Night Squad 2

[n.o.p]

Holy shivers, those screen shots look really amazing - just like the crisp scenes from counterstrike. Well done  .

I tried it out, but got this exception a little after the applet loaded:

java.lang.Exception: Could not determine if map1.jar was modified.
   at InstallThread.run(InstallThread.java:195)

Java 6 update 10, Windows XP.

Installed the beta on XP and Firefox 2. Worked ok for me. Maybe it was just some internet problem. Just try it again one more time. Thanks.

[irreversible_kev]

I love FPS games and that is all I play(Counter-strike:Source and TF2, I am a hardcore gamer I would say )  I am open minded though.

This game is really awesome.

I just racked up 4560 points, 300 points/R, ping 140-200, fps ~80.

There were only 2 guys on the server and the skill level was high. One guy told me he saw 50 people online at one time "but only when there are 'events' " he said.

The atmosphere is really cool especially the lightning.

Of course its not perfect - better graphics and more guns would most likely make me want to play this more regularly. I hope you will continue to work on it as you've done a great job so far.

It is really impressive how easy it was to play (In terms of deployment and game play).

[CommanderKeith]

Same error. Hmm, maybe it's the firewall here, because you say you don't use normal java webstart to download stuff right? In that case, I'll try it at my folks house without a firewall and tell you how it goes.

[xinaesthetic]

Hello,

I happened to try it when there were a couple of other people logged on earlier, and enjoyed it greatly; I haven't played a multiplayer FPS for too long, it seems.  My score wasn't much to brag about, but I was definitely starting to get into it.  I did spot a bug, I think, with the shadows. When some lightning went off, I could see the shadow of someone on the level above on the ceiling.  I think that's an accurate report; I was a little preoccupied at the time .

Well, it's my first post and I'm going to register my opinion on a slightly contraversial issue (although I seem to siding with the majority like the sheep that I obviously am)...  Something like this being restricted to Windows does not 'dirty the image of java'; quite the opposite. It shows that java is capable of running something of a pretty decent technical standard (I'm not saying I could do better, but it's not the latest unreal engine beater - let's keep some perspective on the industry).  It also demonstrates the benefit to deployment, particularly of more casual titles.  Tech savvy people will generally understand from this that with a little extra work, a similar standard game could certainly be made cross-platform relatively easily - and perhaps even a considerably more advanced one.  A less technically competent java game that runs on more operating systems will not encourage the people who could most aid greater establishment of cross platform java games to look twice at java; it will reinforce the stereotype that java isn't up to doing anything particularly advanced.  For most people, particularly in the games industry as it stands, the impression generated is a prolonged "pah, java... whatever".

People already know that java can run things more easily cross-platform than certain other languages; they need to be convinced that it can perform well enough for their needs, too.  Incidentally, why is it that when I see a page with a big java applet, I basically expect it to crash my browser?  That's a general observation, not levelled at anyone here, and indeed this game is a good example of the format doing impressive work.

Regards,
Peter

[jojoh]

 
REALLY NICE GAME!!!

It has a really nice casual/online feel to it and is very accessible. Both good gameplay and technically impressive. I only tested it on a laptop with a "nipple" so didn't get any real game going, and I found it annoying that when I right click I all of a sudden aimed into the ground rather than where I was looking. Is this a trick to give players a chance to dodge? I will have to try it with mouse and see if I like it better.

... I'm not whining...

It is getting very hard to ignore your whining!!! It could just be that you have a problem getting your thoughts across in English? Either way, when several people here point that out, you should probably take that to heart rather than lash out even more.

Anyway, great game, great map, graphics and sound!

I'll try to push for a lunchbreak skirmish tomorrow to really test it out

[n.o.p]

I only tested it on a laptop with a "nipple" so didn't get any real game going, and I found it annoying that when I right click I all of a sudden aimed into the ground rather than where I was looking.

That's not supposed to happen. Please tell me if you have the same problem with a mouse if you test it.

It's really good to hear that you guys seem to like the game. Usually I get something like "nice, but I stick with CSS, COD, BF, <nameit>". Of course you cannot compare the game to multi million dollar productions. Guess the difference is, that you guys know how much work is involved in creating games 

[n.o.p]

I did spot a bug, I think, with the shadows. When some lightning went off, I could see the shadow of someone on the level above on the ceiling.  I think that's an accurate report; I was a little preoccupied at the time .

Hi Peter, you observed that correctly. The lighting is not correct in this case, but it's a trade-off where I decided i could live with.

BTW: I have a long list of features that I would like to add. The game is very far from being perfect, there is so much more to do.

[jojoh]

I'll try to push for a lunchbreak skirmish tomorrow to really test it out

Argh! Blocked by some firewall here at work.  So I can't test it with my work buddies. And I can't test single player either, so no aiming test yet. No server available for download is there?

[n.o.p]

Argh! Blocked by some firewall here at work.  So I can't test it with my work buddies. And I can't test single player either, so no aiming test yet. No server available for download is there?

No, sorry.

[ChrisM]

n.o.p.

Check your messages.  Want to talk to you

-Chris

[gouessej]

However, does fair access exclude Windows only users?  If so, your position goes against the spirit of your paper.  As well, that means your site will not be truly open, nor provide access to anyone seeking to build a game using Java technology.  Why would anyone submit to that?  Perhaps I should just open up a gallery page here, get more disk space, and have everyone host here?

You misunderstood what I wrote and you should read the terms of use of the Java(tm) Game Tome if you think that there is a contradiction somewhere:
"an addition of a new game can be refused only for technical reasons, for example:
- the game doesn't work under one of the main families of operating systems (Macintosh, Linux, Windows)".
I exclude programmers that have decided to exclude Macintosh, Linux and/or Windows users even though I know that some of them do it only for technical reasons. As far as I know, Elijah agreed with me on this point and I'm not alone, he only found it a bit strict. One of the aim of the Java(tm) Game Tome is not to become a website with games for only one platform whatever it is. If you look at the template Christoph showed, the logos of the main families of operating system appears. "Write once, run everywhere", do you remember this? If a Java(tm) Game Tome allows platform-dependent gaming, it doesn't respect this slogan of Sun Microsystems, it doesn't respect the spirit of Java. The cross-platform notion is something very important in Java. I precise that I decided not to add one game that worked only under Linux, I'm fair and coherent, I exclude games that exclude users because of single platform compatibility.

I already suggested to create a section to submit games here, call this a gallery if you want, you already knew it. You spoke about a "friendly community"...
Is it friendly to threaten me of opening a gallery to compete with the Java(tm) Game Tome?
Is it friendly to suggest to do something that would ruin weeks of work of 3 people?
Is it coherent to give me lessons about how I should behave whereas you threaten me?
Does it broaden the market to exclude users because of single platform compatibility?

Please, if you decide to create such a gallery, warn us (Christoph, Elijah and me) as soon as possible to prevent us from wasting our time and then I will destroy the Tome as I don't want to compete with www.javagaming.org. You could have informed us earlier of your intention to do this, we wouldn't have spent weeks in making this if it has to finish in the garbage.

Finally, the author has made a good game, he explained why he can't port it under the other platforms, I understand the technical explanations. However, we won't change the rule of the Java(tm) Game Tome about the cross-platform ability. In the viewpoint of users, we try to exclude no users (as all the games "are" cross-platform) even though it requires to exclude an extremely small part of the Java programmers (as games for a single platform are not allowed), it is a choice. ChrisM would exclude some users (those who can't access to one of the platforms) but he would accept all the Java programmers. There is no perfect solution! In the both case, you can't satisfy everyone. My solution is player-oriented, it fits into a website that mostly targets players (I confirmed that the JGT is player-oriented). ChrisM's solution is programmer-oriented, it fits better into a website that mostly targets programmers and that's the case of www.javagaming.org. Therefore, on my view, my solution is not better than his solution and reciprocally. Night Squad 2 has its place here but not on the JGT. Please, if you want to go on speaking about that, don't write here ChrisM, it would be better for us to do it on the thread about JGT as I don't want to turn this thread into a Windows versus Linux thread. Do you agree with me?

[oNyx]

Looks great, but i couldn't play it, because nobody was online. A kind of exploration mode would be nice. I tried to watch the video instead but it drives me crazy, i really can't stand watching it. It's all about jumping, zooming, zooming, jumping, zooming...i got sick while watching it (no joke... ).

That's so called simulation/simulator sickness. It's usually far worse if you watch others play, because your brain can't compensate random movement. If you're playing yourself the brain quickly adjusts to those movements, because they are directly linked to real world movements. Non-linear scales such as mouse acceleration make that a lot harder though.

[...]
Software Skinning (too slow in Java), system information (#Cores, GHz, RAM), mouse input (there were Problems with JInput) and physics.

The number of cores can be queried with Java.

Code:

System.out.println(Runtime.getRuntime().availableProcessors());

[...]
Infact, didn't onyx used to have an image of the day site?
[...]

Ye, I ran that iotd thing. Unfortunately it never took off for real. With the server in Germany it was also somewhat messy from a legal standpoint. It used a hacked up Drupal and a hacked up Image module, which of course made it rather annoying to update. Bad idea... will never do something like that again.

[ChrisM]

Ok,  I'll respond here for the last time:

You misunderstood what I wrote and you should read the terms of use of the Java(tm) Game Tome if you think that there is a contradiction somewhere:
"an addition of a new game can be refused only for technical reasons, for example:
- the game doesn't work under one of the main families of operating systems (Macintosh, Linux, Windows)".
I exclude programmers that have decided to exclude Macintosh, Linux and/or Windows users even though I know that some of them do it only for technical reasons. As far as I know, Elijah agreed with me on this point and I'm not alone, he only found it a bit strict. One of the aim of the Java(tm) Game Tome is not to become a website with games for only one platform whatever it is. If you look at the template Christoph showed, the logos of the main families of operating system appears. "Write once, run everywhere", do you remember this? If a Java(tm) Game Tome allows platform-dependent gaming, it doesn't respect this slogan of Sun Microsystems, it doesn't respect the spirit of Java. The cross-platform notion is something very important in Java. I precise that I decided not to add one game that worked only under Linux, I'm fair and coherent, I exclude games that exclude users because of single platform compatibility.

I have no problem with this, how could I?  I don't run your site!  I think that you supporting the WORA model is fantastic.  Again no issues there.  I was not referring to your TOU for JGT and, after reading your TUER site, I completely understand your motivation.  No issues there.  Oh, and I am pretty sure I remember the WORA mantra

I already suggested to create a section to submit games here, call this a gallery if you want, you already knew it. You spoke about a "friendly community"...

Many have suggested this, including myself.  It comes down to a matter of time and attention.

Is it friendly to threaten me of opening a gallery to compete with the Java(tm) Game Tome?

I can see how you may have read this as a threat, but that was not my intention and I apologize if it came across that way.  What do you think I should do about offering promotion to those that don't fit the JGT model?

Is it friendly to suggest to do something that would ruin weeks of work of 3 people?

If we promoted people that do not fit your model, how does that ruin your work?  I love the idea of the JGT and support your efforts there.  But, to your point, it does not fit everyone.

Is it coherent to give me lessons about how I should behave whereas you threaten me?

Again, there was no threat to you, so please don't use that term.  As for "lessons" on how to behave, I am not alone in the belief that you have been more argumentative and insulting to some members here. I appreciate your passion for Java and the support you give.  I respectfully ask that you tone down the insulting nature of some of your posts, that's all.

Does it broaden the market to exclude users because of single platform compatibility?

Yes, it, in fact, does.  There are many reasons to use Java to develop games.  WORA is just one reason, but not the only one.

Please, if you decide to create such a gallery, warn us (Christoph, Elijah and me) as soon as possible to prevent us from wasting our time and then I will destroy the Tome as I don't want to compete with www.javagaming.org. You could have informed us earlier of your intention to do this, we wouldn't have spent weeks in making this if it has to finish in the garbage.

No reason to stop what it is you are doing.  No one, especially me, wants to see that happen.  My previous question about the gallery was not to derail your efforts.  Keep going!

Finally, the author has made a good game, he explained why he can't port it under the other platforms, I understand the technical explanations. However, we won't change the rule of the Java(tm) Game Tome about the cross-platform ability. In the viewpoint of users, we try to exclude no users (as all the games "are" cross-platform) even though it requires to exclude an extremely small part of the Java programmers (as games for a single platform are not allowed), it is a choice. ChrisM would exclude some users (those who can't access to one of the platforms) but he would accept all the Java programmers. There is no perfect solution! In the both case, you can't satisfy everyone. My solution is player-oriented, it fits into a website that mostly targets players (I confirmed that the JGT is player-oriented). ChrisM's solution is programmer-oriented, it fits better into a website that mostly targets programmers and that's the case of www.javagaming.org. Therefore, on my view, my solution is not better than his solution and reciprocally. Night Squad 2 has its place here but not on the JGT. Please, if you want to go on speaking about that, don't write here ChrisM, it would be better for us to do it on the thread about JGT as I don't want to turn this thread into a Windows versus Linux thread. Do you agree with me?

Agreed.  Now that we are in agreement, let's try to keep the discussion helpful, constructive and respectful of the community.  Fair?

-Chris

[DzzD]

cant run it

Java Version: 1.6.0_05
OS Name: Windows XP
OS Version: 5.1
Code base: http://neun.online-spiele.freenet.de/games/multi38/
MainThread Priority: 4
Java 5 Chronometer
ErrorStreamReader quit.
Root directory: C:\Documents and Settings\-DzzD-\Application Data
ErrorStreamReader quit.
InputStreamReader quit.
Warning: Won't play sound because of:
java.lang.LinkageError: Version mismatch: jar version is '11', native libary version is '3'
   at org.lwjgl.Sys.<clinit>(Sys.java:105)
   at org.lwjgl.openal.AL.<clinit>(AL.java:59)
   at audio.SoundManager.<init>(SoundManager.java:65)
   at game.Main.<clinit>(Main.java:39)
   at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
   at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(Unknown Source)
   at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(Unknown Source)
   at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Unknown Source)
   at XClassLoader.main(XClassLoader.java:166)
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: Could not initialize class org.lwjgl.Sys
   at org.lwjgl.util.Timer.<clinit>(Timer.java:50)
   at game.Main.<clinit>(Main.java:44)
   at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
   at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(Unknown Source)
   at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(Unknown Source)
   at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Unknown Source)
   at XClassLoader.main(XClassLoader.java:166)
ErrorStreamReader quit.
InputStreamReader quit.

[DzzD]

no, that's ok now , lwjgl.dll in my system folder.... let's have some fun now !

arf, excellent game but after playing for some minutes, I got the following error (screen hang)

anyway that's cool!

Java Plug-in 1.6.0_05
Utilisation de la version JRE 1.6.0_05 Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM
Répertoire d'accueil de l'utilisateur = C:\Documents and Settings\-DzzD-

Java Version: 1.6.0_05
OS Name: Windows XP
OS Version: 5.1
Code base: http://neun.online-spiele.freenet.de/games/multi38/
MainThread Priority: 4
Java 5 Chronometer
Root directory: C:\Documents and Settings\-DzzD-\Application Data
ErrorStreamReader quit.
InputStreamReader quit.
ErrorStreamReader quit.
#
# An unexpected error has been detected by Java Runtime Environment:
#
#  EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION (0xc0000005) at pc=0x690ddd34, pid=272, tid=216
#
# Java VM: Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (10.0-b19 mixed mode, sharing windows-x86)
# Problematic frame:
# C  [atioglxx.dll+0xddd34]
#
# An error report file with more information is saved as:
# C:\Documents and Settings\-DzzD-\Application Data\Night Squad 2\hs_err_pid272.log
#
# If you would like to submit a bug report, please visit:
#   http://java.sun.com/webapps/bugreport/crash.jsp
# The crash happened outside the Java Virtual Machine in native code.
# See problematic frame for where to report the bug.
#

[phu004]

Hi, I've   watched the video, it looks awsome, really impressive for a school project.  I didn't download the game cause I
have already exceeded my monthly download limit (it gonna take me ages to download the initial 80mb).  I will definitely  try it when my internet gets better.

By the way I wonder why does  the game content take that much space? I heard LWJGL itself is only a few mb big. So the rest of stuff are textures, audios and
rendering codes?  It would be nice if you could squeeze the game into less than 20mbs.

[EgonOlsen]

I finally managed to give it a go...it looks nice. I don't like the fact that the sniper rifle seems to be the only weapon and that you have to zoom in to use it, but that is just me. It worked fine and ran very smooth (Core2 Quad/3Ghz/4GB/ATI HD4870/Java6/Vista). I noticed that it uses two of the four available cores. Is that the rendering code, the physics or just some server stuff that is utilizing the second core?

[n.o.p]

I finally managed to give it a go...it looks nice. I don't like the fact that the sniper rifle seems to be the only weapon and that you have to zoom in to use it, but that is just me. It worked fine and ran very smooth (Core2 Quad/3Ghz/4GB/ATI HD4870/Java6/Vista). I noticed that it uses two of the four available cores. Is that the rendering code, the physics or just some server stuff that is utilizing the second core?

The physics...

Took me a while to make it multithreaded, but the physics would have affected the game performance to much otherwise. If you have only one core, the game sets the physics detail to low by default.

[n.o.p]

no, that's ok now , lwjgl.dll in my system folder.... let's have some fun now !

arf, excellent game but after playing for some minutes, I got the following error (screen hang)

#  EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION (0xc0000005) at pc=0x690ddd34, pid=272, tid=216
#
# Java VM: Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (10.0-b19 mixed mode, sharing windows-x86)
# Problematic frame:
# C  [atioglxx.dll+0xddd34]

atioglxx.dll is the ATI OpenGL driver. Installing the latest driver might help.

[n.o.p]

cant run it

java.lang.LinkageError: Version mismatch: jar version is '11', native libary version is '3'

That's a strange one. If anybody knows where this is coming from, let me know...

[Matzon]

old jars in jre/ext folder on the users setup.

[DzzD]

old jars in jre/ext folder on the users setup.

 

That's a strange one. If anybody knows where this is coming from, let me know...

no I explained what that happend:

no, that's ok now , lwjgl.dll in my system folder.... let's have some fun now

I had an old file there c:\windows\sywtem\lwjgl.dll

atioglxx.dll is the ATI OpenGL driver. Installing the latest driver might help.

will update mine, but as this bug doen't appear all the time, dont sure I will be able to give you more feedback

[DzzD]

Ok updated my driver, but nobody there to play 

EDIT: ok probably my driver I have played for 2 hours without any bugs

[kingaschi]

I am little bit late to the show, but congrats on the great game 

[n.o.p]

Ok updated my driver, but nobody there to play 

EDIT: ok probably my driver I have played for 2 hours without any bugs

Alright, thanks for trying it with the new driver. Glad that it seems to have helped (it's hard to track driver crashes, especially when they occur randomly).

@kingaschi: Thanks!

By the way, there will be a fun tournament on Sa, July 12 at 5 p.m. GMT. There should be a bunch of people to play with then.

[viwoj]

Nice work

[kapta]

Amazing work here, especially for a one man game.

-1 point if the game installs and uninstalls correctly (due to being windows only)
+1 point if the game doesn't crash ever
+1 point if the game is slickly presented
+1 point if the game has "good" graphics that suit the game
+1 point if the game has "good" sound that suit the game
+1 point if the game's overall style is "good"
-1 point if the game is original or brings a great new original twist
+1 point if your judge enjoyed playing the game
+1 point if the game is complete enough that doesn't feel anything is missing
+1 point if you don't whine and you demand nothing of the mods (simply saying "can you rate my game please" is fine)

Overall 8/10

A downside of the game is the huge download size, it could be problematic on slower connections. Should be fine for normal broadband connections though. Another issue is that the game is windows only, however given the quality and rarity of such Java games, an exception is made.

FEATURED.