Watch for Falling Blocks: Take TetrisJFX for a Spin!

You may know that I've been progressively building a Tetris game in JavaFX on this blog, the most recent post being Game Over: Improving upon the Compiled JavaFX Tetris Program.  In each post I've shown you the code and pointed out some highlights.  Since then I've added some finishing touches, and would be honored if you've try it out and give me (kind) feedback for improving it further.  The screenshot below shows what TetrisJFX should look like when you click this Java Web Start link.  By the way, you'll need the JRE (Java Runtime Environment) 1.5 or later.  Also, please keep in mind that the JavaFX Script JAR files will be included with the JRE at some point. Until then please understand that when you click this link those JAR files will be downloaded as well, causing a bit of a delay.

In addition to clicking the image buttons at the bottom of the game, you can use keystrokes (hover over the images to see tooltips that tell you what the keystrokes are).  In a future version, the arrow keys will be used for game control.  I also plan to provide the ability to cause the current tetromino to fall faster.  By the way, the tetrominoes fall progressively faster as your score increases, so be warned. :-)

If you have any questions or input for improvements, please post a comment.  Also, if you'll be at JavaOne 2008, please attend my JavaFX Script Programming Language Tutorial session and introduce yourself afterward!

 

Have fun!
Jim Weaver
JavaFX Script: Dynamic Java Scripting for Rich Internet/Client-side Applications
Immediate eBook (PDF) download available at the book's Apress site

Comments

[Webcyberrob]

An area of Javafx Im curious about is the use of a joystick control. Would it be the case that I'd have to use java code probably hooking into a USB layer to get the contol inputs?

[Rob Nocera]

Nice game!

I only wish I was attending JavaOne this year, this will be the first year I've missed it in a while.

Any reason the keyboard can't be used for control of the game? I was looking for the earlier posts to see if this was mentioned but I did not find anything about that.