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Holá my fellow gamers/developers! I'm sitting and thinking about the future of Cthulhu Breaker, and a logical step in this area is to plan for a Hub release at some near future. But then we have the trouble with CB being a Java game. I don't really know the mechanics of the Hub, what is needed for a game to be put up there at this moment? Would it be possible for a Java game to be featured at the hub at all, and what do I need to do to make it compatible in such case? |
Submitted by Gridur
Tue, 03/09/2010 - 11:06
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Howdy, I have given this
Howdy,
I have given this some thought, although it was long ago. I think I came to the conclusion that the easiest way to do it is to distribute the jnlp-file through hub (instead of over a web page like you normally would). I think all versions of Windows from XP and higher have support for java webstart built in, so at worst you should just get a window saying java needs to be updated, it should also contain a correct link to download the latest JRE.
This way you don't have to update the game through hUb, it would update itself during startup through webstart magic. But you always have the option of changing the jnlp-file on hUb if you want to.
I never did get around to making any game though, my Eclipse IDE at home probably feels lonely. Anyway, I hope this helps a bit.
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There's no kill like an overkill!
my 2 cents
I would say that Java Web Start makes the hUb completely irrelevant for Java games. JWS is essentially equivalent technology (and probably better implemented...
)
The hUb mainly exists because we are all C++ / DirectX guys, which in itself is really old-school...
I would think it would be better to simple create a banner and game-page for Cthulu Breaker (as we have done to promote the games that are on hUb, for example http://www.spellofplay.com/games/sentry) and have the link to the JNLP there. If you need to change the link, just update the page like you would any other webpage.
/johno
"you can't stop the change"
Isn't it nice to have a link
Isn't it nice to have a link to all games in hub though? It's confusing for the user to see some games on the website and some missing in hub i think.
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Solid Core Entertainment
Developer of Roadclub and Sense: Survival Prelude (Developer blog)
Thanx for the replies guys!
Thanx for the replies guys! And I agree that JWS is a pretty stable and good distribution technology, but I feel like a bit on the outside not being on the hub as well, I mean, when you click on any of the game links you get directed to the hub downloader right away, so most folks probably think that all SoP titles exist mainly on the hub, maybe some people don't visit the SoP site to often but are jolly happy bout just checkin' the hub for updates, this might be a bit far fetched, but still it feels just wrong not having the game on the hub
I really hope that my persistence in game development holds on this time around though, and if so I will be sure to release more titles through Webstart, and maybe that'll make this problem irrelevant in the end.
// Gridur
I think that it would be a
I think that it would be a good thing to have it on hUb mainly for the feel of a central game hUb with all our games.
If this then means that hUb uses the webstart to load it or not is another question. I guess we only need something in the game description stating how the game should be launched. "DirectX", "Java", "XNA" etc...
One advantage (mentioned on SoPCon) is that hUb provides some level of security regarding malware/viruses etc. What I'm getting at is that once ppl trust hUb they trust the games on hUb. They are more than a random link to some file on the internet.
Also as a hUb developer you need to sign a contract stating that you are not allowed to knowingly spread damaging code.
Good pointers there Hobbz! I
Good pointers there Hobbz! I think that if I release Cthulhu Breaker on the hub it will be as a jar package instead of a webstart application, doing this makes it more possible for the gamers to utilize the Level editor for example, when working with Webstart, java sets a lot of restrictions on IO management and so on.
And to start a Webstart application you'll have to press a button and say that you trust the person that have developed the application, not that I'm a bad person or anything, but just by getting such an dialog window makes some people a bit paranoid, especially those that are not used to the JWS platform.
It would be great to at least get the finished version of CB up on the hub and make it Java friendly, I got projects that I will make after CB and I'm sadly enough pretty happy with the Java programming language
Btw! Cthulhu Breaker uses Slick as graphical engine, which means that CB is graphically driven by OpenGL and the sound system is OpenAL so that's pretty ol'school as well
How will I get a hold on this contract then?
// Gridur
I agree that you should have
I agree that you should have the game on hUb, a centralized place is always better. You can always distribute it via webstart on a website of your choosing, but since you are already a part of SoP I think you should keep the game SoPy.
You can always get rid of that "trust" dialogue by signing your jar-files. I can be a pain in the backside to do depending on build environment, but should be fairly doable in small projects. It's also possible to get around the I/O limitations with settings/signing. Still, you can just as well distribute the jag package as-is, just that you need some way to handle installing/running through a JRE in some elegant way.
I'll have to look in to Slick, it sounds nice. I tried J3D, but it doesn't seem compatible with my brain.. ;P
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There's no kill like an overkill!
The hub is the goal then I
The hub is the goal then I think!
I have signed my jars alright, not to many of them to sign each time, maybe the trust thingie ain't there now then? Goto check into that really.
I'm pretty new with Webstart really, this release here on SoP is my first Webstartable application to tell yer the truth. So I'll tinker more on that as the project progresses.
I have discovered Fat Jar that takes all your dependencies libs and just packs them in one fat Jar makin' distribution through jar archives pretty straight forward!
Slick is absolutely great! It's based on LWJGL as I said, but it's a 100% 2d library, but it's pretty sweet to be able to handle pretty heavy 2d gfx operations knowing you are not putting it all on the CPU but let the GPU take the beating. This makes you able to do pretty wild stuff in a 2d environment without a sweat!
I would love to have a fellow Slick developer here on SoP Community so just give me a hollar if you want help setting up your first Slick project!
// Gridur
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