This paper focuses on the native web technologies one could use to implement audio in games which are programmed with standardized web languages. With the HTML5, new standards have emerged, introducing native audio support – audio-tag and Web Audio API (which is still in a development).
My problem postulation is: “How well do audio-tag and Web Audio API perform compared to each other and how they can be used in a most optimal way to deliver the best user- and aural experience in browser based games.”
In my theoretical research I look into the usage of audio in games throughout the history, why audio is so important in games and what types of audio have been used. Also the limitations applying to audio have been covered with a set of techniques used by the industry to cope with them. This helps to understand the current situation of game audio.
The goal of the conducted tests is to analyze the potential limitations, differences and possibilities of audio-tag and Web Audio API, covering topics like their performance and utilizability. Two web pages were programmed which acted as a framework for the tests (one page for each implementation method).
Findings indicate that there are different limitations and challenges developers have to face when using these audio implementation methods. As a final product of the paper a set of guidelines have been proposed, which can be useful when implementing audio in web and may help to overcome some of the limitations induced by web and audio technologies.