Javascript game to Phonegap for android game?

Question

me and a friend of mine are in the process of building a javascrip/HTML5 game and I'm running into a few questions about the process of using converting it to an android game. I plan on using Phone gap as it appears to be fairly simple and does what I'm looking for it to do. I've done a little research, but there is still a few questions I have about the whole process.

1. Can I run the app offline? I want to be able to post the app to app store and allow people to download and play offline. Given the fact there will be no server requests can I make the game function offline?

2. As I make the game for the computer I'm relying on the keyboard as input to move around. Obviously, once I port it to mobile this won't be practical. What is the easiest way to go about doing this? I'm considering simply changing the game to have a click on screen which moves the character to that location or even a simple movement pad in the corner of the screen. Would these on screen clicks change correctly over to mobile.

3. Lastly, what is the easiest way to handle save data. On the computer side I plan to use HTML5 local storage to store game data. Does this convert to mobile or is there a better way?

I appreciate any help in this matter.

Answer 1

Phonegap is known to be slow, and isn't ideal for games. I've published several games on Google Play using CocoonJS and highly recommend it. For both platforms, the answers are:

1. Yes, you can run the app offline. Your HTML files (and images, JavaScript, etc.) are bundled with your application.
2. If you're targeting mobile, you should move to click/touch events. (You'll need to either handle both or use a lib/engine that does that for you.)
3. localStorage should just work (it does in CocoonJS).

Good luck!