Hey sup everyone. I''m going to create a medium-sized 2D RPG (a bit smaller in scale than, say, Final Fantasy 1) as a good learning project. A while back I used C++ to create a slot machine, tic-tac-toe(with AI), tetris, and a neato horse racing game but since then I''ve forgotten much of the C++ syntax and no longer have it on my computer. I want to use Java for this game because I am learning it in my college programming courses and it strikes me as much more user-friendly than C++. I also know it can be much slower than C++, and am wondering how much this will factor into my game (think of Final Fantasy 1 in Java, how slow would it be?). What I have been looking all over for with no luck is: ------------------------------------------------------ 1. Any good graphics library for Java. I want to create my own level designer program first, than can place different tiles and use these to create dungeons, etc. Pls dont suggest using such-and-such level designer; I really want to create my own. What library should i get to do it? 2. If speed is an issue: I heard that Sun Microsystems has created fast compilers (is "Just in Time" one?) that should greatly increase the speed of.....? Everything? Just graphics? I don''t really know. Does anyone have some info on these and maybe where I can find one? Thanks for taking the time to read this post, and for any help you can provide. P.S - I don''t have any money to spend on software =(

well, i haven''t used java for a couple years, but i hear that it is getting much faster than it used to be... plus there''s that JIT thing you mentioned...
i think for an RPG you should have no problems, as it isn''t as calculation-intensive as, say, and FPS... it is more or less turn-based (you said you were doing something similar to FF1), so the only thing that might be slow is the graphics. i have no idea about graphics in java, sorry... but i did play a neato 3D java game, so it can''t be all too bad.

Hey, thanks for helping to reassure me. And it appears JIT is an actual fast compiler. But I still need to know where to get it. And I am stumped on graphics. Any suggestions on what graphics to use and where to get Just In Time?

java.sun.com
Java Foundation Classes
Java 2-D
Java3D
GL4Java

1.) Java has tons of graphics stuff available. Any java compliant compiler will allow you to use the awt and swing libraries. These are found in the JFC. They can be used for 2-D stuff, like GUI creation and even a 2-D game. Swing is slow and a resource hog. Awt is supposedly not as easy to manipulate as swing, but is significantly faster. Sun has a 2-D library, oddly enough called Java 2-D . For more heavy duty (including 3D) graphics, check out Java3D, which uses either OpenGl or DirectX, of GL4Java, basically OpenGL wrapper classes to allow you to use OGL with Java.

2.)One of Java's major premises is portability. Sun's answer to portability involved compiling source to a bytecode that could be read by virtual machines. Virtual Machines are software loaded on to your computer that translate the bytecode into the necessary machinecode. Virtual machines are developed for specific platforms so that java can be made portable for any platform with an existing JVM. This final translation(compile) is where Java's primary speed hit takes place. JIT compilers take away a lot of this hit, and each new API release also improves speed. There are several JIT compilers, of which I have little experience. They are not all released by Sun. Do a google search. Plenty of better, more detailed explanations on Java and compiling exist on this very site, search the Java forum and you'll find some really good stuff. And again, do a google search. Most of today's current machines are going to be able to handle well written 2-D java code just fine. Finally, I believe some compilers can translate Java into native code. This ruins the portability of that specifically compiled code(but not the source) but should gain some speed.

READ UP ON ALL OF THOSE LINKS!!! And if you are going to do ANY Java programming, make sure to bookmark the JFC page, or at least java.sun.com. Hope this helps.

--OctDev

Edited by - OctDev on February 5, 2002 3:47:24 AM