Angband Java port

[zaimoni]

... But, I really hope you're not thinking of line-by-line translating the existing C code.

Agreed. z-virt.h/c will have to be completely ditched (automatic memory management and stronger typing pretty much makes everything there outright impossible to translate), and I think ditching z-file.h/c is also a good idea for a Java port.

Anything that goes through format strings is also going to need a moderate rewrite.

[takkaria]

(OT) Princess Bride references

Rewriting Angband in a different language is kind of like entering the Paths of the Dead - you'll be constantly stepping over the skeletons of those who went before you. Or the Fire Swamp. It's not that you can't get through, it's just that no-one ever has.

I think of all the amusing replies you've made to people, the Princess Bride has been the most-referenced. Good taste.

[strangeintp]

I definitely understand what you're saying about not changing the gameplay until you get something out the door that works. But, I really hope you're not thinking of line-by-line translating the existing C code.

haha, egads no! That would be an impractical and pointless task. The existing code *will* be used to translate the gameplay features. Calculating the success of disarming a trap, for instance.

Having overall _gameplay_ that is the same as Angband or very close to it would be ideal, but I'd suggest designing the program from scratch. Come up with a list of classes, and describe in English what each of their members and methods would do. I wouldn't even write a single line of code until the design is finished.

bah! design... psh! Actually, design is a good thing. Unfortunately I'm not familiar enough with the tools and such to get all that done *before* starting code. However, Javadoc is a pretty durn good alternative! I basically find that by the time I finish a more formalized design as you describe I could have written a skeleton design with stub classes and decent Javadoc that accomplishes the same thing.

For a C program, yes. Writing the game in Java would improve these tremendously, though. I still haven't been able to get Angband to compile, even following the detailed list of instructions Doull provided. But I can take Java code from anywhere and get it to run easily.

The easier it is to modify Angband, the more interest people will have in doing so.

full agreement

[K.I.L.E.R]

I find it strange no one has offered to write Angband in x86_64 ASM.

[Pete Mack]

Are you talking about a full java rewrite, or main-jni.c?

A full rewrite (and re-architecture) is probably a brutal job. It took more than 1 person to write the original Angband, and I don't see it being that much easier to rewrite it in java. But I can imagine that it might be useful to write a thin java layer like main-win.c--say main-jni.c--to transport between the program and the terminal stuff, and then write the actual UI (input, display, and startup) in java.

Since nearly all the effort in writing a new port is the main-xxx.c code, this would make the existing code a lot more portable for any platform that supports java and gcc.

[TricksterWolf]

Just so y'all know... I'm doing this now, too.

Or, rather, I'm writing a roguelike that is Angband-inspired from scratch in Java. It'll be heavily themed, but designed for easy modification by others.

Originally I was just going to compile vanilla and modify it to make a variant, but I'd really like to start from scratch and see what I can come up with. It won't be identical to Angband: it will be tile-based, commands will be simpler, etc., but I hope to closely capture the experience of the 'band class of games, while providing an easier framework for expansion and modification; both for non-programmers and implementers alike.

I probably won't be able to put time into it until January, but it'll be pretty high on the queue once 2013 rolls around.

[Derakon]

Wow, it's been four years since this thread was started.

Just so you know, I've started a similar project, only in Python. There's a bunch of threads about it in the Variants section. If nothing else, you might want to check out the object model; I really think it's the best way to go for this kind of thing as it's readily extensible while still making it easy to find the objects you need.

[PowerWyrm]

FYI: http://sourceforge.net/projects/javamangband/

This is the client part of MAngband, written in java. You could have a look at that.

[TricksterWolf]

FYI: http://sourceforge.net/projects/javamangband/

This is the client part of MAngband, written in java. You could have a look at that.

I'd love to, were only the source code available! I might have to try to contact the author later, if they left information up.

[TricksterWolf]

Ah, scratch that. I see the source now...still not used to the new style for Sourceforge as it's been a very long time since I used it. :P