State of Java Gaming?

[kappa]

early access doesn't have much at the moment over the normal jre for java gaming (apart from maybe d3d for j2d) , the real changes for gaming will come when the java kernel and java plugin go in.

[elias]

It's good to see a D3D implementation coming along. Are the rumors true, that OpenGL apps shut down Vista's desktop compositing?

Microsoft threatened to do this, but OpenGL doesn't disable the compositor in Vista.

That said, my experience with vista is that graphics drivers are still somewhat immature, but I don't think that's limited to OpenGL.

 - elias

[princec]

Vista is still generally rubbish, but then, that's what you get for being on the bleeding edge. It'll be fine next year.

I've tried the early access Java 6 but of course the kernel stuff isn't in there yet. However the super-fast applet / JRE startup is, and that's good stuff. It's a bit buggy at the moment though (notably, it pauses my entire machine - mouse included - periodically, which is a trivial internal VM thread priority bug that they keep fixing in patches then unfixing. Grrr)

Cas

Games published by our own members! Check 'em out!

[javatypo]

From my perspective, i am of the opinion that little has change since i used to be an avid game programmer.

Ive been away web programming for several years, and since ive come back to these forums, all i really see that is new is more 3d engine projects.

Why doesnt everyone join one 3d engine project and perfect it rather than trying to reinvent the wheel all the time?

[cylab]

- personal taste
- industry involvement (some like it, some don't)
- desire to leave a mark
- communication problems
- developer animosity
- etc. etc. etc.

It's like asking "why doesn't everyone..." without actually participating in the desired effort 

[princec]

Besides, there are only 3 engines. Monkey, Xith, and java3d.

Cas

[kevglass]

http://aviatrix3d.j3d.org/
http://www.jpct.net/
http://www.agency9.se/products/agentfx/

Kev

[princec]

(I meant that had communities on this board)

Cas

[kappa]

worldscape http://www.matthiasmann.de/ is also one impressive java engine.

and https://jge.dev.java.net/

and the infamous yet to be released http://volatile-engine.blogspot.com/ (although main site seems to be down)

also my current favorite http://slick.cokeandcode.com/ (although technically a library, could easily be an engine)

[DzzD]

http://aviatrix3d.j3d.org/
http://www.jpct.net/
http://www.agency9.se/products/agentfx/

Kev

http://dzzd.net will be the real surprise 
http://dzzd.net/demo/DEMOLG/

Games published by our own members! Check 'em out!

[grom358]

GTGE looks dead. 0.2.3 Release is from 07/03/05

Slick hasn't reached a 1.0 release yet. Also is there website at all for SlickSet?

OctLight appears dead. Last updated: 2005-02-13

Although there is plenty of Java 2D games, it doesn't look to be in good state on 2D front library/engine wise.

[oNyx]

>Slick hasn't reached a 1.0 release yet.

That doesn't mean anything, really.

Build numbers are better suited for indicating the progress, and version number are a marketing thing. If you look at Java you can see that that version number stuff gets easily out of hand. And there were other projects with version numbers like 0.99z5 or some where 4.5.2 is older than 4.5.11 etc. Build numbers are far more transparent than that.

[kevglass]

OctLight is a 3D engine (or at least intended to be one)

Sorta of a short sighted view of 2D libraries:

GTGE
GAGE
EasyWay
SPGL
JASEL
Stencyl
JGame

For info, Slick's last release was:

1	Version 'b184' - Wednesday, November 14th, 2007 @ 12:41:31 am

Last SVN commit, that's probably more important, was last night.

If you're looking for a reason/justification to grow your own library, you don't need it, Just Do It (tm).

Kev

[grom358]

>>Slick hasn't reached a 1.0 release yet.

> That doesn't mean anything, really.

Okay. I really looking forward to seeing stencyl which AFAICT is based on SlickSet which is based on Slick.

What else is competing with Slick that is currently active?

JGame looks active http://www.13thmonkey.org/~boris/jgame/.

Also Phsy2D is active. http://www.cokeandcode.com/phys2d/

[grom358]

Sorry Kev,

I haven't really look at Slick. And yes I was passing judgment based on the version number. My bad.

I was really just posting my initial thoughts from quick browsing of Java related gaming stuff. And I found that some of the libraries people mentioned are dead. By the way, Slick looked the most active to me. And I know Stencyl is in development, but to be honest my inital though was that it was vapourware. Causes it got this very nice looking website and screenshots, but the download page is empty.

I should of written my first post saying this, instead of bashing Slick for not being 1.0 release. For that I apologize.

Kind Regards, grom358.

[kappa]

What else is competing with Slick that is currently active?
...
Also Phsy2D is active. http://www.cokeandcode.com/phys2d/

wouldn't say they are competing since they can be used together and achieve different goals, but is a nice coincident that authors for both libraries have the same name 

[brackeen]

JGame got ported to Java ME recently - good news.

Also don't forget the most popular 2D Java library (that rarely appears on this board) - Processing. Usually it's used for visualization, but it is used for games, has an OpenGL binding, and it's getting more and more users all the time. Check out the number of bookmarks on del.icio.us or it's ranking on Alexa.

[kevglass]

There's also PulpCore isn't there?

Kev

[brackeen]

There's also PulpCore isn't there?

Yes
Also active. Fairly new, but I'm starting to get bug fixes from other developers, and I just added multiplicative blending in SVN the other day.