Sudoku-Ball™ Java3D Applet

WIP games, tools & toy projects Archived Projects
#1

We developed an sudoku game which is based on Java3D technology. Sudoku-Ball™ is unique version of the Sudoku puzzle. The unique challenge is to solve a 14 Samurai Sudoku network on a spherical object such that the entire network is closed in all directions. The game is powered by Java3D

Today we will make the first Beta version available for public and will update the applet with feedback received from users. The game homepage can be found at: http://www.sudoku-ball.com/content/view/16/36/

Our main concern right now is on how to make it as easy as possible for users that are not familiar with Java or Java3D to install the applet without problem. We added an installation wizard to our website but would appreciate feedback feedback from users on what could be improved to the installer. Pre-beta testing with a small group learned that all users that were able to install the game could run the game without problem however some machines, that had additional versions of Java installed had problems.

We welcome any comment on:

  • installation of the game
  • playability and performance

Regards,
Marcel

#2

Why do I need to install a certificate to play it if it’s an applet? I get very nervous of giving software full control unless I know why it needs it…

#3

Hi Simon,

Thank you for highlighting this concern and taking the time to provide feedback.

The certificate is required to remove the ugly Java Application Window messages around the applet. If you choose not to install the certificate, the applet will work fine but you will get the ugly boxes around it.

It is also used so that the userstate can be stored locally instead of on the server. When you load and save a game, it loads it from you local machine instead as from the server. This makes it much faster because the full history of the game is stored (users can use the history panel to go back and forth).

I hope this clarifies it.
Marcel

#4

My advice would be to put the applet on a webpage rather than force the user to download stuff (can java3D applets be run in a webpage?) If you want lots of players you need to make it as easy to access as possible. If they then want to save/load games you can prompt them to install the Webstart version (or a certificate for the applet) and they’ll know why. Just my tuppence worth…

#5

Hi Simon,

Thanks again. We will take this into consideration.

Marcel

#6

Sudoku-Sphere would sound cooler.

kinda.

#7

mmmmm…didn’t think about that before but that sounds indeed good.

By the way: We are going to follow up on Simon’s suggestion and provide a version that runs directly in the webbrowser. The only downside is that loading and saving of a game will not be available. We also got good feedback from some Beta testers and they key remark was that installing Java was a bit cumbersome for some.

Thanks again,
Marcel

#8

You can do load/save from a browser, but you’d have to store the gamestate server-side. With such a small amount of game data this shouldn’t be a problem unless you get a really huge number of players who all want to save games… I suspect that people are unlikely to return to a sudoku they can’t finish - they’d probably give up on it and start on a new one next time.

#9

Previously we stored the data on the server . One of the features included in the game is that we store the full history of all user interaction so that a player can move back and forth between historical moves. Some Beta tester who started directly playing a difficult level continued playing for many hours. Thereafter when they saved the game and later loaded it, it took approx 6 to 12 seconds seconds to load the data hence we decided to change the storage location.

But…we are now working on your first suggestion which is putting the applet into the webbrowser. As in that case we are not bothered with the ugly “Java application Window” (which was the first reason for using a certificate) we might indeed as well change the storage location back to the server.

Thank, Marcel