Web Client or Standalone Player? Thread

I'm curious, what's the general consensus as far as preferred gameplay? I've been operating under the assumption that the majority of players would prefer to use a web client to try out a game, and if they like it enough, would then download the client. Rather than continue to assume, I figured I'd turn to the indiedb community and see what everyone thinks. I'm considering compiling a standalone version of my game to make it available for download here on indiedb even though there is a readily available web client on the website, but I want to make sure that my client can update in a way that isn't cumbersome to the end user. I work 50 hour weeks and have a 3 month old daughter... the time I get to spend working on my project is pretty scarce these days, and was just looking for some feedback on the subject before I delve into getting a client installation available.

You could just share the link with us right here.

And the differences between Web Client and Standalone is that you run the Web Client on a website basically.
The Standalone would be launched from the desktop by the user and would update from there.

I personally prefer the Standalone, because it would be much easier to access and run, if you use the Web Client perhaps we would need to use Java/Unity Play, if we try the Standalone we would already have the required plugins most likely.

For the full game I prefer having it on my desktop, but for trying out the game as a demo I would be fine with a Web Client as well.

thats a really good question, I was thinking about this as well. With Web Client you can play the game ANYWHERE! if you want to sell it, it will be harder to do on a web client. And as 7THRealmStudios mention, you can easily update both either way. Doing it in a web client you can easily get access to add other things, example like/share to facebook. I know, but there are millions of users on facebook, even if the service sucks. Drag the user into other material or other games you made in an easy way. You could do it with the desktop client as well, a bit more coding and work.

You can make a small footprint demo load from a website and sell the final product as a standalone.
Standalone is the consensus, Web Clients still seem to be a wasteful gimmick to get around the standard installation process.

I really appreciate the explanations on the differences between Web Clients and Standalone Players, but I was looking more for which was preferred and why. I compile both regularly, along with APK's to play on my droid devices... I was really more curious as to whether players preferred to download a client from the get-go or they are like me, and prefer to try a web client first, downloading the client only if they feel they will be playing the game in the future.

If you want to try out the Web Client for my game, link is below:
Blitzbotz.com

You can login as a guest using the 'Play As Guest' button, and will have access to the a single loadout, and can play around with swapping armor pieces, skins, weapons, etc. You can then take them into one of two arenas, either a private 'Training' Arena (which in the future will be the tutorial, but for now some simple instructions are located on the web page, directly below the game) and a multiplayer 'Free4All' Arena, which is currently capable of 100 players simultaneously. I've also been working on a zombies game type, which will be available shortly, and you can check out more information at the website's dev blog and media sections.

Last but not least, you can register if you feel compelled, which will automatically save your loadout settings for the next time you play, and soon registered members will have access to 2 separate loadouts, while guest accounts will remain limited to one.

somonels wrote: You can make a small footprint demo load from a website and sell the final product as a standalone.
Standalone is the consensus, Web Clients still seem to be a wasteful gimmick to get around the standard installation process.

I actually am compiling the full game for Web Client, Standalone on PC, Mac and Linux, as well as versions that run on Droid and iPhone/iPad. All tested with the exception of the iPhone, and you can access your same account from any of these devices, meaning you can play a few games on your PC, and then when it's time to go, take the same game and account/stats with you on your mobile.

Edited by: emorobotstudios

emorobotstudios wrote: I really appreciate the explanations on the differences between Web Clients and Standalone Players, but I was looking more for which was preferred and why. I compile both regularly, along with APK's to play on my droid devices... I was really more curious as to whether players preferred to download a client from the get-go or they are like me, and prefer to try a web client first, downloading the client only if they feel they will be playing the game in the future.

Yeah, i kinda overdid the whole sentence but i was just pointing out the differences so people will know what they're voting for aswell.

No worries, I probably should have done that myself in my original post, so thanks for covering my bases for me

PS. Not sure who was just pwning me in my own game, but that was incredibly fun! Never played with someone else on the site before, and I'm definitely cracking a celebratory beer right now.

I guess it really depends on what you're doing. If it's something like Last Stand: Dead Zone ( Armorgames.com ) then a web client is probably fine. If it's something that might need some kind of plugin (like unity or java) (such as Battlestar Galactica Online), I'd consider making a stand-alone client instead.

Some peoples' computers might object to running such a game in-browser (my computer, for example, practically locked up any time I tried using something that required the unity web-player [yes, I did have it downloaded], for instance) where they would run a stand-alone client with the same engine just fine (I play Kerbal Space Program just fine, for example, even though it's made with unity).

TerranAmbassador wrote: Some peoples' computers might object to running such a game in-browser (my computer, for example, practically locked up any time I tried using something that required the unity web-player [yes, I did have it downloaded], for instance)

I experience the same problem on occasion, though it seems to happen a lot less often with the release of Unity4. I haven't experimented much with their option to compile for Google Native Client, but am curious if this would remedy some of the crashes.

My concern with both standalone and web-client is compatibility to computers running XP.