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Sun Sponsors Java Game Development Competition
Sim9 writes "Sun (among others) is sponsoring a $50,000 Java games competition, with the competition page explaining: 'With Java technology, developers are enabled to simplify their development process and create richer games reaching across a multitude of devices and platforms.' In my humble opinion, Java still has a ways to go in the gaming industry, but the competition could greatly help if skilled people enter."
Heh, I wrote my Java game DigZone for fun, and to give something back to the internet which has given me so much, but 50 grand would be ok too I guess :)
I used to think java had no place in games. It's "slow" and the 3d isn't the greatest. Then puzzle pirates changed my mind. That's the kind of game that java does well, that and Yahoo! games type stuff. It's really great playing Puzzle Pirates in linux and windows and mac. Lots of open source in the pirate crew.
The GeekNights podcast is going strong. Listen!
Java as a game development platform. What's the deal? Is it good, or is it whack?
Java, in the process of adding all that compatibility, adds extra layers of abstraction and insulation between the game and the hardware. That means more CPU work... which means lower framerates... which doesn't fall in line with many gamers' (including myself) picky standards.
Now, if performance is not an issue, Java can certainly be a good choice. That might also mean that some good will come out of all that hardware power from chip growth in the near future, but consumers don't really have a need for yet.
If you haven't yet tried out Puzzle Pirates, then you should. That's about the best use of Java for a game that I've seen or really expect to see. Works like a charm cross-platform and takes advantage of the -ahem- chunky graphics to deliver a great gaming experience.
blarg.
Apparently, the entry rules allow games developed for J2ME, of which there are quite a few. These games are also fairly simple to make (harkening back to the glory days of my 8-bit 2D sidescrolling youth).
I think the entries for this contest could be pretty interesting. Mobile gaming is one of the few markets left where a lone wolf developer can make an innovative, even radical game and still have a decent chance of it being a hit.
But I suppose the games can.
Obviously you haven't used Java in a while. Why don't you go get Eclipse and have some fun a bit?
On mobiles at least. In Japan (I don't know about the rest of the world), iMode/iAppli phones all run Java on lots of different flavours of OSes and chip sets, so one code base runnable on many phones makes a lot of sense for the developer, and the iMode micropayment scheme makes it easy to get some return for your investment.
Not all games are made for the PC and console market. Smart phones and PDA's will likely become pervasive, and J2ME makes an excellent platform for developing games on those devices.
-B
Forget about winning, it would be awesome to get some free publicity care of Sun.
A Multiplayer Strategy Game for Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux
Could it scroll smooth? I like how it has no decimal.
-I am an elective eunuch.
What the crap!? I was contemplating how cool it would be to make a game to enter into this and maybe win some money... but there is no money. The first place "Prize" is as follows: Grand Prize: One (1) Grand Prize winner will receive a full GameSpy SDK license for one title and one (1) ABS Computer System and a copy of the Java Desktop System. Approximate Retail Value: $45,000. The only cool prize here is the glory of winning the their damned contest. It reminds me of the joke: Q: What is better than winning the special olympics? A: Not being retarded!
After messing around with MUD way back when, that was the first thing that came to mind when I first heard about Java, all those years ago. One of the problems with MUD was that even though you could bring your character from dungeon to dungeon, none of the artifacts or special objects you found in one GM's dungeon had any effect in someone else's, because the code to implement that artifact couldn't go with you. If all the little MUD objects were implemented in bytecode, then everything would be portable, and you could keep on using that awesome +9 flamethrower in every other dungeon you visited...
-- *My* journal is more interesting than *yours*...
On the other hand, I find the scripting taht Stratagus uses to define its units looking kind of scary. But I didn't really try hard to understand it.
So, in fact, looking not only at single objects but at maps, it would be cool if ALL games could share their data, so you could run several engines using one map.
I harbor a plan for a kind of broker server that would allow you to transfer characters and assets between different kind of servers, but you would need the servers to adopt this system, which probably only open source games would do. I also fancy a special kind of magic/object system to go with that server.
Feel like helping me program it ?
I'm still trying to figure out what people mean by 'social skills' here.
Sun is apparently trying hard to prove that Java works well in all areas by getting some proof-of-concepts in gaming. The problem is that, really and honestly, for most genres, Java is a really lousy choice.
Performance matters in games.
Memory usage matters in games.
Bugs are more acceptable in games than in any other genre of software. I might learn to live with a painfully slow backup system if I knew that it was rock-solid, but with a game, "painfully slow" is unacceptable. I can live with having to reopen a game three times over the course of playing it, even if I don't like having to do so.
All this is going to do is drive home to people how poorly suited Java is for most game development. It hasn't worked well for horizontal-market app development either. Java is *already* big in custom and vertical market work, where it shines. I just don't see the point in Sun doing marketing when they *don't have the product to fill the need they're aiming at*.
May we never see th
"In my humble opinion, Java still has a ways to go in the gaming industry, but the competition could greatly help if skilled people enter."
;)
Maybe Java's problem is that skilled programmers don't use it.
Just remember, if you write an invaders clone, please don't call it Java Invaders or Sun will sue your ass. :-)
adl
My boring ramblings
wasnt Chrome written in Java or something like that? anybody know anything more about it?
A good sense of humor is essential to deal with the worlds reality.
I think it's interesting that AMD and the Tapwave are helping sponsor this contest. Also I think that as computer's get faster virtual machines will become more viable as a cross platform solution for porting games. Imagine taking a java game from your PC-CDROM and popping it into your console of choice when your friends come over.
Pretty widgets? What pretty widgets?
I am not sure, but I have heard that the game Vampire the Masquerade used Java, combined with a graphic engine coded in C. Therefore, they could get the speed of C code and ease of coding of Java.
Essentially if you bring a goblin-thwacker +10 from a game where this is a mundane item into another dungeon where the same item is considered godly, then this is the same profit that can be made by trading, adding new option to do stuff in the game. The mediator program amd both dungeons will provde a mechanism which will lead to a shortage of goblin-thwackers in the dungeon where it formerly was mundane.
I'm still trying to figure out what people mean by 'social skills' here.