December 22, 2004
Experience Java 3D development, Zapptrio style

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The support for 3D development in Java for mobile applications has vastly improved as API's like HI Corp's Mascot Capsule Micro3D version 3 and JSR-184 (see Special Interest Paper Java 3D) have become available. 3D development has certainly become a hot topic and the number of applications is consistently growing. We asked Zapptrio, Inc, located in the USA, to share their experiences with 3D development on Sony Ericsson mobile phones.

Zapptrio, Inc is actually a new company, with direct roots in Mitsui Comtek Corp., which was founded in 1986 and has been active in the electronics and IT business. Zapptrio Inc focuses on mobile content, mobile marketing campaigns and location based services. This is expected to provide several advantages, for instance, with regards to improved time-to-market.

The experiences described in this article are mainly from the development of Zapptrio's first, real 3D game, Super 3D Golf. The decision to start 3D development was made based on their experiences in Japan, building upon a strong belief that 3D applications will be the next significant trend in the mobile game industry, in both Europe and the USA. Sony Ericsson supports this belief.

Development in 3D versus 2D
The new experience of 3D development compared to 2D revealed some pros and cons to Zapptrio. 3D development provides a greater power of expression, and the possibilities for building a game landscape grow exponentially. Along with that, it's also easier to simulate visual reality. However, 3D requires higher performance and memory on the handset, and to keep code size of the game to a minimum in order to allow it to be downloaded over the air, takes a lot of optimization work.

Also, porting between different devices is harder, for example, it's more complex to port a 3D game character to different sizes than a corresponding 2D character. The reason is that in Super 3D Golf, the game characters are built up of several different 3D objects (arms, legs, golf club, etc) simulating movements with physical aspects such as gravity taken into account. It means a lot of careful tuning to reach a satisfactory result. In general, designing game characters is very different in 3D. Still, programming 2D respectively 3D graphics are not completely different sciences. At Zapptrio, the same people who do 3D graphics are the ones doing the 2D graphics.

The Mascot Capsule Micro3D Version 3 API, by HI Corp, was used in the development of Super Golf 3D. The reason for this was the company's previous experience with this API from Japan and, as it's been available significantly longer than JSR-184, it's reached a de-facto standard status in Japan. HI Corp's documentation and samples were of great value in the development, but Zapptrio Inc also made frequent use of the Sony Ericsson Developer World web portal for obtaining documentation, sample code and technical support via email. They also complimented Sony Ericsson's e-mail support for the quick and accurate replies.

Zapptrio Inc adapts and optimizes their 3D games to fit different screen resolutions and performance. This means that several different JAR builds exist for each game. Though this takes a lot of effort, more so with Super 3D Golf than with 2D games as explained above, it's worthwhile in order to achieve the best possible game-playing experience on each handset.

Some conclusions
Going from 2D to 3D means taking steps to learn new ways of modeling and using new tools, all of which add initial costs. However, the experience is that the total development time in general does not differ much than from 2D, which indicates that the increased costs are only initial.

Generally, there are important market benefits to be gained with 3D. Releasing attractive 3D games today, which are in the frontline of technology, provides the development company with PR opportunities, recognition and status. In addition, thanks to consumers now starting to become curious about and demanding mobile 3D applications, there is a strong sales benefit of being among the high-quality pioneer developers. This is what Zapptrio strives for.

When we asked David Kaltsas, VP, Business Development and Content Acquisition at Zapptrio Inc, if they will proceed with new 3D titles now that they have evaluated their experiences of developing their first real 3D game, the answer came without hesitation, "Definitely! Zapptrio has several ideas and ongoing projects that will hit the market with new 3D titles in the months to come."

Super 3D Golf can be downloaded from Sony Ericsson Fun & Downloads.

• Read separate Fun & Downloads article this month>>