Network game program question

Alright folks
for a while i've been thinking about a problem that i'd like to do.

My idea is to create a game of Pong (simple little java applet or application) and then to network it between two computers (maybe even make it available on the internet for two players only).

My problem is that i don't really know how I'd go about creating this...one theory was to implement the game on a JSP page, with that handling the connections and multi-threading...the other theory was to make the game as an application and then make the game itself create and open sockets for just two computer connection.

Does any of this sound plausible and am I close in the right way of thinking about the problem?
What would be a "good" way to do it?


Thanks for any help, I'd love to do this for myself, to prove that i could if i wanted to...I just need to know what track to follow.

Thanks.

satchmo

Well if you want real-time communication then any sort of scripting is less than useless. The best solution is probably sockets, with a peer-to-peer connection or a server that both players connect to. I reckon a peer-to-peer would probably be quicker & easier to implement.

There's an excellent article on Gamasutra.com about Java Network Game Programming, you should read it through. Even though it is 4 or 5 years old and some of the methods may be depracated, the theory is still the same and it'll give you a much better idea of how to go about what you want to do.

Cheers Jazz, i'll look into that then.
Sockets crossed my mind but then I thought that something like scripting seemed more to be the thing, but now after what you've said, it makes more sense to do the socket thing.

I'm more comfortable with sockets so thanks, put my mind at rest for that section anyway.

Thanks again

Greenbean

From a previous C++/Java network project I did, I can tell you Java makes working with sockets very easy, alot easier than C.

phobos

Here are some useful sites:

http://www.javagaming.org/ (Very good site, but probably a tad advanced for your needs)

http://www.javaworld.com/ (These guys are doing a beginners guide to Java Game programming ATM)

http://www.javaboutique.com/ (These guys have an open source version of pong)

http://www.cfxweb.net/categories.php?op=newindex&catid=4

HTH

;-phobos-)