I completely agree with this, but comparing specific tasks in programming languages in terms of performance can be useful because you want to pick the right one for the job. Comparing them in general and saying one is always or usually better, probably isn't going to be useful nor meaningful.

"I was able to make the C++ version take 16 seconds for the nested loops-test while Java only needed 1 second by adding some virtual method calls which I knew Java could optimize. I also was able to make the C++ version run in only 78 ms while the equivalent Java version needed even 10 seconds by only using static loops - the C++ optimizer then would not even loop anything and just add the values together."

I was surprised to see the findings on the loop calls, it seems that the programmer's knowledge is also a determining factor in speed.

Smooth sailing for me, I have vista and a dual core but no problems with your sample code.

I have made several games in java and all of them have used Java2D and I haven't had any problems. One of them was even a full blown RPG with lots of drawing and calculations and I never saw a performance hit, always a steady 59-60 FPS so I think your issue with it lies somewhere else.

 I agree that many names are stupidly long, but it makes starting out easier as they are more explanatory.

And with the garbage collector, remember that java was not made exclusively for video games and the gc does an incredible job performance wise taking that in mind, I think everyone else's suggestions pretty much cover gc for video games.

Thank you, that was both the word and solution I was looking for. 

Hi all,
    When I am using Eclipse and call a gl function by typing gl and then the dot and it brings up a list of all accessible functions (sorry I can't remember what this is called) there is a few seconds of lag. When I use netbeans or other IDEs this doesn't happen. So how do I make it go away, do I need to increase its allocated memory or something else? Thank you for your help.

Wow! Very nice!

Is the scripting going to be done with java as well?

LWJGL and JOGL are almost the same once you create a window, I don't recommend switching to another if you already have done a significant amount of work with one.

 If passing the gl context around to all of your methods that need it in your engine is that troublesome, it sounds like your engine isn't very Java-like at this point (no offense intended, just an observation).

As for callbacks and such, this pdf chapter details two different JOGL frameworks, one callbacks, one active rendering, that might help you. I only use GLEventListener so I can't really say otherwise.

http://fivedots.coe.psu.ac.th/~ad/jg2/ch15/index.html

Annoying and hard often go hand in hand in games, imagine a game where you have to click a circle, if the circle takes half the screen and appears in the same place it is far to easy and boring. It is important to add obstacles that add difficulty to a game, and difficulty is going to annoy the player. It is also important to integrate those obstacles with game functions, like an in game tool, in order to allow for diversity in the game rather than mundane clicking accomplishing the same thing. I think the blue blocks add to the game play because they add a new challenge and change into the game.


Adding the outline in the actual game area is a good idea and would make the game easier to play. Or maybe changing the color of the blocks on the game area, like a shadow might be more stylistic I dunno.

I strongly agree with settling on one form of input and I think keyboard controls would be easiest, but mouse controls would be more fun for the player. Or add both and let the player choose.

I found a few links that might help you.

http://anthonyf.wordpress.com/2006/12/27/a-lispy-jigsaw-puzzle-game/

This site does not list any code but does describe the process they used to create the puzzle piece. It seems most people use an image mask, or template for their puzzle pieces.

http://www.pygame.org/project/828/?release_id=1451

And here is the source for a jigsaw game in python and pygame, python is fairly easy to read without experience programming in it. I think you might have to download the python language to view the code though, not sure. (it's a small download anyway).

I made a jigsaw game back in the day. If I recall correctly I started out with the whole image and slowly worked in an algorithm to make pieces. I started by breaking it into squares that gradually became fancy arcs and curves.

I had an array of arrays to represent the pieces like a 2D rpg would have a tiled map. The pieces are initially set to null and are created one by one starting at the top left and filling in rows before columns. When the algorithm created the tile it would check for any neighbors, if the neighbor was not null, it would make its side the opposite of its neighbor's so they could fit together, if the neighbor was null, it would randomly create an arc to represent its side, and if the piece was at the edge of the image it would make that side flat.

The hardest part is that the shapes don't have set dimensions so converting screen coords to test if the piece belongs there when the player moves it is difficult. I don't remember how I overcame this, sorry.

I know my explanation is confusing and sorry about that, but hopefully it will give you ideas on how to start.

Must wash eyes.
Soap. Soap. SOOOOOAAAAPPPP!!!!!

What is "goatse"??

Say what? I thought all new processors made in like the last 3- 5 years had 64 bit support, it's the way of the future. Bummer man.

I didn't think it was quite this bad but I think if the white, fancy font, "Java" goes it will look a lot better because it looks jammed in there. I like the overall look, it is vibrant and colorful without looking like a 1970's music video gone wrong. I do agree with erikd that having games under multiple categories would be very useful.

Overall, I like it. 

Very cool. 

I have a wide screen laptop so in full screen mode the game looked kind of stretched but still visually appealing. The hammer tool looks nice and was a big help for me since I make so many mistakes.

Advertisement failed, I didn't notice his sig either. 
I was wondering about that spam posting of "thanks" on all those topics in such a short period of time.

LWJGL and JOGL are both terrific for 2D games. I don't recommend using a game engine because making your own won't take long and the process of making it will allow you to familiarize yourself with LWJGL/JOGL. When choosing which to use, LWJGL has been used for more commercial games, but it seems more people use JOGL; especially on these forums.



Using a JFrame and JPanel is most likely not going to provide you with any additional benefits over Frame or Canvas. I don't recommend using Swing for things like buttons because swing is bulky by nature, and while the performance hit is likely insignificant with a simple game, it is quite significant for a larger game.


It is not that it is slow, it's just not fast. 

I have never seen this before, makes me want to start another "make the next great mmorpg" programming kick. I see many cans of coke and sleepless nights in my near future. 

I used Java3D a bit awhile back but I don't recall having this problem. When you create your JPanel and JFrame yourself, are you setting everything up the same as the builder, like using the same window style and such? One thing you could try is remove unnecessary settings from your GUIBuilder built panel and frame and see if that helps.


Java3D isn't dead, why I don't know, but a lot of people seem to use it, and Canvas3D is valid, http://java.sun.com/javase/technologies/desktop/java3d/forDevelopers/J3D_1_2_API/j3dapi/javax/media/j3d/Canvas3D.html


Your English is fine. 

True dat. I love the hats  .

Yay! 

I might be backpacking that weekend, but if not, I'll definitely enter something.

Good fun, and addicting to boot, good job! 

Welcome  .

First off since I am not sure exactly what is wrong (it's been a long day) and I use JOGL not LWJGL I am going to suggest a few things to try and check back after I have had a nap  :

Hard code the image sizes, int sizex = 32, int sizey = 32 or whatever sizes
Try subtracting values from your calculations to see if they line up or there are still black borders and see if this value appears elsewhere in your code
Look at how you have set up your world, ex. glOrtho()
Look up an opengl textured quad example and see how they used the coordinates and set up opengl

It looks like you are trying to draw your isometric diamond as if it were a square, in other words, the corners will touch not the sides, is that what you want?

http://www.cgtextures.com/ has some good textures that can be used either for 3D games or as base tiles for a tile based game.

Like pyrodragon said, reapint() clears the screen so you can draw to an off screen image, or redraw your other three images again when you draw the next two. I am not sure what you meant when you said "apply threads for two new images," are you drawing your images from a separate thread?

Thanks a bunch.


I would have never thought of that .

I found a site that has a really large collection of (mostly) ripped sprites and 2d graphics for download for free. Does anyone know of a similar site that has a lot of 2d graphics? Free or not but preferably free.

site:
http://charas-project.net/resources.php?wa=0%E2%8C%A9=fr&area=Charasets&offset=85&howmany=10&fsearch=

That fog effect is a nice touch. 

I am glad the code helped. I still have no idea whats causing the difference in cpu though, or how to do anything about it, so hopefully one of the other members here will have some insight.

Interesting game, when it first loaded, it went  white, although I still heard the sounds, I waited a bit but nothing else happened. I refreshed and it was fine and I haven't had the problem since, so I don't know what that was. Very fun game although the ships momentum seems to be off, it slows down kind of quick. Otherwise  the controls work perfectly and I really like the retro sound and graphics.

love it