LWJGL: Lightweight Java Game Library 3
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Re: LWJGL: Lightweight Java Game Library 3
#2Writing Java game applets was what got me started in software development back in the late 90's. Game development in Java was always a huge challenge for several reasons; perceived (and real) slowness, slow startup, distribution, etc.... But putting a game in a web page anyone could play was really cool back then (to me at least). Lwjgl was always one of the marquee projects. The lack of value types[1] in Java has always been a hindrance, in particular when doing vector math calculations for physics simulations. And now all these years later, Java still doesn't have them. It's been many years since I've checked, but once there were several gifted indie game developers using Java, Notch being the biggest success story from that scene. Other than Minecraft, I've not heard of any popular games implemented in Java, has there been any?
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Valhalla_(Java_languag...
Re: LWJGL: Lightweight Java Game Library 3
#3For any unfamiliar, this is the library Minecraft was originally built on. I've used it to develop some graphically intensive programming tools myself, and have always been pleased.
Re: LWJGL: Lightweight Java Game Library 3
#4Writing Java game applets was what got me started in software development back in the late 90's. Game development in Java was always a huge challenge for several reasons; perceived (and real) slowness, slow startup, distribution, etc.... But putting a game in a web page anyone could play was really cool back then (to me at least). Lwjgl was always one of the marquee projects. The lack of value types[1] in Java has al…
The coolest thing I ever did was bundle native libs for Linux, OSX and Windows in an applet, that let me access OpenGL in a Java applet years before WebGL was a thing. We had the technology to do real 3d-accelerated graphics in a type-safe jit-compiled language with a great IDE 15 years ago already.
Re: LWJGL: Lightweight Java Game Library 3
#5Writing Java game applets was what got me started in software development back in the late 90's. Game development in Java was always a huge challenge for several reasons; perceived (and real) slowness, slow startup, distribution, etc.... But putting a game in a web page anyone could play was really cool back then (to me at least). Lwjgl was always one of the marquee projects. The lack of value types[1] in Java has al…
lack of value types makes many games a pain in the ass to do performantly.
basically anyone thinking they might want to use Java could use Monogame instead and have a much better time.
Re: LWJGL: Lightweight Java Game Library 3
#6We've all heard the poor story with Java in regards to performance, and the arguments for/against it, so I'm not going to dwell on that. A significant amount of work is being done on the GPU now more than ever anyway.
At least in my experience, I've had a great deal of fun working with LWJGL and it is a pleasure to use. It's very unopinionated and doesn't try to force you into any sort of specific structure. On top of that, Java + LWJGL hide a significant portion of the cross-platform mess that you inherently see in this field. No matter where you stand on the issue, setting up a project to build and run cross platform, and managing its dependencies is a pain point in C/C++. Add a trivial maven configuration once and you're good to go the majority of the time. Having a mature package manager is also something that you shouldn't ignore.
No one should shy away from writing a game if all they're familiar with is Java/some JVM language. It's a gradient between choosing the right tool for the job and premature optimization. Here's a video of what looks to be a dead project, but still serves as a decent tech demo of a nice looking game running on the JVM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eM_bABrFERs .
Re: LWJGL: Lightweight Java Game Library 3
#7Great library, particularly for beginners who have done a Java 101 course. But why is it being posted now?
Re: LWJGL: Lightweight Java Game Library 3
#8For any unfamiliar, this is the library Minecraft was originally built on. I've used it to develop some graphically intensive programming tools myself, and have always been pleased.
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Re: LWJGL: Lightweight Java Game Library 3
#9Is there a way to use LWJGL for mobile games?
Re: LWJGL: Lightweight Java Game Library 3
#10Writing Java game applets was what got me started in software development back in the late 90's. Game development in Java was always a huge challenge for several reasons; perceived (and real) slowness, slow startup, distribution, etc.... But putting a game in a web page anyone could play was really cool back then (to me at least). Lwjgl was always one of the marquee projects. The lack of value types[1] in Java has al…
The coolest thing I ever did was bundle native libs for Linux, OSX and Windows in an applet, that let me access OpenGL in a Java applet years before WebGL was a thing. We had the technology to do real 3d-accelerated graphics in a type-safe jit-compiled language with a great IDE 15 years ago already.
It is good that it is now dead in the name of security.