I recently found a compilation of video tutorials  about Project Darkstar here.

The compilation includes a video tutorial of how to setup a project under Netbeans.   This one was very useful to me.  Because the same steps are valid for RedDwarf.

Darkstar: NetBeans Project Configuration from Project Darkstar on Vimeo.

Also there’s a version of how to set up the project under eclipse.

Darkstar Eclipse Project Configuration from Project Darkstar on Vimeo.

Many thanks to “Peter”  who was the person who created the tutorials

Tip:  You can watch the videos in HD @ Vimeo

FYI I’m posting some resources that I think are  useful for all the people starting with RedDwarf.

1.  Project Snowman Hands On Lab.   This is a tutorial created by Sun,  specifically designed to teach how to use Project Darkstar.  I think following this tutorial  is one of the best things to do to learn RedDwarf.  By doing it  you can get a pretty good understanding of the basic principles of Darkstar/RedDwarf  and  how everything works.  I found it while searching at the RedWarf forums.

2.  Server Tutorial and Client Tutorial -  Original Version by Sun.  I had some problems when I started reading the tutorials published at RedDwarf’s site because the Server Tutorial referred to a script which I could not find within the downloaded files.  So again, searching in the forums I found this post and the original tutorials.  With those in hand I was able to happily finish what I was doing (that was only trying to run the server XP).

Now whit the help from the information above I can look at the RedDwarf documentation more confidently.  I’m  still learning and I hope to learn more and share with you here. XD.  Meanwhile check out RedDwarf documentation and the forums.  Good Luck!! .

After founding the library and pasting it in the right folder… another error…

[java] SEVERE: DataService initialization failed
[java] com.sun.sgs.impl.service.data.store.DataStoreException: DataStore initialization failed: Unexpected database exception: com.sleepycat.db.DatabaseException: Bad address: Bad address

So I looked up google,  and found an installation guide for snowman in a cached page from www.timadorus.org.  I’m afraid the cached page could be lost so I’m copying and pasting the guide here. If you know who can be the author please post a comment so I can give him or her credit.

The guide says it’s for Windows XP.  I tried in Windows 7 32 bits and it worked perfectly.
Update 20100913: Today I tried in Windows 7 64 bit and it gives me the following error:

[java] SEVERE: DataStore initialization failed
[java] java.lang.UnsatisfiedLinkError: C:\Users\Alhvi\Desktop\snowman-dist-
0.1\snowman-dist\natives\bdb\win32-x86\libdb_java45.dll: Can't load IA 32-bit .d
ll on a AMD 64-bit platform


Anyway… for the rest of the people who uses a 32 bit Windows Version, or another OS  here is the guide:

Installation Guide for Snowman version 0.1

The game:

Download link: https://project‐snowman.dev.java.net/

Requirements:

• Apache Ant (Download link: http://ant.apache.org/bindownload.cgi)
• Java SDK 6
• Current OpenGL driver for used video card

Installation process:

Step 1:

Unzip the file snowman-dist.01.zip

Step 2:

After unzipping the file two new folders will be created:
/natives/
/snowman-dist/

To get the client running on Windows XP you have to copy libdb_java45.dll from
Path: /natives/bdb/win32 –x86
to the following folder:
path: /snowman-dist/natives/bdb/win32 –x86/

The next step is to create a new folder named “win32 –x86”.
Path: /snowman-dist/lwjgl-binaries/win32 –x86
Now copy the file “lwjgl.dll” from win32 to your new created folder.
Path: /snowman-dist/natives/lwjgl-binaries/win32

*Step 3:

Change dir to the folder snowman-dist
Path:/snowman-dist/
A file called build.xml should be found there

Step 4:

Open console and enter the following commands:
ant run-single
ant run-client

…and enjoy your snowball fight!!

Step 5:

If the game does not start please check the output for “Bad address” warnings like this:
Notice the missing slashes!
[java] WARNUNG: Database error message: Z:\xp-pro\Desktop\snowman-dist-0.1\
snowman-dist\xp-proDesktopsnowman-dist-0.1snowman-dist  mpsnowman\dsdb: Bad addr

If so open the build.xml file and look for these lines:
…

…

com.sun.sgs.app.name=Snowman
com.sun.sgs.app.root=${app.dir}
com.sun.sgs.app.port=${server.port}
com.sun.sgs.impl.service.transport.udp.port=1234
com.sun.sgs.impl.service.data.store.db.environment.class=${bdb.env}

…

Replace “${app.dir}” with the snowman path. *The line to change should be 168.
Example:
com.sun.sgs.app.root=c:\\snowman-dist\\tmp\\snowman

*Dont forget the double backslashes

*Run again:

ant run-single
ant run-client
Now the game should start without any problems.

Further commands for the console:

ant run-single:         starts a local server
ant run-client:        starts a client
ant run-server:        starts a server
ant run-editor:        starts the editor

Download Source Code:

svn url : https://project-snowman.dev.java.net/svn/project-snowman/trunc

Name: guest
Password: empty

Comment by Alhvi:

After following the guide everything works as it should. The only thing I didn’t knew is that you need to run two clients to be able to play.

Update 20100913: Changed the format to make the guide a little bit more understandable. Added some comments to the post (marked with *). Happy programmers day!!

Project Snowman Client