Do people have Java3D installed?

Newbie & Debugging Questions
#1

I just bought the book “Killer Game Programming in Java” (woo!). It has a lot of content which requires java3D - do people have that installed/is it a pain releasing a game that uses it? I’m speaking of regular “users”… Is installing Java3D a too advanced requirement for your game?
What do you do? :slight_smile:

#2

Java3D is rarely used these days, there are far better options available nowadays.

#3

Please then - enlighten me :slight_smile: What do people use?

#4
  • low level sets of bindings like JogAmp (JOGL, JOCL, JOAL) and LWJGL
  • high level engines using these bindings: Ardor3D, JMonkeyEngine, Xith3D, Aviatrix3D, JPCT, 3DzzD…
  • Java bindings for famous C++ engines: JIRR, Ogre4J, …
  • WYSIWYG editors like the clone of RPGMaker I saw in the Showcase section

Xith3D looks like Java3D, maybe it might be interesting for you.

I advise you to start learning OpenGL before using high level solutions because you feel better when you know how it works underneath.

Java3D is obsolete and no more maintained as far as I know.

#5

[wiki]Main_Page#3D_Engines_and_Libraries[/wiki] :slight_smile:

#6

Thank you for the link :stuck_out_tongue: I just bookmarked the wiki :smiley:

Thanks, I will look into one of those :slight_smile: One more question though:
Through the book, the use of Java3D’s timer is enormous. Is there a different timer I can use instead of that? The currentTimeMillis() method should be quite bad.

#7

Use Java’s System.nanoTime() or LWJGL’s high res Sys.getTime()

#8

You can embed Java3D and the entire JRE with your program when you distribute it.

Personally, I don’t do any 3d programming, but I happen to know that one piece of information.

#9

For lots of stuff currentTimeMillis() is good enough.

#10

I have read that book too ;D if you want to install it just go to Sun’s site and search for “java3d”. The self-executable file is quite small.

To check it, try to call for “SimpleUniverse” class.