Morterra moves from Java to the browser in 2017

In November 2017 Morterra became playable in the browser, with nothing to download and no registration. We had rewritten the whole game from Java to JavaScript in six months.

The 2017 Morterra website login screen, with the logo and a note saying no registration is needed, only a username

Morterra became a browser game on November 1, 2017. The survival MMO was first written in Java, from around 2013 to 2015, and the plan had always been to run it in the browser as a Java applet. When Chrome and other popular browsers stopped allowing Java applets to be embedded, JavaScript became the only way forward.

We started rewriting the entire project in JavaScript in May 2017, and six months later it was hosted and ready to play. Players could start from any browser without downloading anything or registering. We were glad to see new players, even the ones who only came to kill everyone.

What changed

We renovated the login screen, which is also the front page of the website, and the in-game UI. The UI was still a work in progress at launch, but it was an improvement.

The move to the browser also brought new features:

  • A highscores page
  • A minimap
  • Music

What we planned next

  • Converting the game to 3D
  • Adding sound effects
  • Becoming the best new browser game of 2018

A browser client had been on our list since Alpha 1.6 in June 2016. The 3D conversion shipped in July 2019.

First posted on ModDB, November 1, 2017.

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