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Java applet bandwidth question?

Started by blewisjr 3 replies 1k views
Original Post
blewisjr
blewisjr
I am currently in the process of choosing a language to write a partial text based MUD. I have been network programming and designing muds for a while now so this is not over my head. I am looking to go a new direction with this instead of a standard installable application on the players machine; I would like my partial text mud to run as a applet off of a website. However, I can forsee a few issues. Since it is partial text it involves a UI and images. So I can see the issue of bandwidth arise when say 50 players who play the game multiple times a day, load up the applet and then the images would have to be downloaded so that the player can view them, because applets run on the clients machine. Would you happen to know of any ways this bandwidth issue can be worked arround or should I just stick with the standard download the client and install it on your machine route?
Bob Janova
Bob Janova
The applet and images would almost certainly end up in the clients' Internet cache, so they wouldn't be downloading it afresh every time. Besides, the download bandwidth will almost certainly be less than the in-use bandwidth, even with a MUD.
blewisjr
blewisjr
Thank you I still got other decisions to think about. I know I want to use Java because I would like to open up my game to Linux users as well as windows. But I might just consider making it a standalone application client. The only task that raises is the autoupdater. Thank you again for the info.
OrangyTang
OrangyTang
Quote:
Original post by blewisjr
I would like to open up my game to Linux users as well as windows. But I might just consider making it a standalone application client. The only task that raises is the autoupdater. Thank you again for the info.

Sounds like Java Webstart would be a good solution for you. Webstart apps are proper Java desktop applications but can be launched by the user clicking a link in their browser (at which point the app is automatically downloaded and started, or updated if it is already downloaded).

The nice thing is that the browser intergration and auto-update is all done for you and works without your app needing to know (or care) about it. [grin]
graveyard filla
graveyard filla
The alternative to Java for this would be .NET and Smart Client.... It solves the deployment issue but allows you to have a rich client. Like JWS it gives you the best of both worlds.
FTA, my 2D futuristic action MMORPG

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