Java 2 Game Programming

by Petchel, Thomas

• ISBN13: 9781931841078
• ISBN10: 1931841071
• Edition: CD
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-12-15
• Publisher: Cengage Learning Ptr

Summary

With the power of today's personal computer, game developers no longer need to rely on low-level "tricks" to write computer games. Increasingly, object-oriented programming languages, such as Java, are being used to create cutting-edge games. "Java 2 Game Programming" gives you an inside look at how Java can be used to create powerful gaming applications more quickly and easily than ever before. With topics ranging from Java basics for newbie Java programmers to advanced coverage of animation and scene management, this book has it all. Put your new skills to use as you create a fully functional 2D game development engine and sample game. Get ready to take your programming skills to the next level as you master the concepts you need to create the hot new game of tomorrow!

Author Biography

Andre LaMothe, CEO Xtreme Games LLC Andre LaMothe has been in the computing industry for more than 23 years and wrote his first game for the TRS-80 in 1976. He has worked in 2D/3D graphics, artificial intelligence at NASA, compiler design, robotics engineering, virtual reality, and telecommunications, and has been a consultant to various companies located in Silicon Valley. Andre is also the inventor of one of the world's first commercially available virtual reality games, CyberGate, created in the early '90s.

Table of Contents

Letter from the Series Editor	p. xxiv
Introduction	p. xxvii
Entering the Java Jungle: Getting Started with the Java 2 API	p. 1
The Java 2 Software Development Kit	p. 3
A (Very) Brief History of Java	p. 4
Why Use Java for Games?	p. 6
Preparing Your System for Java	p. 8
Conclusion	p. 13
Priming the Pump: Learning the Java 2 API	p. 15
Game Over, Amigo!	p. 16
Bits and Bytes: Primitive Java Types	p. 22
Operators in Java	p. 35
Conditional Statements	p. 44
Handling Run-Time Exceptions	p. 51
Conclusion	p. 58
Exercises	p. 58
A Language with Class: Object-Oriented Programming in Java	p. 63
Designing a Java Class	p. 64
A Method to the Madness	p. 67
More on Methods	p. 69
Inheritance	p. 75
Abstract Classes	p. 80
Class Modifiers	p. 84
Interfaces	p. 88
Creating Classes on-the-Fly	p. 90
The Package Deal	p. 92
Conclusion	p. 94
Exercises	p. 95
At Your Service with the Java 2 Ap1: Commonly Used Java Classes	p. 97
The java.lang Package	p. 98
The java.io Package	p. 121
The java.util Package	p. 123
Conclusion	p. 136
Exercises	p. 136
Where We Are and Where We're Going	p. 138
Graphics Development with Java 2-0 and the Abstract Window Toolkit	p. 139
Applet Basics	p. 141
What Is a Java Applet?	p. 142
Applets Versus Applications	p. 143
The Structure and Life Cycle of an Applet	p. 143
A Sample Applet	p. 145
Running Java Applets	p. 147
Common AWT Components	p. 148
Layout Management	p. 163
Containers	p. 168
Creating Custom Components	p. 171
A Complete Example	p. 176
Conclusion	p. 188
Exercises	p. 189
Listening to Your Users	p. 191
The EventListener Interface	p. 192
Conclusion	p. 207
Exercises	p. 208
Rendering Shapes, Text, and Images with Java 2-0, Part 1	p. 209
Coordinate Spaces	p. 210
The Graphics2D Class	p. 211
Using Affined Transformations	p. 212
Drawing Shapes	p. 217
Instance Modeling	p. 220
The Image Class	p. 224
More Draw and Fill Operations	p. 228
Manipulating Text	p. 248
Conclusion	p. 256
Exercises	p. 256
Rendering Shapes, Text, and Images with Java 2-D, Part 11	p. 259
Having Fun with Geometry	p. 260
Setting Rendering Hints	p. 285
Image Manipulation	p. 289
Conclusion	p. 299
Exercises	p. 299
Where We Are and Where We're Going	p. 301
Java Gaming for the Masses	p. 303
2-D Animation Techniques	p. 305
Downloading Content with the Media Tracker Class	p. 306
Using Image Strips for Faster Download Time	p. 314
Creating an Off-Screen Rendering Buffer	p. 328
Perfecting Your Animations Using Framerate Syncing	p. 350
Conclusion	p. 355
Exercises	p. 355
Creating the Custom Game Object Class, Actor2D	p. 357
Prelude to the Actor2D Class	p. 358
Actor2D, Front and Center	p. 360
Conclusion	p. 414
Exercises	p. 415
Implementing a Scene Management System	p. 417
Why Implement a Scene Manager?	p. 418
The Scene Class	p. 419
Conclusion	p. 470
Exercises	p. 471
Creating Custom Visual Controls and Menus	p. 473
Why Reinvent the Wheel?	p. 474
Custom Control Overview	p. 475
Conclusion	p. 540
Exercises	p. 540
Connecting with Others: Creating Client-Server Architectures	p. 543
Overview of Networking in Java	p. 544
Connection-Oriented Versus Connectionless Networks	p. 545
Conclusion	p. 594
Exercises	p. 595
A Look at the Nooez! Game	p. 597
Captain Beefheart and His Magic Engine	p. 598
Assembling the Nodez! Game	p. 602
Overview of the Nodez! Game	p. 604
Conclusion	p. 630
Where We Are and Where We're Going	p. 631
Appendices	p. 633
Using the javaddc Utility	p. 635
Some Common Java Do's and Don'ts	p. 641
Using the JN1 to Create a Gamepad Reader	p. 647
Using .jar Files to Deploy Java Applets	p. 657
Correctly Running Java 2 Applets	p. 661
Source Code Listing for the Magic Game Engine	p. 665
The magic.actor2d Package	p. 666
The magic.awtex Package	p. 679
The magic.debug Package	p. 708
The magic.gamelet Package	p. 712
The magic.graphics Package	p. 720
The magic.net Package	p. 740
The magic.scene Package	p. 751
The magic.util Package	p. 762
More Resources	p. 765
What's on the CD-ROM?	p. 767
Index	p. 769
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