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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.
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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.
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.
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*...
Agreed. Its improving though. I think Java's gaming future on desktops probably lie in that area where you need the ease of deployment of Macromedia Flash, but with the sophistication of a fully developed programming langauge. Its still early, but there are a few java games out there that exploit these strengths, such as Wurm Online (a mmorpg that is multiplatform, uses opengl via jogl and doesn't require an install, just click and play!)
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
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?