Developers for a Java game wanted.

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#1

We are looking for people interested in coding a Java game.

Our goal is to create a game inspired by the well-known Warlords series.
Originally, the Freelords project started in 2001 as a C++ game, and over the
years reached a fairly playable state. However, when the underlying graphics
library ceased to be maintained, one of our developers hacked together in short
time a basic Java program, which, although basic, already had more features
than our original code (client/server architecture, portability). So after
some thinking, we switched to Java.

Yet, at the start, we made some poor design decisions, which eventually made
this Java code hard to maintain and difficult to understand for new coders.
For example, the code flow between the client and the server was sometimes
obscure, and xml marshalling (i.e., saving games) was very difficult to do.

So we decided to start again from scratch with a focus on proper design,
transparent code and unit tests. We have recently made the first release that
includes packages for abstracting file system resources, a lean sound system,
xml marshalling and unmarshalling, and a basic network backend in alpha
state. All code has been properly designed, is covered by unit tests, and
should be clean and readable.

As we are right now only two programmers, we are looking for people that are
interested in writing a Java game, in learning or applying test-driven
development techniques, in coding clean code and in working in a structured
way. No particular skills are needed except Java coding and a will to learn new
things.

If you are interested, you can send a mail to freelords-devel@lists.sourceforge.net

Here it is the link for some screen shots of the latest game version
http://sourceforge.net/apps/gallery/fre … _itemId=29

Here the link of our SourceForge site

Andrea.

#2

I’m guessing that this is a screenshot of the game? (Screenshots always help)

Mike

#3

10 years? :frowning: Is this common in game dev? The idea of working on something for 10 years seems kinda scary.

#4

Duke Nukem Forever

From wikipedia : " …the game was released in 2011 but had been in development since 1996."

/offtopic

… I just had to …

#5

OffTopic:

It’s not uncommon if you want to make an average retail quality game. On the other hand most indie programmers try to get the low hanging fruits and then the development time is a lot less than 10 years.

Mike

#6

Yeah, sorta 9 years.

Kev

#7

Spent 3 years on Revenge here.

Cas :slight_smile:

#8

Will I be able to buy it near my retirement home? ;D

(Ok, I had so many clever things to say, but I found that one least insulting. But really, good luck with your game, even though you shouldn’t be putting so much time into one game.)

#9

Well it depends a lot of what you are doing in your real life.
This is a free software game. In these years we learned a lot of technical information, and worked with many technologies.
This is not a work, nor a job. This is pleasure to us, and we code when we have time and will.
If you want to learn something and like the concept you can help.
Duke Nuke Forever is a commercial game, Freelords is not. So I do not see the point in commenting those useless things.

We are looking for programmers, not full time programmers, we are not offering any job.
Thanks anyway for your interest.

#10

I spend a year writing a story, with no line of code… =D

#11

I’ve spent half year in creating non-polished java2d shooter for only 5 level.

back to topic, maybe some of us want to see how far your current progress now.

#12

You can download the latest game version (not so playable) from sourceforge site


as well as the latest pack where we rewrote some subsystem for the game in a TDD way.

#13

I do apologize, the DNF example was not ment as a replay to the OP, it was for the question, if 10 years of development is common and well DNF is the game that holds the record for longest development time.

Just to be a bit more offtopic, I personally spent half a year to design a datamodel and to convert data (was building a remake) before a single line of code.

More on the topic, I wish nothing more then good luck and much success.

#14

It’s pretty clear what you’ve got and what you want, but considering what you’re offering (nothing except the joy of participating) you’d better find a warlords fanatic who is also a wizard programmer with time on his hands. Lots of time.

#15

That’s quite a lot of negativity.

Keep going. 10 years passes quicker than we’d all like it to, and you’re on your third game - not first. The original Freelords lives on as Lordsawar. The 2nd is playable. The 3rd is a new direction and a more solid foundation based on all the lessons learnt so far. Nobody becomes a good programmer overnight and good things take time, especially when you’re doing it in your free time for fun.

#16

Keep at it. I loved Warlords on the Amiga. Spent many an entire day with four of us and a bong in the room.

Cas :slight_smile:

#17

When do this for fun, years no matter anymore :slight_smile: