Should I bother?

Miscellaneous Topics
#1

Slashdot just announced this link today: www.theprodukkt.com

It’s only 96 kb!!! :o

I couldn’t actually play the game, because my graphics card sucks (geForce2 :-[ — can’t wait to get that 6800 :P)

I like Java very much. But it’s true that in Java, I do not care much about making my code ultra compact. There is no point, unless if the point is to make my code into an abstract art form.

Nevertheless, it’s cool that people can make very small applications. But should I envy that? Or should I just accept the fact that Java applications cannot be that small and period?

#2

Well, the game worked for me and it was very boring and jerky. So apart from being impressive as a technical showcase of what can be acomplished in 96kb, I see no point in feeling any envy. :slight_smile:

#3

So, these guys have been around in the demo scene for a while. The game is not 96k, just the distro. They have developed and modified some VERY cool compression techniques but the 96k file generated over 150MB of texture and game data. In fact running on my laptop, the game was taking 180+MB of space in memory.

-ChrisM

#4

Well, there are several 4k java games.

But, y’know, you’ve to draw the line somewere in order to get maximum execution speed and of corse you want to remain efficient.

Keeping an eye on the size of your media stuff is a good thing… using the right format for graphics (1/4/8/24/32 bit) and using compression (ogg for sound/pngout for pngs). That kind of stuff. A huge filesize gain for minimal effort.

Trimming class files results in damn ugly/slow/hard to maintain code and it takes easily 20 times more time to write it. It’s not worth the pain unless there is really a good reason to do so (contest).

#5

[quote]Well, there are several 4k java games.
[/quote]
13 in the last J4K, but that did not allow Java3D/JOGL/etc where as the 96K demo above allows for DX.

I’m going to have a sub-catagory in the next J4K alowing a 3D API.

#6

Farbrausch, is one of the best - if not the best demo group (ever?). Their demos are well thought out, technically superior, and deliver in 64k what others use 5+ MB to do. Having done several 64k demos, and doing articles on the sound engine (kb of farbrausch -> http://kebby.org/ -> .articles -> ‘The Workings of fr-08’s Sound System’) and programs to package textures and executable, has led me to believe that though the code is extremely complex it is also very well documented and maintainable.
That said, they have access to asm and c which is made to interact with hardware, where Java is encapsulated in a VM and made for larger abstract programs, and there’s not a lot to do about it, untill the support libraries provide access to more stuff (like dx does).
Ofcourse, on j2me, we’re doing the same at work. We have at best 64 kB file size and 210 kB memory available - and yet we have a multiplayer (including lounge, chat, finding each other etc.) platform and games on top of that.

For more Farbrausch:
http://www.farb-rausch.com/
try fr08, which started it all, fr11, fr19 (still my favorite) and of course fr30 - candytron. There are many more 64kB demos - but these are some of the best IMO.