Product Description
Java™ is gaining more and more acceptance in the game development community, and with good commercial-quality Java games on the market, it will become a definitive choice. Practical Java Game Programming identifies the technological path developers need to take to make this happen.
Java has always provided a powerful platform on which to develop interactive content, and with the addition of the Java Technology Group's gaming APIs, Java becomes a third-party platform choice and delivery model for game developers. Each chapter includes working code examples that can stand alone for easy implementation into one's own projects, or be used toward the creation of a fully functional demo game. This allows beginning programmers to follow the topics step-by-step, and more experienced programmers to use specific areas of interest. Although this book is centered on Java and the platform technologies, its message is for developers to maintain a wide view regarding new technologies, as well as to keep creative ingenuity intact while implementing games on the Java platform.
Highlights
* Provides a complete guide to Java game development for Java programmers new to game development
* Focuses on Java specific topics such as performance issues and the virtual machine, garbage collection, Just-in-Time (JIT) compiler, native timers, and Java as a scripting language
* Covers 3D game development issues including the new Java bindings for OpenGL (JOGL), using JOGL to make a 3D Render Engine, and Collision Detection and Response
* Includes a chapter on “Local Area Networks for Java Games” by Jeff Kesselman, the Sun Game Server Architect, and “Game dbases and JDBC” by Sun Certified Java 2 Programmer, Will Bracken
* Explains genre specific issues for sports, puzzle, racing, strategy, action/adventure, and massively multiplayer online role-playing games
* Provides up-to-date information on J2SDK 1.5 in the book and on the companion site
On The CD-ROM
* FIGURES: all the figures from the book by chapter
* CODE: examples, libraries, and materials from each chapter
* SUN® J2SDK: the latest version of the Sun J2SDK 1.4.2_04 as well as Java3D™ and JOGL for Linux, Mac OSX and Win32
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:
Windows 2000 or better, Linux or Mac OSX; Pentium 1Ghz or better, 100MB free hard drive space. For 3D graphics examples, OpenGL 1.2 accelerated video support is required. For some 3D graphics examples full OpenGL 1.4 support is required.
About the Author
Dustin Clingman (Oviedo, FL) is a professor of Game Design and Development at Full Sail Real World Education and President of the game studio Zeitgeist Games, Inc. He frequently speaks at IGDA events and conferences around the country. Shawn Kendall (Winter Park, FL) is the professor for Real Time 3D Graphics at Full Sail and has developed cutting edge Java and Java3D based game technology demos for both Full Sail and Sun Microsystems. He is the founder of Immediate Mode Interactive, LLC, a Java game technology company. Syrus Mesdaghi (Orlando, FL) is the professor for the A.I. course at Full Sail, has developed cutting edge game technology for both Full Sail and Sun Microsystems and is active in Java gaming and A.I. communities.
