You can cheat the compiler.  

In the for loop:

final JComboBox finalCB = characterBox
;
finalCB.addActionListener(new ActionListener()  
{
   public void actionPerformed( ActionEvent event )
   {          
      String picNum = (String)finalCB.getSelectedItem();  
   }
});[/pre]

I'm new to these forums but am currently starting this process so I'll tell you how I'm doing it.

The most important thing I find is that I need to be making progress.  If after a couple weeks I still don't have anything that works, I would consider that a failure so iteration is what I like (with work and side projects).

So I have a list of 'deliverables' that all have some level of gratification to them.  This also allows my OOP side to create objects that are extensible and can be added to/editted to get to the next phase.  When a deliverable is done it can stand on it's own and graphically show progress.  Early bugs are caught here as well so they don't cascade and kill me later.

I've spent a lot of time thinking about my game as well and have a spiral notebook of notes about my objects, data transfers, controls, UI design, etc.  This was all done before code.  I had a friend look it over too to see if it's something he would play (he liked it).

Just like in the real world, it doesn't matter what process you use, but just use one.  You can make one up if you want but without one you have no gauge to determine where you are at and eventually you'll get burned out before getting done.  There's nothing worse than a line of code that will never be executed. :-/

Actually,  if you press and hold down a key, many key press events continue to fire.   That's why flagging is even more relevant, since for example someone may only intend only 1 movement space per press and release instead of every press.  There just isn't a 1:1 ratio of press:release.

Being a computer programmer, RSI is probably a forgone conclusion anyways.