Help me test an applet?

[Katana-Wolf]

<<I hope this request is allowed under the rules of this board>>

Hi all,

I am in the process of creating a Java game in the form of an applet and I am very curious to see how the game performs on your setups.

The latest version of Java can be acquired here:
http://www.java.com/getjava

The game can be found here:
http://blissfulthinking.nl/gamezero

The game wil most probably ask for your permission to allow something. Please note that the certificate belongs to Sun Microsystems, the owners of Java. The acceptance will enable the support of OpenGL in your browser, without which, the game will not operate.

Windows users might get the question to disable DirectDraw for Java applications to increase performance. I have found that it will only disable DirectDraw for the current application, because it promts at every occasion.

The things I would really like to know are: does the game start on your PC and how does it perform?

Controls can be found in-game after pressing P.

If you are interested I could tell you more about the game and what it is supposed to become. For now, I would thank you very much if you would take the time to help me out. :)

P.S. Weapon 3 is good for stress testing

[ascl]

I think you need some kind of loading screen. After the DD for Java prompt, the applet seemed to hang, and when I changed tabs it didn't redraw... I figured it had hung, but eventually it loaded.

It did initially show a loading bar, and then showed what appeared to be the main splash screen saying press any key to start... and then it appeared to hang for a long amount of time. If I wasn't starting to write a reply I would have given up and closed the window already.

Vista x64, Chrome 2.0 beta, Java 1.6.0_13

EDIT: Once it did load, performance was fine, but then I would hope so, my system is decent (Q6600 oc'd to 3.4GHz, 4 Gigs ram, GTX 260/216 OC'd to 700 Mhz).

EDIT2: Hmm, there is a *very* small amount of network traffic during the 'hang', so I guess its downloading something very slowly? CPU usage is non-existent. Also, whatever it is downloading doesn't appear to be cached, as the same thing happened the second time I tried it.

[Katana-Wolf]

Thank you! Good to hear it loads up, if ever so slow. The server is located in The Netherlands so this might affect the loading time. However, it is not the focus of my effort at this time to make it load promtly.

I will most probably put up a loading notification through the use of some JavaScript, since I have no real control over the applet until the slashscreen pops up (to my knowledge).

I think the network traffic you experience is the background music being loaded, buffered or streamed. I wouldn't know how to cache the file between reloads; shouldn't the browser do this?

[drakkarim]

seeemed to play well on my work's d620 laptop, using the 3 weapons. although the controls are wonky.

[Amalor]

I enjoy the retro vector feel of the game but controlling a perfect square throws my perception of direction. I'd change the avatar to a arrow or some such thing with a defined front and back. A low contrast unobtrusive texture for the game field would help too, you have a great movement physics and the camera pulls back properly to control your speed but unless objects are on screen the controls seem counter intuitive without those landmark for the mind to grasp. Tested on FireFox , Vista 32-bit , Amd processor, 2gb ram , Nvidia 8800gt card. How I have helped and not discouraged you :)

[Amalor]

I don't mean to pry but have you considered developing your app for the X-box 360 platform? Games like what you are developing get great reception and exposure in their arcade setting.

[Katana-Wolf]

Thank you all for the feedback!

A version with alternative controls (alá Geometry Wars) can be found here:
http://blissfulthinking.nl/gamezero_alternate_controls/

@Amelor
You hit the nail on the head about those disorientating properties, I hope to fix this soon.
You don't pry, more like flatter me ;P However, I am still studying and do not have the time (and skill) to venture as far as that.

For those interested, I make use of the following technologies:
http://processing.org For graphics
http://www.jbox2d.org/ For physics
http://code.compartmental.net/tools/minim/ For sound

[Amalor]

Its funny how the alt-control scheme changed the dynamic of the game. In the first version posted I had the impression I controlled a vehicle of some sort and with the alt-controls I felt something more akin to a pedestrian and was reminded of Robotron (yeah I'm that old).Nothing wrong with either version just my observation.

[Katana-Wolf]

I have updated the original version with some graphics to combat the disorientation. Aesthetically it has regressed a lot though. I am not sure to go for the previous "liney" look or the more Everyday Shooter'esque look of the muzzleflash. I lean towards the former, but with more animation than the games of old.

[Vandenh]

Why are you making this in Java? You can't really put this on any device.

[Katana-Wolf]

Why are you making this in Java? You can't really put this on any device.

The control scheme cancelled out that option more than the use of Java in my opinion. Code-wise it could be ported way more easily since JBox2d is a port of Box2d and that has implementations in many languages. My own code could be ported to any OO-language.

[Amalor]

Much improved! The field texture and "gun barrel" help out greatly with orientation. Strafing around the enemies while laying on fire feels like controlling a vehicle in a zero gravity environment, and generally gives off the impression (in my opinion) of a top space combat game with real space physics (Mantis anyone?). A little more polish and content and you'll have a great little web-game there :) Hope you keep posting updates.

[Katana-Wolf]

>Added support for left handed users and azerty-keyboard users. Configure the controls in the pause menu.
>Speed has been limited
>Muzzleflash has an extra graphic
>Can move while braking

Does anyone know other keyboard layouts to keep in mind?

[NickAragua]

Looks like I managed to crash it shooting a #3 into the wall when I'm right next to the wall. For the first couple of times it was fine, just gave me a good "rocket jump" effect, but then, BAM, complete freeze.

Do you ever wind up "garbage collecting" the little pieces of debris bouncing around all over the place?

[Katana-Wolf]

Looks like I managed to crash it shooting a #3 into the wall when I'm right next to the wall. For the first couple of times it was fine, just gave me a good "rocket jump" effect, but then, BAM, complete freeze.

I have recreated your example and yes, it stops working. I terminated the thing after some 15 minutes of being stuck doing something; it was running at 100% (or whatever Java is allocated) CPU.

As for the shrapnel flying around, those are removed after a couple of bounces on the walls. The debris left behind by a killed enemy is not being collected automatically yet, but it can be destroyed by bullets.

Weapon 3's bullet commonly create a hick-up when fired into a wall. However, when you shoot them with a other kind of bullet in mid-air, the effect is much more smooth. I suspect it has to do with creating too many object in the same space at the same time, with the presence of a wall nearby not really helping.

I have seen it before when creating 250 or so enemies at the same position when loading a level. Stil, the game ran smooth when I got to play it.

[Katana-Wolf]

I want to thank everone who has helped me so far!

Both the original and the alternate control scheme (see this thread) are now available form the same version at:
www.blissfulthinking.nl/gamezero

If you are interested there is another thread going with about this at:
http://forums.gametrailers.com/thread/requesting-a-little-testing-he/790936?page=1

[Katana-Wolf]

I had a lucky break and programmed a new weapon today.
Weapon 4 can be used to attract debris (left mouse default) and launch it (right mouse default)

Other things:
Camera stays inside of the "room"
Proximity trigger that tries to zoom the view

[Katana-Wolf]

Updates made to the game:

Levels are now made in Inkscape, the vector editting tool
Animations for dying enemies, bullets and a weapon 3 has a explosion
Fixed camera trigger

Loading still sucks, and I'm getting some reports of it not loading due to:
Class not found nl.blissfulthinking.java.gamezero.Main

Can anyone confirm this?

[Katana-Wolf]

Java 6 Update 10 or later is required to play the OpenGL enabled version.

Since it has been causing troubles for some people I advise them to check here:
http://blissfulthinking.nl/gamezero_software
This version uses a software renderer. It looks worse, uses more CPU but is way more compatible.

I tried the OpenGL version on a 1.5Ghz Pentium M, Radeon Mobility 9200, Ubuntu setup today and was suprised at how well it performed. The software version was very sloggish on the other hand. Luckily the game is totaly unoptimized at this stage.

Game updates:
-dashing controls fixed
-fixed camera debugged
-gameplay balance tests (gameplay is work in progres)

[Katana-Wolf]

Many updates since the last post:
-Raycasting has enabled enemy vision, enemy pathfinding and breakable geometry
-Levels are now almost completely WYSIWYG from Inkscape editor
-Paralax movement on graphics
-Smooth level transitions
-Better HUD

EDIT: This was actually post number 1337 on the development board :P lucky me w00t!

[Katana-Wolf]

Game deployment has been updated for compatibility. Java 1.5 is now supported (for most Mac users).