I was recommended to use html5 (instead of flash which I now know is bad I guess) to make a simple game (with the same functioning as a dress up game basically), I looked into it and it seems manageable, so I'm trying to do that, but I'm having trouble with one part.. Every other element that would be needed in the game I've been able to conceptualize how it would be done and find what I need to do it, but what would be the best way to make something where people can select different colors of something???
Exactly like in this game here, how on the side tabs you can choose skin and hair and eye color and such - http://www.rinmarugames.com/playgame.php?game_link=witch-apprentice-creator
I've tried googling like 9 different things but maybe I'm just not describing it right or putting in the right search terms but I can't find anything about this specifically or too similar..
For example, with hair selection, I was hoping there would be a simpler way than legit drawing every single hairstyle in every single color and having those all be individual images you can see upon selection or something (even with 10 hairstyles and 8 colors that'd be 80 things to do).. Like couldn't there be a way to do something like, have one '"'layer''" or something like that that is the outline of the hair style and then one below that is the color, and the color can just change on it's own depending on what the person selects from buttons on a menu on the side? So then I'm really only doing two things, the hair outlines part that can change independently and the underlying colors part that can change independently, and it's not like having to actually draw out hundreds/thousands of individual options piece by piece.
But is that a thing that's possible to do using html5 stuff?
(and if not, is there a better thing to use? I haven't done much work yet, I'm just doing a quick sample to make sure I have the base concepts down and get how the menus work and such before I actually do any extensive art or anything, so starting over somewhere and loosing what baby experimenting I've done would be fine).
I know how to make one thing be under another thing, but I just don't know mainly how I would go about doing a color changing part that depends on what button you select in a menu, or if I would have to do something special with the hair outline part.. And also there may be a much better way than just conceptualizing it in my mind as layers anyway, so there could be a totally different way to think about it... I just don't know where to start in thinking about how to organize it or what I would need to do?
How would you go about doing that, what would even be the most efficient way to set it up? A way I can do it where I don't have to draw every individual option.. What is the basic sort of function or way of organizing different things on the page or etc that I would probably have to utilize to get the same effect as the color selection mechanic?
Intense apologies that I don't know how to describe this in more technical terms, I still hardly know anything about this, but hopefully you can still understand what I'm asking despite me speaking in the fashion of a fresh newborn child about it.. I can always specify more or try to rephrase it if the question isn't clear, I'm just not quite sure how to refer to it