Java vs Flash?

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Java I have heard is easier, because it uses applets and the security is good, but I heard Flash is better because it runs faster and less lag, but it is easily hackable

So you've brought up two issues. Performance and security. On the issue of performance, it's all about your programming work. Sloppy work with either and you'll get bad performance.

On the issue of security. The browser runs on the client. You don't control what happens on the client side. Thus, you should not be trusting anything from the client. Let's say you had a value that indicated how much gold the player has. You should not be saying to yourself, I can trust the value from the Java applet because it's secure, but not the value from the Flash applet because it's not. Rather, you need to be telling yourself that you will design the game such that the client does not tell you anything. You have a server keeping track of everything, and the server dictates the information to the client. So if the client is hacked, whoop dee do.

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Also, I was wondering if both or which one could use databases for a bit tighter security.

Using a database doesn't get you security. A database is just a manner of storing information.

I hope you realize that you're looking at what happens in the browser, but you need to deal with the server as well. You can use Java for the server, but not Flash. Or you could use something else. But you need a server counterpart to the client.

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I'd say the game would be a similar concept of Runescape, but not quite that, just so people could see what I was aiming for.

I also get the sense that you're on the many people who loves MMORPGs, knows a teeny bit about programming, and I really mean just a slight bit, and fancies making one for fun.

I hope you read the other forum posts like yours. You need to have a reality check. It's OK if you don't know why it's unrealistic at the moment. But you need to read about it from the forum archives.

Alright, so the performance depends on how the game is coded. Got that.
As for the security, the server would be controlling everything, not the client. So the if the client would be hacked, the server-side would not be able to be touched because it only sends the information to the client. I understand that as well.

I myself don't play many games, but I used to. I sort of grew out of it, I may play some every now and then. I went out and got some books on Java, because something told me that I would be choosing the path of Java over Flash. I've been taking notes on ideas that I come up for the design of the game, been doing some sketches as well. I'm still working on the design of the game itself, but once I feel I am done with the actual concept of the game, I was planning on getting a team together to start on the project of the game. But I asked the question of the Java vs Flash, so I would know what programmer knowledge I was looking for.

Thank you for your reply oler1s.

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I was planning on getting a team together to start on the project of the game.

And who are these people on the team? What are they competent in? What motivates them to work with you? What role do you play in this team? Think about these issues.

Many beginners who want to make an MMORPG and realize that they need certain people like artists or programmers with knowledge about X, or that there is just a whole lot of work to do, come up with the idea of bringing together a team. I think you can find plenty of forum posts along those lines as well. But you should recognize after some thought that gathering a team is also unrealistic.

Julian,

This may or may not be off topic, but have you looked into Microsoft Silverlight?

It caught my eye a few days ago and I haven't had a chance to even load the SDK on my system, but the demos I've seen are impressive. It also appears that it integrates nicely with C# and ASP.Net (and someone correct me if I'm wrong because I haven't looked into it enought).

I've only recently been working with ASP.Net and C# and so far I'm really impressed with how easy it is to get into it and produce something cool in a short period of time.

I'm personally trying to take my hobby projects (such as game development) and use as much C# as possible to make my skills in it stronger for my paid work. This is one of the reasons Siverlight is of interest to me. If I use it for games, I can easily apply the same knowledge to paid work.

Of course, I can do the same with Java and Flash, but right now I'm on a c# kick.

John

Hey there John,

I have looked into Microsoft's Silverlight and must say that I am impressed. The demos are very interesting. But while looking around I saw that some people have said that Silverlight doesn't have support for 3d rendering. They say that Silverlight 3 may have it, but Silverlight 3 is in beta for developers. I am really looking forward to version 3. Another thing, I was looking at the site for it, and see that there is only Silverlight 2 Runtime for Mac. I thought I would have to install the Blend and DeepZoom, but the downloads are only for Windows, so I'm a bit confused on that.

I'll look more into Flex, Flash, Silverlight, and Java to see which best fits my need for my requirements. Thank you for your post John, it introduced me into another programming language that may prove to be very useful.