Labyrinth Z

[fireside]

I realize I'm just starting with jpct and it's a bit early, but I have to work on a project to keep my interest up.  So, my project is a platform/puzzle game called Labyrinth Z.  It stars a humanized mouse and will involve getting jumps right through timing and moving a lot of levers and switches for elevators and anything else I come up with as I go along.

[JavaMan]

So its kind of like a Lemmings game: moving the mouse through a maze world? sounds cool.

Hey, do you use Vista?; or is that just a cover up to make XP look like Vista?
Jman

[fireside]

Yeah, kind of a Lemmings with one character and lots of switches and elevators and things.

It's Vista.  It looks nice, but it kind of sucks.  It's buggier than an ant hill, and one gig of memory is just enough to tow it.  It uses system resources like it can't get enough.  I've never seen any system access the hard drive that much.  It's like Christmas watching the hard drive light blink constantly.  And get this, it takes the OS zip utility six minutes to unzip jpct.  Luckily I found another one that's compatible that takes about a second.

[EgonOlsen]

Sounds nice. Good luck with your project. About Vista: Me likes it! But 1GB is definitely not enough, 2GB are recommended. I'm running it with 4GB (3.4 usable under Vista32) on a 3Ghz Core2 Quad. It runs like a charm. I have a parallel XP installation, but i'm not using it except for some games. Personally, i really like Vista.

[fireside]

I'm running it with 4GB (3.4 usable under Vista32) on a 3Ghz Core2 Quad. It runs like a charm. I have a parallel XP installation, but i'm not using it except for some games. Personally, i really like Vista.

I'll probably pick up some more memory in a bit.  I had a computer failure and had to run down to Best Buy and grab something cheap.  It does a lot of flaky stuff for me.  I created a folder and dropped a file in it from an art program and it doesn't even show up in the Vista file manager.  If I open the art program, there it is.   I've gotten used to most of it, but I don't like steering my way around in the file manager.  I think an OS should be more of a background deal that doesn't waste system resources so it just seems kind of corny to me.  The windows are much more tastefully done than XP.  They don't stab out your eye.  But generally, I think it's kind of a Microsoft rip to get some extra money.  One of the reasons I'm moving to Java is that I don't want to be tied to a platform and I want my files to be easily portable. 

[JavaMan]

What do you mean by "Don't stab out your eye"

Also, does Vists not work with almost all old hardware like I've heard?
Jman

[fireside]

What do you mean by "Don't stab out your eye"

The colors aren't nearly as bright as Windows XP.  It's a lot softer, nice shadow effects and transparency,also.

Also, does Vists not work with almost all old hardware like I've heard?

I'm not sure about old hardware.  I have an older printer and I found a driver for it.  It's really up to hardware manufacturers to supply drivers so it's not Microsoft's fault or anything.  I've heard some complaints.  Mostly it's that games tend to run slower than in XP, which tends to get people frustrated.  I think it's mainly a memory thing.  If you have enough memory, I think it's not going to be much problem.  If I don't get at least another gig, I'm going to go crazy because I can tell it's a drag on Java also.  This game I'm working on keeps running at different speeds.  I'm sure I can put some kind of a timer on it, but it's the code from Hello World right now.  If you get it, make sure you get at least 2 gigs of memory.  But, you know, it takes Microsoft a while to get things right.  Usually by about the 2nd or 3rd service pack it's working pretty good.

[JavaMan]

But, you know, it takes Microsoft a while to get things right.  Usually by about the 2nd or 3rd service pack it's working pretty good.

I would think that maybe after five years of development Microsoft would have it right. I think that is how long since XP  was released.

I still like XP, and when I buy a new computer I will probably use Linux.

[fireside]

I still like XP, and when I buy a new computer I will probably use Linux.

I'd be using it right now, except I have a phone modem for an internet connection and winmodems are just better and faster than the external serial phone modems that work on linux.  There are a few drivers that some people have come up with for winmodems but not very many.  Maybe some day I'll afford high speed and then it won't be a problem.  I like Ubuntu.  I used it for about a year, and then I wanted some freebie sound software that Windows provided and went back to Windows.  I could easily do without the sound software, now, but the modem is a problem.  I didn't mind XP and it doesn't use nearly the resources, but I had a school license that expired.  I think Vista will be OK once I get another gig of memory.  An OS really isn't that important, especially with Java.

[JavaMan]

I tried out ubuntu for awhile, but the pc I was allowed to use it on was to slow to really use it for practical reasons. I did find this much faster distro called Puppy, but I don't use it. I would use Puppy,but just haven't figured out how to install the jdk and compile programs in it. I think I will learn how to do maybe this summer.

An OS really isn't that important, especially with Java.

That is nice about Java. I just there was some sort of Java executable file that could be generated form the compiler instead of this byte code. I think it would be nice if you could write generic java code, and then with the FREE jdk distribute a file that could be run way that the user is most used to starting native programs.

[fireside]

I think it would be nice if you could write generic java code, and then with the FREE jdk distribute a file that could be run way that the user is most used to starting native programs

I agree.  There's some installers around I think, I haven't checked that out, but I don't like all this classpath stuff.  I've downloaded java jars that were supposed to be self executing and double clicked on them and nothing happens.  It's irritating.  If you don't know java, how are you supposed to know what to do with that?  I don't mind a bat file in Windows.  I haven't used it on other systems so I have no idea what they do.  The byte code, though, is a very good idea.  That way a 64 bit system can run it in 64 bit and a 32 can run it in 32 and other platforms can all read it.  In c++, you would actually have to recompile the program on every one of those systems.

[EgonOlsen]

You can use Excelsior Jet for native compilation (Windows only IIRC) but it costs money. You may also bundle the JRE with your application (the license permits that) and use it without installing it. That increases download size but people don't have to install the JRE anymore and your application runs "out of the box".

[fireside]

I don't think a program really needs to bundle the runtime.  I think it just needs to tell you what's wrong when it can't run.  That hardly ever happens for me and java programs.  I just get some java error I don't understand, or I just see the dos box flash for about a half second.

[EgonOlsen]

Java still has a bad reputation among some people. If you want to distribute a game, it's better not to force people to download the JRE if they don't want to. I had three versions of Paradroidz (my R.I.P game project)  (webstart, Jars only and Jars+JRE) and the version bundled with the JRE was the most popular by far.

[JavaMan]

I think bundling the runtime is ok, if your game is large, and the user is expecting a long download time anyway.

I also think it would be nice if there was some kind of jre jar files. Instead bundling the entire jre, how about just the basic class files for running java apps, or maybe even better, just the class files your app needs?