Need help on simple game for Practice

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Hey there.

I am trying to practice my Java and work on this basic game I'm creating.

I am at the stage where I am trying to draw the tiled map, but I'm having two problems. The first problem is a logical one, I am trying to create a for loop that will draw the below image, and assign every 20x20 square a rectangle. I am having problems logically accomplishing this. The second problem is, I started to try a way to do it, but I get this error:

Exception in thread "Thread-2" java.lang.NullPointerException
at bandits.World.draw(World.java:43)
at bandits.GamePanel.draw(GamePanel.java:101)
at bandits.GamePanel.gameRender(GamePanel.java:96)
at bandits.GamePanel.run(GamePanel.java:48)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:722)

Attachment 1448

Here is the code for my 3 classes:

Code java:

package bandits;
 
import javax.swing.JFrame;
 
 
 
public class Bandits extends JFrame {
 
    GamePanel gp;
 
 
    public Bandits(){
        gp = new GamePanel();
        setSize(500, 500);
        setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
        setVisible(true);
        setResizable(false);
        add(gp);
 
    }
 
    public static void main(String[] args){
        Bandits b = new Bandits();
    }
}

Code java:

 
package bandits;
 
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.KeyAdapter;
import java.awt.event.KeyEvent;
 
public class GamePanel extends JPanel implements Runnable{
    //Double Buffering
    private Image dbImage;
    private Graphics dbg;
 
    //JPanel Variables
    static final int GWIDTH = 500, GHEIGHT = 400;
    static final Dimension gameDim = new Dimension(GWIDTH, HEIGHT);
 
    //Game Variables
    private Thread game;
    private volatile boolean running = false;
 
    World world;
 
    public GamePanel(){
        world = new World();
        setPreferredSize(gameDim);
        setFocusable(true);
        requestFocus();
 
        addKeyListener(new KeyAdapter(){
            @Override
            public void keyPressed(KeyEvent e){
 
 
            }
            @Override
            public void keyReleased(KeyEvent e){
 
 
            }
      });
      }
    @Override
    public void run(){
        while(running){
 
            gameUpdate();
            gameRender();
            paintScreen();
 
 
        }
    }
 
 
    @Override
    public void addNotify(){
        super.addNotify();
        startGame();
    }
 
    private void startGame(){
        if(game == null || !running){
            game = new Thread(this);
            game.start();
            running = true;
        }
    }
 
    public void stopGame(){
        if(running){
            running = false;
        }
    }
 
    private void gameUpdate() {
        if(running && game !=null){
 
        }
    }
 
    private void gameRender() {
        if(dbImage == null){
            dbImage = createImage(GWIDTH, GHEIGHT);
            if(dbImage == null){
                System.err.println("DBImage is still null!");
                return;
            }else{
                dbg = dbImage.getGraphics();
            }
        }
 
        dbg.setColor(Color.WHITE);
        dbg.fillRect(0, 0, getWidth(), getHeight());
 
        draw(dbg);
    }
 
    /* Everything that is graphics gets drawn here*/
    public void draw(Graphics g){
        world.draw(g);
    }
 
    private void paintScreen(){
        Graphics g;
        try{
            g=this.getGraphics();
            if(dbImage != null && g != null){
                g.drawImage(dbImage,0,0,null);
            }
            Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().sync();
            g.dispose();
        }catch(Exception e){
            System.err.println(e);
        }
    }
 
}

Code java:

package bandits;
 
import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.ImageIcon;
 
 
public class World {
 
    private Rectangle[] blocks;
    private Image[] blockImg;
    private final int arrayNum = 625;
 
    private Image BLOCK_FLOOR, BLOCK_WALL;
 
    private int x= 0;
    private int y= 0;
 
    public World(){
        BLOCK_FLOOR = new ImageIcon("C:/Users/Thomas/Documents/NetBeansProjects/Images/Floor.gif").getImage();
        BLOCK_WALL = new ImageIcon("C:/Users/Thomas/Documents/NetBeansProjects/Images/Wall.gif").getImage();
 
        blocks = new Rectangle[625];
        blockImg = new Image[625];
 
        loadArrays();
    }
 
    private void loadArrays(){
        for(int i = 0; i < arrayNum; i++){
          if(x > 500){
              x = 0;
              y += 20;
          }
          if(x <= 20){
              blockImg[i] = BLOCK_WALL;
              blocks[i] = new Rectangle(x,y,20,20);
          }
          x += 20;
        }
    }
    public void draw(Graphics g){
        for(int i=0; i < arrayNum; i++){
            g.drawImage(blockImg[i], blocks[i].x, blocks[i].y, null);
        }
    }
}

Any help would be appreciated, this is not a homework assignment, just trying to refine, practice, and improve my Java skills.

October 2nd, 2012, 05:23 PM
Norm

Re: Need help on simple game for Practice

Quote:

Exception in thread "Thread-2" java.lang.NullPointerException
at bandits.World.draw(World.java:43)

Look at line 43 and find the variable with the null value. Then backtrack in the code to find out why that variable does not have a valid non-null value.

Re: Need help on simple game for Practice

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harrald

Hey there.

Hey!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harrald

...I get this error:
Exception in thread "Thread-2" java.lang.NullPointerException
at bandits.World.draw(World.java:43)

So: Look at line number 43 in World.java. What is it doing that might be trying to access a pointer but encounters a null value?

Look at the code that makes values not null. Look real hard.

Can't see anything (anything at all) that could cause this specific problem? Then make the program tell you exactly what it does:

Code java:

    private void loadArrays() {
        for(int i = 0; i < arrayNum; i++){
            if(x > 500){
                x = 0;
                y += 20;
            }
            if(x <= 20){
                // From Zaphod_b:
                //   Debugging: See which of these array elements are given values
                System.out.printf("in loadArrays(): i = %d\n", i);
                blockImg[i] = BLOCK_WALL;
                blocks[i] = new Rectangle(x,y,20,20);
            }
            x += 20;
        }
    }
 
    public void draw(Graphics g) {
        for(int i=0; i < arrayNum; i++){
            // From Zaphod_b:
            //   Debugging: Print value of i as it goes through the loop so that you
            //   can see how far it gets before crashing.
            System.out.printf("in draw(): i = %d\n", i);
            g.drawImage(blockImg[i], blocks[i].x, blocks[i].y, null);
        }
    }

I mean, it's always OK to ask, but wouldn't it be more time-effective (from your point of view) to get into the groove of simple debugging steps like this?

Cheers!

Z.

October 2nd, 2012, 07:33 PM
Harrald

Re: Need help on simple game for Practice

Thanks for the help you have given so far! I really appreciate this community, hopefully one day I'll be answering these types of questions!

Also thank you for showing me a way to debug, didn't think of that. My knowledge is nothing but one intro to Java class and a few youtube tutorials. I have got more advanced ones on the way, but I want to stay frosty.

I have come to the conclusion that it must be something in the loadArrays(); Because it works just fine, well it only paints one rectangle in the topright corner, when I remove the x += 20. You two were mentioning null values, so I think I'm off...
October 2nd, 2012, 07:48 PM
Norm

Re: Need help on simple game for Practice

To work out the logic you first need to make a drawing and label the upper left corner of each square.
The look at the relationship of the x an y values for all the squares in the columns on each row
and again for each row. Then write nested loops that vary the y value for the rows and the x value for the columns.
To get the logic, write a small simple testing program with the nested loops that prints out the x,y values for the corner of each square. Then compare the print out with the drawing you made to see if the x,y values match. When you get the logic right in this simple test, you can take it to the main program to set the positions of each square.
October 5th, 2012, 03:41 PM
Harrald

Re: Need help on simple game for Practice

I'm stumped. I have been staring at this the whole week. I cannot figure it out. I did a test loop and I didn't run into any problems, I just have the null pointer problem. Any further advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
October 5th, 2012, 03:47 PM
Norm

Re: Need help on simple game for Practice

What printed out in the testing program? Can you post the testing program and its output?

Also post the current version of your code
and the full text of the error messages.
October 5th, 2012, 03:58 PM
Harrald

Re: Need help on simple game for Practice

For some reason dbImage is still Null!... The if statement says if dbImage is null, dbImage = createImage(500, 500);. but for some reason it skips this step and goes to the next step. The next step makes sure dbImage isnt null, if it is, it returns the statement "dbImage is still Null!".

Re: Need help on simple game for Practice

There's the test loop I did to make sure the way I cycle through x's and y's worked.

Code java:

int x=0;
        int y=0;
 
        for(int i =0; i < 500; i++){
            if(x >500){
                x=0;
                y+=20;
            }
            System.out.println("i is = " + i + " x is = " + x + " y is = " + y);
            x += 20;
     }

October 5th, 2012, 04:07 PM
Norm

Re: Need help on simple game for Practice

Quote:

For some reason dbImage is still Null

The default value for object variables is null. If they are not assigned a non-null value, their value will still be null.
Check the logic and add printlns to show where dbImage is given a value.
October 5th, 2012, 08:29 PM
Harrald

Re: Need help on simple game for Practice

I assigned it too dbImage=createImage(500, 500). Is that a wrong type to assign it to?
October 5th, 2012, 08:36 PM
Norm

Re: Need help on simple game for Practice

Quote:

I assigned it too dbImage=createImage(500, 500)

If it has any value, it won't be null and cause a NullPointerException.

If you don't post the full text of the error message and the code, there is very little anyone can do to help you.
October 5th, 2012, 09:33 PM
Harrald

Re: Need help on simple game for Practice

run:
in loadArrays(): i = 0
DBImage is still null!
in loadArrays(): i = 1
java.lang.NullPointerException
DBImage is still null!
java.lang.NullPointerException
DBImage is still null!
java.lang.NullPointerException
DBImage is still null!
java.lang.NullPointerException
DBImage is still null!
java.lang.NullPointerException
DBImage is still null!
java.lang.NullPointerException
DBImage is still null!
"
"
java.lang.NullPointerException
DBImage is still null!
Exception in thread "Thread-1" java.lang.NullPointerException
at bandits.World.draw(World.java:46)
at bandits.GamePanel.draw(GamePanel.java:102)
at bandits.GamePanel.gameRender(GamePanel.java:97)
at bandits.GamePanel.run(GamePanel.java:49)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:722)
BUILD SUCCESSFUL (total time: 2 seconds)

Hope this helps.
October 5th, 2012, 09:43 PM
Norm

Re: Need help on simple game for Practice

Quote:

Hope this helps..

Not much without the code.

What variable is null and why is it null?

I'm done for tonight. Back tomorrow.

Re: Need help on simple game for Practice

Here is the code for my 3 classes:

Code java:

package bandits;
 
import javax.swing.JFrame;
 
 
 
public class Bandits extends JFrame {
 
    GamePanel gp;
 
 
    public Bandits(){
        gp = new GamePanel();
        setSize(500, 500);
        setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
        setVisible(true);
        setResizable(false);
        add(gp);
 
    }
 
    public static void main(String[] args){
        Bandits b = new Bandits();
    }
}

Code java:

package bandits;
 
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.KeyAdapter;
import java.awt.event.KeyEvent;
 
public class GamePanel extends JPanel implements Runnable{
    //Double Buffering
    private Image dbImage;
    private Graphics dbg;
 
    //JPanel Variables
    static final int GWIDTH = 500, GHEIGHT = 400;
    static final Dimension gameDim = new Dimension(GWIDTH, HEIGHT);
 
    //Game Variables
    private Thread game;
    private volatile boolean running = false;
 
    World world;
 
    public GamePanel(){
        world = new World();
        setPreferredSize(gameDim);
        setFocusable(true);
        requestFocus();
 
        addKeyListener(new KeyAdapter(){
            @Override
            public void keyPressed(KeyEvent e){
 
 
            }
            @Override
            public void keyReleased(KeyEvent e){
 
 
            }
      });
      }
    @Override
    public void run(){
        while(running){
 
            gameUpdate();
            gameRender();
            paintScreen();
 
 
        }
    }
 
 
    @Override
    public void addNotify(){
        super.addNotify();
        startGame();
    }
 
    private void startGame(){
        if(game == null || !running){
            game = new Thread(this);
            game.start();
            running = true;
        }
    }
 
    public void stopGame(){
        if(running){
            running = false;
        }
    }
 
    private void gameUpdate() {
        if(running && game !=null){
 
        }
    }
 
    private void gameRender() {
        if(dbImage == null){
            dbImage = createImage(GWIDTH, GHEIGHT);
            if(dbImage == null){
                System.err.println("DBImage is still null!");
                return;
            }else{
                dbg = dbImage.getGraphics();
            }
        }
 
        dbg.setColor(Color.WHITE);
        dbg.fillRect(0, 0, getWidth(), getHeight());
 
        draw(dbg);
    }
 
    /* Everything that is graphics gets drawn here*/
    public void draw(Graphics g){
        world.draw(g);
    }
 
    private void paintScreen(){
        Graphics g;
        try{
            g=this.getGraphics();
            if(dbImage != null && g != null){
                g.drawImage(dbImage,0,0,null);
            }
            Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().sync();
            g.dispose();
        }catch(Exception e){
            System.err.println(e);
        }
    }
 
}

Code java:

package bandits;
 
import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.ImageIcon;
 
 
public class World {
 
    private Rectangle[] blocks;
    private Image[] blockImg;
    private final int arrayNum = 625;
 
    private Image BLOCK_FLOOR, BLOCK_WALL;
 
    private int x= 0;
    private int y= 0;
 
    public World(){
        BLOCK_FLOOR = new ImageIcon("C:/Users/Thomas/Documents/NetBeansProjects/Images/Floor.gif").getImage();
        BLOCK_WALL = new ImageIcon("C:/Users/Thomas/Documents/NetBeansProjects/Images/Wall.gif").getImage();
 
        blocks = new Rectangle[625];
        blockImg = new Image[625];
 
        loadArrays();
    }
 
    private void loadArrays(){
        for(int i = 0; i < arrayNum; i++){
          if(x > 500){
              x = 0;
              y += 20;
          }
          if(x <= 20){
              blockImg[i] = BLOCK_WALL;
              blocks[i] = new Rectangle(x,y,20,20);
          }
          x += 20;
        }
    }
    public void draw(Graphics g){
        for(int i=0; i < arrayNum; i++){
            g.drawImage(blockImg[i], blocks[i].x, blocks[i].y, null);
        }
    }
}

October 7th, 2012, 08:48 PM
Norm

Re: Need help on simple game for Practice

Quote:

Exception in thread "Thread-1" java.lang.NullPointerException
at bandits.World.draw(World.java:46)

What variable on line 46 has a null value? Add a println to print out the values of all the variables on line 46 if you can't tell which variable could be null.

If the code in post#9 printed out correct X&Y values for the corners,
why didn't you use the logic from post #9 for the loadArrays() method's code in post#15?
October 8th, 2012, 05:07 PM
Harrald

Re: Need help on simple game for Practice

dbImage is the variable that is null, even right after the assign statement it is still null.

The logic worked the same in both I thought, just have problems with dbImage. Am I mising something?
October 8th, 2012, 05:23 PM
Norm

Re: Need help on simple game for Practice

Quote:

even right after the assign statement it is still null.

Is it being assigned a null value?
Object obj1 = null;
Object obj2 = obj1; // obj2 will be null here because obj1 is null

Did you see this in my last post?
If the code in post#9 printed out correct X&Y values for the corners,
why didn't you use the logic from post #9 for the loadArrays() method's code in post#15?
October 8th, 2012, 05:30 PM
Harrald

Re: Need help on simple game for Practice

Initially, but I assign it too createImage(500,500). I am starting to think that createImage is null. I'm not sure how createImage works totally, I navigated to source but it is kind of confusing.

I'm still terribly new to java, hence I'm working on this simple top down game to maybe learn somethings and refine what I already know.
October 8th, 2012, 05:36 PM
Norm

Re: Need help on simple game for Practice

You'll have to post the code if you want any help with it.

Did you see this in my last post?
If the code in post#9 printed out correct X&Y values for the corners,
why didn't you use the logic from post #9 for the loadArrays() method's code in post#15?
October 8th, 2012, 06:30 PM
Harrald

Re: Need help on simple game for Practice

The code hasn't changed from page 1, I just copied and pasted it unto page 2.

"The logic worked the same in both I thought, just have problems with dbImage. Am I mising something?"
Yes I saw it, and it is basically exactly the same minus the fact that I add the arrays into it. But the x and y coordinate increases are the same.
October 8th, 2012, 06:57 PM
Norm

Re: Need help on simple game for Practice
Quote:

it is basically exactly the same

I think they are different. This statement from post#15:
Code :

if(x <= 20){
is NOT in post#9.

You said that the code in post#9 worked
The code in post #15 does not work. Add some printlns to the code to print out the values of x and y when a new Rectangle is created to see.