JOGL or LWJGL pre-existing project

Question

I've noticed that using the Java libraries that are default built in, rendering the simplest graphics absolutely kills the FPS, and furthermore, looks ugly.

Now I was wondering if I could use JOGL or LWJGL libraries to use in my pre-existing program. (I'm making a game which renders cubes as planets, and you have to build planets.) Do I need to completely rewrite my code? Or can I just install these and render freely? And which one of the above is easier to understand, because I have limited knowledge in these libraries.

Btw, right now, I am using JFrames, does that need to go as well? Also, what is OpenGL, is that good to use as well without rewriting code?

Answer 1

OpenGL is a standardized graphics interface for use between programs and your graphics card. A proprietary version of this by Microsoft is known as DirectX. LWJGL and JOGL are two different Java bindings to OpenGL libraries, both of which have native code they load in.

LWJGL is much more aimed towards gaming with OpenGL, where as JOGL is more worried about complete and perfect bindings to OpenGL/OpenCL. I would recommend LWJGL if you're just getting started.

You're going to have to rewrite your rendering code, yes. But assuming you designed your project well, you shouldn't need to rewrite the game logic. JFrames will probably also have to go, but I'm not completely sure about that.

Answer 2

Please don't turn this question into another "JOGL vs LWJGL" thread. Moreover, JOGL is used in several games including Poxnora and Salem (MMO). You'll have to learn OpenGL if you want to use any Java binding of this API anyway.

Finally, you can use GLG2D in order to get a better hardware acceleration with plain Swing, it would allow you to benefit of better performance only with a very few changes in your program. GLG2D relies on JOGL 2, you can find more information about it here: http://brandonborkholder.github.io/glg2d/