, a constant downward acceleration g is added to vertical velocity vy on every frame:

velocity.y += gravity dt

In Cyber Bird, tapping the screen applies a negative upward impulse to vy, causing the bird to hop upward before gravity smoothly pulls it back down.

2. Collision Detection: Axis-Aligned Bounding Boxes (AABB)

To detect when a ball hits a brick in Cyber Breaker or when a ship hits an asteroid in Cyber Asteroids, games use Axis-Aligned Bounding Box (AABB) collision detection.

When a collision is detected, the ball's velocity vector is inverted, producing the classic arcade bounce effect.

Summary

By leveraging simple physics equations and hardware-accelerated 2D Canvas rendering, modern HTML5 games deliver responsive physics right inside your browser on Fungameon!