Preffered method for 2-D Java games

[xeturnerx]

Some friends and I are making a 2-D java RPG.  We want the graphics to be similar to Final Fantasy games on the SNES.  I'm pretty good at Java, but I've never written a large-scale game before, and I want to know the preferred method for creating the games.  I know how to move things around and double-buffer, and other basic stuff with AWT, but I've heard that AWT isn't a very good solution for 2-D games, and maybe Java 2-D would be better.  I'm really confused as to what Java 2-D is exactly, and if there are other engines that I should possibly use, what are they, and how do they work?

[kevglass]

At the risk of self plugging you might want to go over and look at the SpaceInvaders tutorials series on

http://grexengine.com/sections/externalgames/

Its under the articles section. Hopefully they'll be addition of Space Invaders 104: LWJGL soon.

Kev

[xeturnerx]

Awesome, thanks.  These tutorials are pretty helpful.  Also, do you think LWJGL is a good thing to learn if I'm interested in making Java games?  I've read that there aren't many tutorials and examples for using it.

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

[kevglass]

LWJGL is pretty great actually (I've come to realise). It has a tendancy to have functionality over extensibility but that fits pretty in the games arena.

It does at least cover graphics, sound and control all in one simple package. However, it is OpenGL, so is slightly more complicating than just sticking an image on the screen.

Kev

[K.I.L.E.R]

LWJGL is a Godsend.

To my surprise doing certain things in OpenGL is easier than doing them through Java2D. Understanding a little math is always a plus.

[ribot]

But, be warned that if you are on a Mac and wish to use webstart to deploy your LWJGL apps, there are major problems regarding generic functionality....

....Which will soon hopefully be fixed though (by swpalmer and his cocoa book).