I've been looking into game ui's recently. My conclusion is that html/css/javascript would be the perfect solution IF it was wrapped up in a nice C++ library that allowed for easy integration into OpenGL/DX type apps for rendering and easy talking between javascript and C++ and/or other scripting languages like lua (since it's used so often in games). Currently I believe there to be a lot of "bloat" in current implementations because of all the security. If html/css/javascript were to be used in desktop apps it wouldn't need all that security I don't think which could probably reduce it's footprint.
Another issue is that some libraries that currently exist (most are not good if you ask me) make your game second class to html. They want your game to be embedded in the html page, where I think from a game developer standpoint it makes more sense to have the webpage sit on top of the existing game and just be transparent to show the game through it but still allow input to make it to the game.
My question is what would the negatives be around this? Given that you could remove some bloat from the current implementation of the html/css/javascript stack specifically so it can be used for desktop games (removing a lot of security stuff that's not needed with this use case). Also, if one was to start to look into this what would you even start with?
The benefits seem numerous to me. The stack is tried and true. Countless free libraries out there for it. Amazing UI control. A skill that transfers to other technical jobs. Non proprietary so you can easily contract this part of the game out to a huge pool of cheaper people. A ton of tooling already exists. Testing the layout doesn't even require the game itself but can be done in a webpage. It really just seems like the best solution that doesn't exist yet.
