zzzzzzz

Still nothing happening, too tired to code at the moment.

Very Tired !

Nothing New today due to the author being knackered !

Woo Hoo ! It's Alive !

Well, I’ve has some success over the weekend. The hot seat version seems to work on the standard Wireless Emulator. I’ve now got to port it across to the Nokia JDK and try it on the standard Symbian OS.

One thing I’ve noticed is how dry the UI looks. I’ve been working on a few icons to add give it a bit of colour and starting to work on the new theme. The present theme is very Matrix Like, all neon greens and yellows. So sticking with the computer topic, I’m making a Tron Theme. All neon Reds and Blues.

I’m trying to work out what to do about the single player version. Should I just make it a practice for the multiplayer so people just get the idea, or expand on the idea with levels and so on. I’m coming round to the idea that this should be labelled as a practice for the multiplayer. Extensive AI to play against the player would take a lot of time to create. It might be prudent to move the extensive AI into the Standard Edition.

Several steps forward. One giant Knock back.

I’ve stepped through my code! The game is generating a map on the phone perfectly in its memory. It’s just not painting the screen!!! I’ve been over the tutorials and example code that comes with them and it’s still not displaying. I’m stuck and not even google is coming up with answers.

Step forward the mighty Nokia Developers Forum and help this newbie out would you ?

Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth !!!

What a right royal pain in the a*se. It’s only take me all night to get the blasted thing to talk to the 6600. I’m now back working on the game trying to get the hotseat working but bloody hell what a faff. Turned out that the very comm port I was after had been used by setting for the old phone. If it’s that difficult to set up the connection, how hard is it going to be program the blasted thing !

Bug Hunt

I started work properly on one for the game screens last night. I’ve now successfully ported across the game logic from the Java App and now it’s ready to be called from these game screens. However before that happened, I went on a bug hunt. I’m going to be moving over to the Nokia JDK soon so I won’t be able to step through the code. I can’t get the IDE Debugger working with Nokia Emulators.

There were problems with the RMS, the language settings and the sound setting which I didn’t even realise they were there. I’ve also got to check over the Saving of the player settings because, to my Horror, I found that I’d got Eleven players stored away, instead of just the one. I’ve still got to check what happens when a player is saved.

It was nice to see the language switching in action. I’ve still got to read the locale from the phone but the fact that you can change language on the fly will certainly help with the international side of things.

Bloody Hell! 100 Posts! Didn't think it would last this long.

Well, I got my Miracle !

I looked through some of the examples that came with the Java IDE I have. They specified the whole path including the JAD Package Name. and with a little checking of the case sensitivity I’ve got all of the Images loading.

However another item has come up. Colour! (or color is you’re a ‘merkin). There is no colour object like there is in J2SE so I’m writing my own (bit like the replacement arraylist). The only problem I’m having is creating the actual RGB code. Instead I’m passing each of the colour ratings individually.

So far I’ve managed to transfer the whole of the game logic over to the Mobile game. There were quite a few issues which had to be resolved and there two outstanding item left to code before it’s integrated properly. However, then it’s the next step which is designing and implementing the Hot Seat Game screen.

This is going to be the basis for the all the other games screens, so it will be interesting to see how it goes.

Still no Joy with the loading of Images.

This has killed off any chance of completing this project by the end of July. (Baring a miracle!) However, I have decided to continue on regardless. There are two reasons.

1. I’ve learnt so much that it would be daft just to leave it now.
2. I’ll always regret it.

I suppose I was getting ahead of myself thinking that this could match the commercial games out there at the moment. They are far superior both in terms of graphics, sound and playability. I’ll drop the MOB countdown and just carry on the best I can. There is far too much going on in my real life to allow the progress in this field that would be required.

I’ve got to check two Items.

1. The filenames in Java are case sensitive, so that has to be checked.
2. The classpath has to point to the right area.

This is defiantly one of the areas where my lack of J2Me experience is showing.

Crushing….

Well, that’s the game taken a double hit. There is no chance of hitting the self-imposed deadline by the end of July.

First Hit. The N-gage I bought over the Ebay has broken when I’ve come to recharge it. This in itself is not really a problem because it’s not stopping developing the game. However, it’s just a waste of money that I could have done without. To be honest that really demotivated me to start with and then the second hit came along.

Second Hit. The graphics are not loading. I’m tearing my hair out over this. I had a problem with it on the Java version of this game as well. An IOException Error is occurring and I don’t know why. The file pathname is right, it even has the samecase. Again, it’s not stopping me coding, because I can come back to it at a later point, but I would like to see it working before I start working on the Hot Seat version.

I’ve even put out a call for help on the Nokia Boards. Aarrgghh!

MOB 46

Well that's the mutli-language and theme selection code in. Both compile OK so now I've got to give it a test. I've had to change the player settings as well so I'm going to have to wipe out the player in the test harness before I even start.

I used inheritance for the first time. It's wierd using it because I'm so used to having to wrap all the objects. Still I can see how it saves time, it saved me about four hours yesterday when I was coding the Theme handling code.

I've been looking at the project plan I've been doing for myself and I'm beggining to wonder if I've bitten off more than I can chew. It might have been possible to write this game if I had been working full time but with this part time, I just don't know if I can do it.

MOB 49.

According to my project plan (calculated by use of guesswork, experience and chicken entrails (!)) I'm almost two days ahead of schedule. The problem is I'm now running out of the easy things to do. At some point in the next week, I've got to get the 'HOT SEAT' version working on a phone and the integration of code originally written in Java to J2ME is giving me cause for concern. Still, If I don't bite the bullet, then I'll never get anywhere.

We almost have language ...

There are only two screens left to do with the language. It's so hard to stay motivated when coding the unexciting stuff.

Oh How Wrong I was....

At Lunchtime I Had a quick look over the List I created again. I’d gone and used the wrong option in its constructor and so it didn’t work. One quick code change and a couple of unit tests later and hey presto it works fine. Urgh! Still got a lot of language to do.

On a note about consistency, it appears that I’ve got a little confused with the commands. For screens that navigate (i.e. Main Menu, Player Settings, etc), I should use SELECT and BACK commands. For screens that you actually modify settings, OK and CANEL commands should be used. I’ve got to check this with the language. All this is being added to each screen’s unit test list.

On another note, I had noticed that the Nokia Emulator always puts an EXIT option on one of the soft keys. I wonder if there’s a way round that because it doesn’t happen with the standard tools.

MOB 52

I think I’m going to go back to forms and group choices. They look better than the list options and once you get used to them they’re fine. I’ve stopped using the Nokia JDKs because I can’t find a way to debug using the Emulators. The Emulators run a JAD file OK but they can’t run in debug mode or straight from the IDE. Pity really because it’s going to make my job harder later on. Looks like I’ll be going back to the good old system.out.println for Nokia debugging.

On a more uplifting note. I will be able to test all the Bluetooth functionality using the Wireless JDK. Hopefully this will make the multiplayer a lot less of a headache. Still as the main section is still unproven and I’ve got a few tutorials to run.

I’ve just got to plod through this language stuff in order to get things right. I’ve also got to make sure that the command structure is correct as well. urgh boring!

Can't make my mind up... too much choice.

I’m not sure about the lists now (sigh). The standard Midp 1.0 controls don’t seem to be much cop to be honest but I can’t go messing around on the cavas class to create my own menus (yet). I think I’ll add that into the advanced game so that it’s prettier.

I’ve started to add language support and bloody hell it’s dreary. This is the kind of thing I do at work. Day in, Day out. Welcome to Yawnsville. Still I’ve got most of the screens designed now and I’m just getting through them. I wish it wasn’t so tedious.

and back down again ....

Well, the initial excitement has worn off. And now that I’m finally playing around with the user interface, I’m really disappointed. I think I’ll have to Change the screens from forms to Listboxes because they are easier to use and less fiddly for the user. It basically means a total re-write of the screen’s I’ve got, but not that I’ve got an initial run under my belt I’m confident it won’t take long.

I was so naïve to think that this game would be unique with its multiplayer aspect. However I was very wrong. There are games all over the place with duelling. Still I feel I owe it to myself just to carry on and see what happens, because this game will not only work on Nokias.

It should be very easy to port to other JDKs and thus other phones. Each game can play against any other regardless of the hardware it’s on and that is the big advantage. The language seems to be coming along fine as well, so I’m more upbeat than normal.

Well Bugger Me! Still MOB 54.

Not literally of course but it's nice to get something working right I've just run through the Emulator for the first time and I've done it. The Main Menu, Game Config Screens, Multiplayer Selection Screens and Player Editing Screens all work. First time round.

I've run though the unit tests I've designed for each screen and all I can say is a very quiet Woo Hoo!! I still can't get an emulator running in debug mode but hell, so far so good. That's the next task. Get the Emulator working in Debug mode.

But first a Beer to celebrate Methinks !!

You might be wondering what MOB stands for, well to be honest, so am I. I made up an anacronim to remind me I have to have it working in 54 days. I must be having a senior moment because I can't remember what MOB stands for. Moment Of Bollocks ? Matter of Buttocks? I'll propbably remember it at MOB + 3.

MOB 54

I’ve been able to do a few extra screens this weekend. However, it’s just writing and compiling them, I haven’t gone as far to test them at runtime. Progress has been slowed by the fact that one of the new phones I received to test the game on has developed a fault. It seems that it’s unable to charge. Although this is not a major problem, it has hit my moral and motivation.

I’ve finally got my head round the RMS subsystem. Thankfully, it’s not as limited as I first envisioned. This has an impact for the upload game as well as it’s now possible in my opinion. I thought that each record was only limited to 32 bytes. Luckily, that’s just the RMS Store name.

1. Examine the functionality of the standard Bluetooth functions. – Theory is complete; putting into practice is something else (See 9).
2. Multi-language functionality – Finished for the screens I’m working on. – 25% complete for the whole game.
3. Player Code – The persistent player records used in the game. 75 % done. Coding Complete, Testing to begin.
4. Game Settings – The Selection of the Themes, Language and Sounds for the Game. 25 % Done.
5. Single Player Game – 5 % Done.
6. Hot Seat Game – 5% Done.
7. Multiplayer Bluetooth Game – 5%
8. Red and Blue Theme – 0% Complete.
9. Looking at designs for the initial splash screen.
10. Basic WEB /WAP site design started is still on hold because I’m still knackered
11. Database Stored Procedures and Settings – 35% Complete.

Panic - MOB 58.

We’ll I’ve been reviewing the latest releases from E3 on the J2ME platform. Oh my God, I’m really up against it. There are several very good games in the pipeline that will be released in the next few months probably September. I’m beginning to feel I’ve missed the boat with this. I’ve got one month to pull together the code and Maybe another to test and approach the big publishers with it.

I’m having a crisis of confidence. I don’t know if I’ll be able to do it because of normal work and home life (see other Blog). I did manage to get a little more work done on the Player functionality last night but I have yet to have a successful test with the Nokia JDK. Standard works fine but I’m having a real problem with the Nokia JDK.

1. Display Extraction - Started, about 50% progress. (Will replace this by Game prototype integration see 8, 9 & 10).
2. Examine the functionality of the standard Bluetooth functions. – Theory is complete; putting into practice is something else (See 10).
3. The Array list object for J2ME – 100% Complete
4. Started work on the first tier of menu screens on the mobile version – 100% Complete.
5. Multi-language functionality – Finished for the screens I’m working on. – 25% complete for the whole game.
6. Player Code – The persistent player records used in the game. 45 % done.
7. Game Settings – The Selection of the Themes, Language and Sounds for the Game. 25 % Done.
8. Single Player Game – 5 % Done.
9. Hot Seat Game – 5% Done.
10. Multiplayer Bluetooth Game – 5%
11. Red and Blue Theme – 0% Complete.
12. Looking at designs for the initial splash screen.
13. Basic WEB /WAP site design started is still on hold because I’m still knackered
14. Database Stored Procedures and Settings – 35% Complete.

If by the end of July, I don’t have a working basic version of the game I’m going to shelve it. So MOB (Make or Break) day is 58 days away.

A Little Progress

I didn’t think I’d done a lot but it appears I’ve actually made a lot of progress, since the last entry. I’ve discovered the reason for the exceptions. I was using MIDP 2.0 functionality within a MIDP 1.0 SDK. Oops. I’ve sorted this out and I’ve now got a couple of display screens ready.

What surprises me are the amount of little screens that you have to go through in order to get to the actual game itself. My first attempt will have to be the hot seat version of the game. No AI, No Bluetooth, just two people duelling on the same phone. Once I’ve got that out of the way, I’ll start work on the Bluetooth version and finally the single player practise game.

I’ve got the code complete for the new language functionality, but I’ve got a few items to look at before I completely integrate it.

1. Display Extraction - Started, about 50% done.
2. Examine the functionality of the standard Bluetooth functions.
3. The Array list object for J2ME – This seems to work fine with the Java Prototype.
4. Basic Website design started is still on hold because I’m still knackered.
5. Started work on the first tier of menu screens on the mobile version.
6. Designing multi-language functionality – 50% design complete – Main framework complete, got some RMS research to do before complete.
7. Looking at designs for the initial splash screen.