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A Look at Java 3D Programming for Mobile Devices
An anonymous reader writes "IBM developerworks is running an article that describes the Mobile 3D Graphics API and introduces you to 3D programming for Java mobile devices. Sony's PSP has shown the graphics power you can put into a mobile device and mobile gaming. Although the average mobile phone is technologically behind this specialized game machine, Java seems to be helping to drive the market in a very definite direction."
Wow! Finally I can code 'Hello World' in full 3D glory with realistic 3D shadows!
The developer pages of SE offer Mobile Java 3D Tutorials as well: http://developer.sonyericsson.com/site/global/tech support/tipstrickscode/mobilejava3d/p_mobilejava3d _tips_new.jsp
Life is just nature's way of keeping meat fresh.
Quite a few handsets already support M3G, among them the Siemens S65, Motorola E680, E1000, V980, SonyEricsson V800 and K750i, and the Nokia 6630 and 6680.
M3G is a lot lighter weight than Java3D, has high and low level APIs, and has its own compact file format for efficient packaging of assets.
I've been developing M3G technology, both engines and games, since day 1 (I was our company's representative on the expert group), and I am happy that Slashdot has at last highlighted it.
If you think retreads of "Mr. Do" and "Snake" are going to cut it in the Java space from now on, think again. You might like to look at Superscape's site for a taste of the kind of 3D games that are already out there.
Developers might also want to visit Benhui.net's 3D Developer Forum.
Sean Ellis
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I have a freind who used to work at a major cell phone company. I remember him telling me people would NEVER use java or linux in embedded products because the memory foot print was just too big.
Ah, Moore's Law, what isn't practical today will be in 18 months (or 36 months, etc.).
He is a smart guy, he just doesn't have the vision to look out that far into the future.
Think Deeply.
So will I see the frontside of the object on one screen, and when I turn the phone around to watch the other screen, the back side of the object? That would be pretty cool!
My wife's sketchblog Blob[p]: Gastrono-me
3D Java Games? Anyone re-call the N-Gage?
This seems like a bad idea to me. Instead of trying to make a phone compete with a gaming console they should be looking for more innovate things that they can make phones do.
Have you metaroderated recently?
How much would it cost these days for a phone that did not have any unnecessities like 3D graphics, address books, calendars, clocks, and so forth? I'm talking about a cell phone equivalent feature-wise to your typical 1960s telephone. How terribly cheap could something like that be produced for? I'd almost be inclined to think that you could find them in vending machines.
Cyric Zndovzny at your service.
...even though back in 2000 I wrote a 3D software engine in Java that was more than acceptably fast enough to run Wolfenstein-quality gfx on a P75. And I knew fairly little about optimisation in Java, so that could probably have been faster. Throw in hardware acceleration, and you can bet these'll be fast enough for at least ok game-level graphics. Beyond games, I don't know what use this would have...
Game dev and music blog
Why would I want (or even care) to have 3D graphics on my mobile phone/device? The screen is already tiny. I'm sure 3D graphics are more computationally expensive and power-consuming than traditional 2D graphics. And in the end, I'm still just looking at a 2D projection of a 3D image. Its not like I want to be playing Half-life or another FPS on my cellphone. I'm sorry but this just seems stupid to me and I get the feeling that the only people who will want this "feature" will be the hard-core tech gadget geeks out there. Does a 3D API bring *anything* useful to the mobile table???
Hero of Allacrost, a FOSS RPG for *NIX/*BSD/OS X/Win
One of the early companies focusing on Mobile Phones was Fathammer. Initially they started out with a ports of Doom engine based classics; now seem to have a nice collection. I believe the stronger driver of applications on phone platforms is the phone hardware. Java 3D API is one more trial at luring in more applications by providing easy-to-use API. But even if Handspring and Palm were to provide 3D programming API for their Treo series (or anyone else does likewise), it still depends on the hardware. Things one would be bothered about would be battery times and audio which actually adds on to gaming experience (and already no one wants to hear loud ringtones everywhere!)
Nokia airs an ad in India which almost drives in a message saying "phones are for talking" while showing a model with a vidcam and video playback. I wonder how many people find time to use the "other" applications on the phone apart from a PIM (Phonebook/Calendar). Further, with 3D games what about an added issue of people getting something akin to Doom Induced Motion Sickness(DIMS)? I have found controls for a 3D game (on my Treo) pretty difficult to use for a 3D racer game, which kind of kills the experience. I wonder how many people play 3D games on their phones comfortably, and where they get them from!
No Greater Friend, No Greater Enemy! (Lucius Cornelius Sulla)
I have some friends who are working with developing Java games. So far the big money is not in developing titles for phone companies portals (or even worse trying to sell them to the end user yourself) but to develop ad games for companies who make them available for free downloads, usually as a part of a competition.
From what I understand, the best part of the job is that since graphics on mobile phones and other limited devices are so cruddy development focus tends to be on addictive gameplay rather than eyecandy. It is also still possible to be a small independent game studio, no need for a big art studio to render hours of CGI, etc.
Worst part is that just about all phone developers are very sloppy when it comes to implementing the J2ME standards and all models tend to have their own quirks. Sony Ericsson and Nokia are probably the best, but that is not saying much. So in this case, it really is "write once, debug everywhere" type java.
Mobile gaming is really taking off, I read on GameDev for instance that mobile game developers Gameloft increased their workforce from 432 to 1375 employees.
Being bitter is drinking poison and hoping someone else will die
A new way to make EVEN SLOWER crummy Java games indeed! Because playing Rayman at really low res @ 5-10 FPS on the N-Gage was just so much fun, everyone should be able to re-create the experience!
Java is in no way driving 3D games development - on mobile platforms or otherwise, this is just a bizarre article. It comes as no surprise to me the IBM/SUN employee who submitted this article wishes to remain 'anonymous'.
There are currently zero mobile Java games available that compare even remotely favourably to a decent GBA title, let alone with any titles available on the DS or PSP.
Typically, the frame rates are awful, the interfaces are not responsive, the sound is often out of sync and of poor quality (as are the often tiny sprites). Even something like a Java based chess game with a slow and unresponsive interface can be frustrating to use.
Mobile devices are constrained by battery life, which in turn means they tend to be fairly modest devices. They simply don't have time to waste on a JRE and titles need to be heavily optimised on a per-platform basis, even for very simple games (because games software in particular has to be responsive, or users will very quickly become frustrated).
Of course if your writing reasonable code in the first place, it shouldn't be all that difficult to keep it portable (something that most game developers manage without too much trouble anyway).
There are so many people (me included) who would love to be able to program for the PSP, but they won't open it up for various reasons (fear of piracy, mostly).
So why not give people a Java sandbox (J2ME would be fine) to play in? That way they can make games and other fun things, but they won't be able to use it to boot pirated games off memory sticks and such (unless they REALLY mess up the JVM). Seems like a perfect solution.
They sold the Net Yahorzee, why not give us this? Download a copy today (tied to the PSP's serial number to prevent copying?) for only $20! They'd make a fortune.
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
Java is in no way driving 3D games development - on mobile platforms or otherwise, this is just a bizarre article.
They don't have to "drive" 3D games development, they just have to be fun enough that people with mobile phones want to play them.
There are currently zero mobile Java games available that compare even remotely favourably to a decent GBA title, let alone with any titles available on the DS or PSP.
Oh, I agree DS or PSP games are more fun, it would be strange otherwise since they are dedicated gaming machines. Thing is, there are many millions more mobile phones sold. Not all people are hardcore gamers who are willing to pay for one of those devices. Some just want a few minutes of diversion while on the bus. A Sudoku puzzle or similar. And this article shows that these games are getting better and better.
Typically, the frame rates are awful, the interfaces are not responsive, the sound is often out of sync and of poor quality (as are the often tiny sprites).
That is just FUD. I have played plenty of fun and responsive Java games. Still, it must be said that more developers should focus on making addictive puzzle games or similar rather than action games. As you point out, the processor, the screen and the input possibilities are by necessity rather limited.
Being bitter is drinking poison and hoping someone else will die
He made a comment a while back:
"The biggest problem is that Java is really slow. On a pure cpu / memory / display / communications level, most modern cell phones should be considerably better gaming platforms than a Game Boy Advanced. With Java, on most phones you are left with about the CPU power of an original 4.77 mhz IBM PC, and lousy control over everything."
Just to let you know, that 3D is possible on most java phones
with my embryonic diet3d library :
http://rzr.online.fr.nyud.net:8090/java.htm
OK lot of work to be done to be M3G compliant... (btw, i am open to contribs)
But what is bugging me : is J2ME the only alternative to WinCE or symbian ?
since most Linux handset doesnt not provide other API (beside QTopia and his friends)
-- http://rzr.online.fr/
I have just had my final lecture in a course on Mobile Computer Graphics and there is a lot more to mobile 3d graphics than producing nice games. Especially there was one lecturer from TAT that makes user interfaces for mobile devices, and the possibilities for creating more userfriendly interfaces are endless with 3d graphics. I am not just speaking of eye candy, but useful animations that help the user navigate the menu tree.
Sort of. Most of the ARM9 cores in mobile phones have a very clever hack that lets them execute 80-90% of byte codes in a single cycle by mapping them to a Arm instruction with an extra stage on the front of the normal Arm pipeline. The rest trap to ARM code that emulates them.
http://www.arm.com/pdfs/JazelleWhitePaper.pdf
The real ARM instruction set is nothing like Java BTW, it's a slick Risc chip where all instructions are conditional, and you get shifts for free, whereas the Java VM is stack based.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acorn_RISC_Machine
echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;