Java 2D game programming - Newbie questions

Question

Hi,

We're a team of a programmer and a designer and we want to make a medium-sized java game which will be played as an applet in the web browser. Me (the programmer) has 3 years of general development experience, but I haven't done any game programming before.

We're assuming that:

• We'll decide on a plot, storyline of the game, etc.

• We'll create a list of assets (images) that we need, i.e player images, monster images, towns, buildings, trees, objects, etc. (We're not adding any music/sound efffects for now)

• The designer will get started on creating those images while I finish reading some of the game programming books i've bought. The designer will create the first town/level of the game, then pass on those images to me, I will begin coding that first level and he would start on the next level, and after 4-5 levels we'll release v.1 of the game.

Question 1: Is this the correct methodology to use for this project?

Question 2: What format should the designer create those images in. Should they be .bmp, .jpeg, or .gif files? And, would he put all those images in one file, or put each monster/object/building in its own file? Note; We are sticking to 2D for now and not doing 3D.

Question 3: I've seen some game artware where there would be a file for a monster, and in that file there'd be about 3-4 images of a monster from different directions, all put in one file, i think because they're part of an animation. Here's an illustraton:

[Monster looking to right] ... [Monster looking in the front] ... [Monster looking to right[

And all of them are in one file. Is this how he'll have to supply me with those animations?

What i'm trying to find out is, what is the format he'll have to supply me the designed images in, for me to be able to access/manipulate them easily in the Java code.

All answers appreciated :)

Answer 1

I want to suggest to you that, before you make any decisions about your workflows, you and your colleague go have a look at JavaFX and see if maybe that's the toolkit that best meets your needs.

http://java.sun.com/javafx/

Answer 2

About the image format: don't let the designer deliver anything as jpg, because you'll lose quality.

Let him send it as png instead, and convert it to your preferred format as needed.

Also, remember to have him send the source files (photoshop/illustrator/3dsmax/whatever) in case you'll ever need tiny changes that you can make yourself without hiring the graphics dude. Who knows if he'll still be available in the future anyway.

Answer 3

The [Monster looking to right] ... [Monster looking in the front] ... [Monster looking to left] style of animation demarcation has been around for as long as I've been peeking into game data, so I would suggest going with that path.

Answer 4

I was about to make the same remark as Wouter: use PNG, modern format which is highly compressed (as opposed to BMP), lossless (as opposed to Jpeg) and full color and with several level of transparency (as opposed to Gif).

Why people put several sprites in the same image? Actually, for Java, I am not sure, if the images are part of a jar... I know it is interesting in CSS, for example, because it reduces the number of images to download, so the number of hits on the server, which is a well known Web optimization. For games on hard disk, reducing the number of small files can be interesting too.
The designer can appreciate this too. At least in times where sprites used a color palette: you had only one image, using the same palette: easier to edit, and slightly reduce the overall size (in times were memory was costly!).

I can't answer on the methodology, I never did a game in team... If it fits your needs, it is probably the right methodology...

duncan points to JavaFX, I will point to pulpcore which seems to be a promising library. Of course, there are plenty others, like JGame and such.

Answer 5

Bunch of pros here: http://www.javagaming.org/

Answer 6

I have some comments for each question.

Question 1: You say that you will begin coding level 1, 2, .. one by one. I recommend you to create a reusable framework instead or see it in the big picture instead. For the information you provide I think you are going to make some kind of RPG game. There are lots of things that can be shared between levels such as the Shop, the dialog system, for example. So focus for extensibility.

Why wait for designers to pass on the image? You can begin your coding by starting with pseudo graphics file you created yourself. You can then work with designer in parallel this way. And you can replace your pseudo graphics file with ones provided by designer later.

Question 2: JPG is not suitable for pixel-art style image, that appears a lot in most 2D game. And the GIF support only 256 color. The best choice to me seems to be PNG.

The designer should always keep the original artworks in editable format as well. It's likely that you want to change the graphics in the future.

Question 3: It depends. The format mentioned, where character's animations are kept in single file, is called Sprite. If you kept your resource in this sprite format than you will have some works reading each of the sub-image by specifying coordinates. However, sprite helps you keep things organized. All the 2D graphics related to "Zombie" character is kept in one place. It is therefore easy to maintain.

Answer 7

This is not answering any of the questions. But for game develop/Simulation Engines learning if u need a reference:

http://www.cs.chalmers.se/idc/ituniv/kurser/08/simul/

It's a link for the class lectures of Simulation Engines at Chalmers Univ in Gotembourg. The teacher as a game company and gave quite good lectures. Check the slides we had in the classes, maybe they'll help you a bit.