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JAVA not appropriate for action games?

5 Message(s) by 4 Author(s) originally posted in java games


From: christof.helfrich Date:   Sunday, August 24, 2003
I'm not talking about fast 3d engine, just simple 2d scrolling , jump-and-run .
But I guess the garbage collection will spoil it.

Any other opinions?


From: nils Date:   Monday, August 25, 2003
I'm not talking about fast 3d engine, just simple 2d scrolling,
jump-and-run. But I guess the garbage collection will spoil it.



It IS possible to make decent games in JAVA. Check out :

http://www.JAVAcooperation.gmxhome.de

and look for J-Rio. This is a Mario-like game made in JAVA.
I personally find it very impressive.


From: nils Date:   Tuesday, August 26, 2003
While it isn't a fast action game, check out "Sparky's Fun House" at:
http://www.microprizes.com/mp23.htm
It can run on slower systems (e.g., 100 MHz systems), and as a JAVA Applet
with no special plug-ins. The executable is only 67 Kb in length. The game
includes 17 levels and features 3d scrolling.



I'm amazed how smooth it scrolls ! Did you just use the 'standard '
double-buffering or have you developed some 'tricks' to achieve that ?


From: Carl G. Date:   Tuesday, August 26, 2003
>While it isn't a fast action game, check out "Sparky's Fun House" at:
>
>http://www.microprizes.com/mp23.htm
>
>It can run on slower systems (e.g., 100 MHz systems), and as a JAVA
Applet
>with no special plug-ins. The executable is only 67 Kb in length. The
game
>includes 17 levels and features 3d scrolling.
I'm amazed how smooth it scrolls ! Did you just use the 'standard'
double-buffering or have you developed some 'tricks' to achieve that ?



I used standard double buffering, using AWT and off-screen image s. The
scrolling window is handled by one off-screen image, and the "gadget box"
(the area that contains the items that Sparky is carrying) is handled by a
second off-screen image. The portions of the screen (the score box, reset
button, etc.) aren't double buffered (since they do not need it).

I did use a few tricks to increase the illusion of smooth scrolling. I
purposely keep Sparky near the center of the action, so that the player will
focus on him, and not the scrolling background . If you cover Sparky with
your finger, you may notice that the background seems to move less smoothly
(it actually moves in units that are 1/4 the size of the floor tiles that
appear throughout the game). By keeping Sparky at the center of attention,
I can also reduce the frame rate to only 10 frames per second. This allows
people with slower machines to play the game. All actions are planned
around this frame rate. For example, Sparky normally moves one floor tile
in 4 frames, which is the same frame rate as the moving ramps. This means
that when Sparky is on a moving ramp, and running against the direction of
the ramp, he can not make any progress (which is useful in many of the
puzzles).

To get higher performance on slower machines, I also used a lot of vector
graphics (polygons, etc.), and limited bit-mapped graphics. One of the
biggest bottlenecks of JAVA AWT graphics is rendering masked images (e.g.,
masked GIF images). Rendering masked images is much slower than rendering
unmasked images (by a factor of 10 on many systems). I did discover a way
around this speed problem by using "special techniques", but none of the
games on my website use these techniques. The "special techniques"
basically use custom Image producers and breaking the masked images into
strips. The exact technique and code is still propriety information. Since
systems are getting faster every day, and the "special techniques" are often
only needed for slower systems, I may decide to publish a tutorial on how
they work in the future.

Carl G.


From: Beanzy Date:   Thursday, August 28, 2003



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