The source code is up there and available via anonymous SVN access (instructions here).
You can download the binaries for DopeWars for your BlackBerry Curve (well, any Java enabled BlackBerry with colour capabilities) from here. Mark had put the app together in his spare time and after a few emails I nudged him into releasing the source code as an example of writing a Java game for the BlackBerry.Ī few weeks later and yet another new SourceForge site is born. Someone who works for the company writing a game? Why not. So a little Internet detective work and I tracked down the author, Mark Sohm, who just happened to work for Research In Motion (the makers of the BlackBerry). I hunted down the files but couldn't find the source anywhere. Maybe it was another fish in a sea of crap code, but then again maybe not. Most samples were sparse and the ones that were quite involved were so convoluted they looked like a poor mans attempt at converting Visual Basic code to C to Java (or some such silly thing).
Lots of samples, but nothing that either a) worked or b) was a good example to understand how to glue things together. That was a bigger challenge, as anything out there in the open source land was pretty sad (from the Java/BlackBerry perspective).
The SDK documentation was pretty good and contained a wealth of examples but for me, I really need a good example to pull all the bits together. Not a horrible language (beats the heck out of C and the PalmOS that I played with years ago) so I set out to create my development environment and try my hand at building BlackBerry apps (still trying to build a CCTray for the BlackBerry). Still, it's fun and IMHO a good app.Īnyway, the development bug got to me and I discovered that BlackBerry apps were Java based. The game was well done, easy to play, and adhered fairly true to the original although with it's own conversion to the UI constraints imposed by the BlackBerry. The game was fun and would let me kill the hour ride on the train to work. I installed it and was immediately taken back to my BBS days when I ranked high in the echelons of the digital drug dealer world. There I was combing the BlackBerry archives looking for something good and came across DopeWars by Mark Sohm. Of course, what's the first thing you do when you get a SmartPhone? Why, hunt for games silly rabbit. Of course the Windows Mobile would be nice since I'm a bit of a Microsoft guy, but the BlackBerry won out in features and reliability. It was a toss up between the BlackBerry and an HTC Windows Mobile phone. Constant connection, compact, cheaper than the iPhone, etc.
However I thought I would post this here as it is development related, just not my normal train of incoherent thoughts and creations.Ī couple of months ago I got a new cell phone and decided on the BlackBerry Curve for a variety of reasons. It's been awhile since I blogged here as I've been wrapped up in Baby 1.0 and a slight vacation off the grid in British Columbia (with 300 photos to pull off the camera and sift through). Huh? Dopewars? BlackBerry? That's not SharePoint.