Java RPG: Useful tools

I was thinking about taking on an rpg project in Java from scratch but I have never tried doing much in the way of Java games. It's not going to be very graphically intense; it is going to be 2-D and I want to use a style similar to the olde开发者_如何学Gor, tile-based RPGs. I was wondering if there were any useful tools that anyone thinks may help.

Currently, I only have Eclipse and NetBeans; any input/suggestions are appreciated! Thank you!

For developing a 2D Java game from scratch, a good 2d game engine is still needed.

I recommend slick, one picture that you may be interested in

JGame is also an option. It supports Eclipse: http://www.13thmonkey.org/~boris/jgame/eclipse.html

A good article for introducing JGame: http://www.javaworld.com/javaworld/jw-12-2006/jw-1205-games.html

I wrote a tile-based Java roguelike/RPG many years ago using just plain vanilla Eclipse. Worked fine for me.

Full source code here if you are interested (GPL open source):

• Tyrant - Java Roguelike

Nowadays I would probably also add the following tools:

• Maven (m2eclipse) - for handling dependencies / 3rd party libraries
• EGit / Github - for source code control
• Photoshop - for creating and touching up graphics tiles

I'm going to be a devil's advocate and tell you about Steve Yegge's adventures developing a Java-based RPG, named Wyvern (sadly now defunct). His view, as I understood it, was that Java made the code too complex to maintain; it got to half a million lines long, at one stage.

Sure, you might say your game won't get that big. But don't underestimate the power of scope creep. :-)

Nevertheless, some successful games are indeed written in Java. mikera's answer is one example, as are games like Runescape or Minecraft. But still, if your game has the potential to get big, Java probably still isn't (in my opinion, and it seems Steve Yegge's also) your best choice.