Thread: JAVA game development issue

hello!
first of all, I am making a game.
the game is 2D and a simple side-scroller.
the problem is, that i want to make menu's. and i dont have a clue how. i mean, how to make the main menu, (I know how to make listeners and button listeners)?
and another important thing, is the menu bars- like a bar with icons, inventory, stats, skills etc, i dont know how to make them.
do i have to learn threading for that? because i thought maybe i'll make another program, with the menu, and when i click something it calls another main(String args[]).
I also thought about making it manually- setting visibility for all paint components objects, making a few buttons, setting the fps on 0, and on click I make paint component objects visible, buttons not visible and fps normal. would that be good? or just an alternative to something better?
thanks!

I don't get, why can't you make a menu, given that you know about listeners and your can do a scroller game itself. You just have to create the buttons components, put them on the screen and associate listeners with them. You don't have to do a separate program for that: it's just a regular window (JFrame in case of Swing) with buttons. And windows can be easily created programmatically.
Concerning the HUD (that bars with icons, inventory, stats etc): here, I guess, a good solution will be to use several graphical layers for your game: one for the game field, another for HUD. And define their updates with time appropriately.
By the way, what engine are you using for your game?

hmm enigne? none XD
I program it all by myself and a friend who knows to draw. i already made a nice game in about 3 days, an imitation of "this is the only level" game.
about the menu, should i make it in the same JFrame? or make a seperate one for buttons, so when i press something it disappears and switches to the game JFrame?
also, i would really like to know about using an engine. must it be a java engine? how do i use it? it comes as a folder that i can import?
thanks!

I meant an in game menu, like in most computer games, with a few buttons. why do you recommend taking a step back? i (think) i know what im doing, and i like programming anyway.

I agree with KevinWorkman, you should learn the foundations of Java language before trying to write a game. And, also, you should use some engine (if, of course, you don't writing a game for educational purposes).

thanks!

here is my progress:
game.rar - Speedy Share - upload your files here
no real menu yet, just the image. i do not intend the game to be lavarunner like it is, its just for the meanwhile fun but it doesnt matter because i made it all in a very versatile programming style (i think) so i can change it to something entirely else very fast.