Best Java 'framework' for LOW-END 3D Graphics?

Question

I've made my share of 2D games on various platforms but I have never developed a 3D game.

I want to make a small "mmorpg". I already made my server in python and it works just fine with my flash 2D game but I decided I want to step it up and try out 3D. I want to make a 3D game for the web browser and I think Java might be a good choice for this.

So basically I'm just looking for a straight forward and well documents 'framework' to make LOW-END 3D games. Keep in mind that I will be targeting peoples with very low-end PC's (plus my 3d modeling skills aren't great so I wouldn't mind hiding it somewhat, haha)

Answer 1

JOGL would be a good possibility. You could look at the older "Java3D" framework as well.

Answer 2

You might want to check out the jMonkeyEngine.

Answer 3

If you care to develop your own software 3D engine, which is pretty cool, Developing Games in Java is a complete walkthrough, step-by-step, of developing a 3D engine in pure Java, capable of rendering textured and lit polygons. You learn a lot about the math involved and you realize that it's really not a terribly hard thing to do; in addition, the engine is all yours, so you know it inside and out and you don't have to learn an API. On the flipside, it might be outdated. It's been sitting on my shelf for a number of years now, but it is made with Java 1.4 so it's not all too old.

Otherwise, I would definitely recommend JOGL or its competitor LWJGL; however, both require OpenGL knowledge, so if you want to just deal with loading 3D models and moving them around, jMonkeyEngine could be a better option for you. There is also the lesser-known Xith3D engine, somewhat a competitor to jME, though it hasn't been updated in over a year.

P.S. Ever seen RuneScape? It used JOGL, though now I think they switched to their own port of only the OpenGL functions that their code uses, kind of like a stripped-down version of JOGL.