How to start?

Hello all,

How do I start with Game Developement in Java? I have a fairly good understanding of how Java works, some of the classes etc. but I don't know how to start with the Game Development side.

Any places you can point me to that ISN'T NewBoston?

Your comments are greatly appreciated.

Dan Moody wrote:
How do I start with Game Developement in Java?

Well the logical point to start would be to try and answer what kind of game do you want to write. Have you thought of that?
As a rule, always list what you want to do, and then try and figure out how you can do it.

Maneesh Godbole wrote:

Dan Moody wrote:
How do I start with Game Developement in Java?

Well the logical point to start would be to try and answer what kind of game do you want to write. Have you thought of that?
As a rule, always list what you want to do, and then try and figure out how you can do it.

I've always wanted to do a top-down zombie shooter kind of thing but I just don't know what to to, how to start, what kind of Graphics methods I'll need (I can't even load pictures using the paint method!)

I recommend starting off *really* simple, if this is the first time you're doing this. For instance, make your zombies dots, and the shooter can be an arrow or triangle.

Your first assignment is to draw a shape on a panel, and then let it move around programmatically. You can do this easily using Swing. I believe the Oracle tutorials contain a section on Swing 2D.

Stephan van Hulst wrote:I recommend starting off *really* simple, if this is the first time you're doing this. For instance, make your zombies dots, and the shooter can be an arrow or triangle.

Your first assignment is to draw a shape on a panel, and then let it move around programmatically. You can do this easily using Swing. I believe the Oracle tutorials contain a section on Swing 2D.

Bump, I'm working on it now

Expect the JAR in a few hours

Stephan van Hulst wrote:I recommend starting off *really* simple, if this is the first time you're doing this. For instance, make your zombies dots, and the shooter can be an arrow or triangle.

Your first assignment is to draw a shape on a panel, and then let it move around programmatically. You can do this easily using Swing. I believe the Oracle tutorials contain a section on Swing 2D.

I has a JAR!

OK, I'll admit now, I got most of the code off of a website but I know how it works! Honest!

Want to see it? It's attached

Game development is a specialty itself and a huge subject to discuss.
It is a common practice to layer your game this way:

Application framework: code to get the game started and initializing the rest of the subsystems. This is where you are going to ignite the main loop of your game.

Game state manager: Responsible for managing each state of your game (examples of game states: Main menu, credits screen, options ..)

Graphics engine: Responsible for the visual output. For example: animating 2D sprites or 3D models

But this structure is mainly used to serious games development, it might be overkill for your game but it will really help you if you are serious about games development.

John Todd wrote:Game development is a specialty itself and a huge subject to discuss.
It is a common practice to layer your game this way:

Application framework: code to get the game started and initializing the rest of the subsystems. This is where you are going to ignite the main loop of your game.

Game state manager: Responsible for managing each state of your game (examples of game states: Main menu, credits screen, options ..)

Graphics engine: Responsible for the visual output. For example: animating 2D sprites or 3D models

But this structure is mainly used to serious games development, it might be overkill for your game but it will really help you if you are serious about games development.

I'm just struggling with syntax and really really learning how it all works, what everything does and why...I guess that'll come with experience and I shouldn't set my sights so high as making games now...

I don't know.

I really want to figure out how to make my sprite NOT go outside so the window so I can't see him. How to make things collide, getting bullets to ACTUALLY work...

I just don't get how other people can figure this out so well and I struggle like hell!!

The folks that figured it out probably struggled a lot to do so, as well! There is a LOT to game programming. Don't expect to get it all in even a few months. Assume it will be more like a multi-year process.

There's a lot of good info at Java-Gaming.org. Their beginners area has a section with tutorials. Starting out with something simple really is a good way to start! But I keep coming back to JavaRanch as there is a lot of expertise here as well, and more emphasis on best practices for coding style/form.

Phil Freihofner wrote:There's a lot of good info at Java-Gaming.org.

Yes, that is a good source/website.

I'm a professional Java developer, and it took me far longer than I expected to write a near trivial "hello world" game. What I wanted to do was use a good joystick with "hat" to drive a "tank" around the screen. When you use the hat, you can control the gun turret which can rotate around the axis of the tank.

You can grab my code to do this on my java pages: http://pfarrell.com/java/