The maps are generated live from tile images. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to link you here, but it's an open directory so anyone can find it, so I will:
http://beta.vanthia.com/new/_tiles/
So that's proof that yes, JavaScript constructs the map on the fly using those tile images and positions them isometrically.

I would highly recommend writing your own, as it will prove most useful rather than trying to take someone else's work and fit it to accomplish your goals. As for exactly how it's done, try reading some of the links under "Tile-Based Games" on this page:
http://www-cs-students.stanford.edu/~am … eprog.html

atm i'm going java. i've began learning how to implement standard java code into applets effectively, and i wanna make a good, fast, smooth, realtime 2d (non-iso prob) MMO.

java applet + mmorpg = win
unless you purposely kill the game (looks at jagex)

looks cool, a bit like diablo

nice work! mine is 100% sockets.. simple

Where is the web today? What does that have to do with Java applets?

Java applets have their place. They are good when you want to run a program in a browser. Flash should not be used for heavyweight applications; it makes good minigames and animated shorts and annoying corporate menubars, and anything that requires vector graphics. But Java is great for whole applications, or anything that Flash can't do. Java is sandboxed, just like ActionScript and JavaScript. But Java can break out of its sandbox if it is signed and has user permission, and that's where you get all the functionality of normal programs, but in the browser. Kinda like ActiveX, without all the evil.

I'm currently learning OpenGL - with Java, using the JOGL library. It's a piece of cake, I get all of the benefits of garbage collection but at almost the speed of C++, and when I choose to do so I can implement it as an applet and have my 3D programs running right in the browser. Or I can implement a one-click start using Java Web Start. Either way is so much more convenient than having the user download a random .exe, run it to install a program, then run my actual application.

Well, I'm not sure. Java Applets are at least very cool, just not used often. I'm not really sure why, but the common misconception about Java being so slow probably has a great deal to do with it. The history section of the wikipedia article on Java is an interesting read though.

I'm just glad they /did/ fix the speed issues. Because yea, it was slow years ago. If it were still slow, I'd probably be dabbling in C++ right now. Yuck. :-P

Javascripts have their place... php has it's place... Adobe Flash  CS4 has it's place......  there isn't a better solution to a problem.. just a different solution.

I don't fall under the opinion of others that Java is slow...I've experienced it myself plenty. I have noted Python and Javascript to be VERY smooth (I believe Gmail uses this combo?) so thats what I've decided to program any game/website I make out of. My current plan is CherryPy (Python) for the server, and JavaScript with JQuery and maybe JQuery UI for the client side part.

iHack wrote:

PHP > Python

A-HAHAHAHAHAHA.

Good one Sir!

iHack wrote:

nea wrote:

iHack wrote:

PHP > Python

A-HAHAHAHAHAHA.

Good one Sir!

Python's weird
PHP is a lot easier to code in.

Agreed

nea wrote:

let's see...

Code:

for($i = 0; $i < 5; $i++){

vs

Code:

for i in range(5):

Hmm.....

It can be hard to get used to after working with curly brackets forever, but saying it's harder to code in is blasphemy.

There's people who love Java too...

lol

Ricket wrote:

You start in PHP or Python. You write a bunch of messy tangled procedural code. You leave PHP because you realize its object-oriented features are a kludge and it'll only ever be messy, but you look back often because all the big open-source web projects use PHP (WordPress, Drupal, phpBB, vBulletin, Mediawiki, ...). Python you continue to do the occasional scripting in but you might realize it's not a "serious" language and move on, or you might continue to do amazing and really cool things in it.

Then you get a job, and you work with ASP.NET or maybe JSP. You learn a whole different paradigm, and you treat your webpages as part of web applications rather than just separate scripts in a messy system. Your code is pretty clean, you're working on a team, and life is pretty good. But something just feels wrong about treating web development like application development. After all, they're webpages; a lot of behind-the-scenes generation is going on to trick you and your users into thinking it's a smooth experience.


Then you keep going with your job because it's a job, and you learn to like whatever you boss says you're going to like because nothing's perfect. The end?

This is the end you know lady the plans we had went all wrong...

sounds depressing.