Can I make a servlet and put it on Tomcat server so that the server would be run only if there are any players The Tomcat instance would run anyways, otherwise players couldn't connect to it What you could do is to provide a server that starts a new game instance when players connect. The server itself would have to always run In terms of technology, I'd suggest you use whatever you feel comfortable with. Don't care about performance yet but try and get started So if you already have some knowledge with a communication technology, try and use that.
Just be aware of the limitations and take those into account (e.g. Message formats, push/pull communication etc. ).
Can I make a servlet and put it on Tomcat server so that the server would be run only if there are any players The Tomcat instance would run anyways, otherwise players couldn't connect to it. What you could do is to provide a server that starts a new game instance when players connect. The server itself would have to always run.In terms of technology, I'd suggest you use whatever you feel comfortable with.
Don't care about performance yet but try and get started. So if you already have some knowledge with a communication technology, try and use that. Just be aware of the limitations and take those into account (e.g. Message formats, push/pull communication etc. ).
If you are looking for a netwrok application framework in Java then you may consider reading about Apache MINA. Documentation claims that it " helps users develop high performance and high scalability network applications easily. " and it has support for various transports such as TCP/IP and UDP/IP via Java NIO.
Summary of features can be seen here. My personal experience with MINA is so far good and used in various projects. One implementation resembles your case, Its not a mulitplayer game but do involves multiple applets connecting a server.
I found MINA very good in handling multiple sessions. It do it very neatly. Moreover its very easy to scale and maintain code.
Easy to add filters and define protocols. There are no. Of good tutorial available to jump start and initial setup is very easy to do, just a simple.
However, like any emerging opensource project, it has its problems too. That are: Online community is small and documentation, though improving rapidly, is very limited. Official user guide covers most of the basics and is a good starting point if you want to know more.
It depends what kind of game you are after. Applets are usually good choice for presenting animation (completely in Java) and accessible from a browser. Real world examples would divert towards Flash for client presentation.
If your game is a turn type game (chess, cards etc. ), then you can implement your logic in form of servlets or web services or ajax, with appropriate use of hashtables or databases to store live sessions on server side. If your game is more involved in terms of user experience (take an example of Need For Speed type, for instance), then creating a custom server make more sense.
I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.