:
Ideally standalone, but I don’t want to click on a Jar, I want a nice installer that sets up short cuts in the Start Menu thinger… 
Kev
compressed archive (tar.bz2, zip) + shell/batch-file to launch the game
Successfully…
but when that’s not possible, stand alone app.
[quote]Successfully…
[/quote]
;D
Preferably by a link, if it links to a jar, bat or exe I don’t care - I just want a descriptive file with a nice flashy icon
Really depends …
There always is the preference for a zero-install launch.
A casual breakout-clone should be an applet.
For bigger games, webstart-installation is usefull, although this only is a technical representation of any low-maintenance solution. A small exe and a built-in autoupdate feature should do the job as well.
The problem is that a JRE has to be installed upfront!
A big download with a setup-program is worse, but more compatible with the mass-market, where the presence of a JRE cannot be assumed. Leads to big download volumes though bit is suitable for a CD distribution.
For Java people, e.g. if you want to show a program HERE a single big jar with a suitable manifest is nice. Nothing for public deploy again.
A zip that has to be extracted and started by some skript or even a command line definately is a NO NO.
Always webstart. No patience for anything else these days. And there’s no excuse for not doing a Webstarted application as it’s so easy! (Although it could do with a tool to take care of all the crappy signing and write out the JNLP file for you etc.)
One day when everyone’s got Webstart the world will be a happy place.
Cas
I love how webstart gives me autopatching without having to do any extra work I don’t have to keep telling people to download and unzip stuff just because I’ve updated my app for the Nth time, they just run it and it handles it for me.
[quote]A zip that has to be extracted and started by some skript or even a command line definately is a NO NO.
[/quote]
Why? Users are used to extract a file. I think almost everyone, who wants to run a game, is able to extract a file. Double clicking on a bat-file is not that difficult either. I rarely overestimate the average Windows user, but I think most of them can manage to do this. The advantage of such an “installation” is that it doesn’t mess up the user’s system, it’s simple and the user knows exactly what happens. (Note that I’m talking about average-sized games available online.) Of course Webstart should be an option, too.
Webstart beats the to be downloaded and extracted file with launch scripts in every way I can think of.
[quote]Webstart beats the to be downloaded and extracted file with launch scripts in every way I can think of.
[/quote]
Scenario: Someone has a slow modem connection at home and wants to download the game at a friend’s home.
Maybe I didn’t emphasize it enough, but I think of the zip-file as an optional alternative to Webstart.
ok, let’s make it ‘…in almost every way I can think of’
Yes, off-line usage is important, too. Say you want to bring your Java applications to friends, etc via Cd/Memstick/blabla.
One ore more JAR file(s) are handy is such cases, or a bunch of them. I think the most important point is that you can double-click the JAR, in particular when you’ve to deal with Java newcomers - no need to use any platform dependent unzippers or “bat” starters or such.
[quote]ok, let’s make it ‘…in almost every way I can think of’
[/quote]
OK.
I use jar’s all over the place, too. Don’t know if it’s possible to use one jar as a startup file, if you have several other jars and native libraries.
Jars are my favs.
If you’ve got write access to the main/starting JAR you can add to its manifest file a line containing the other needed JARs.
For example in your Gameusingxith.jar you could add to its manifest:
Class-Path: xith.jar
Concerning native DLLs/SOs/…: for Win32 it’s OK when the jogl.dll is next to the JAR(s) which you double click. Can’t say how it’s with Linux/Mac/etc.
I like having a single jar most… but it always depends.
If it’s just a Java2D game you can put it into one jar file wich works with webstart, as stand alone application and as (J)Applet. It’s just a “hybrid”… and it’s not very tricky to do that
However, if it comes along with native libs then either webstart or in a zip file (with either a double clickable jar or run scripts).
The only way I don’t really like are (J)Applets.
I’ll tell you why the whole jar thing was a complete and total disaster for Java now.
It totally bypasses any security settings and comes with zero trust.
It is, in short, just as vulnerable to malware as a normal Windows EXE, although thankfully it’s somewhat harder (but not impossible!) for a JAR to go mailing everybody in your address book. It should never have been allowed to execute JAR files by double clicking, even though on the surface it looks “convenient” and “expedient at the time”. Disaster, I tell you.
Cas
Apart from that, you shouldn’t take for granted that double-clicking a jar will actually start it. Chances are it will open an archive utility (on my PC, it opens the jar in PowerArchiver).
[quote]Apart from that, you shouldn’t take for granted that double-clicking a jar will actually start it. Chances are it will open an archive utility (on my PC, it opens the jar in PowerArchiver).
[/quote]
Yea… Winace and PowerArchiver does that. Pretty annyoing (and pretty stupid) :-/