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Is cropping and rescaling background a good solution for java games?

I'm very new to java and I'm currently developping a 2D game.
I'm trying to use Java Swing for the graphics and I have a problem doing so :
Displaying the background, which is a fairly high definition image, (currently 2000x2000 but will grow bigger for higher definition), with a map of 50 units in width and height.
The problem is that I don't want to display the whole map but only a fixed amount of cells in width and height of it (here i chose 20). I first tried to rescale the image wider than the screen to make the 20 cells fit perfectly (a bit like a zoom on the area we want) and then draw it with an offset related to the player's position (which is always displayed on the centered of the screen).
But while i try to go with bigger images, i get a java heap space memory exception.
So i was thinking of getting a cropped version of the image and then rescale it to the screen's dimension to have a smaller rescaled image. I'm not getting exceptions any more but I have some important performances issues with a drop of 30 fps.
I was also thinking about getting all cropped images possible and storing them but I wanted to know if that's a thing or not.
To sum up, I was wondering what were the best ways to display a background in games.
Since 2D games or even 3D games have maps even larger than I do, I think I must be missing something, I don't get how to display sprites with high resolution while keeping a decent frame rate.
Thank your for your time.
edit:
To put a bit of context : The map is a big maze and the player should only be able to see a local view of the maze. And because I would want a rather detailed Background, i have to be able to display large images.
Here is a reduced view of my code sample :
public class Background implements Drawable, Anchor {
private final String name;
private final Image image;
private final int width;
public Background(String name){
this.name = name;
BufferedImage image = FileSystem.readBufferedImage(GraphicType.BACKGROUND, name);
//image is a 2000x2000 image
this.image = image.getScaledInstance((int)(behavior.width()
* (Game.frame.getWidth()/(double) Settings.NB_CELLS_ON_SCREEN_WIDTH)),
-1,
0
);
//result in a 19200x19200 image
this.width = (int)(behavior.width()
* (Game.frame.getWidth()/(double)Settings.NB_CELLS_ON_SCREEN_WIDTH));
}
#Override
public void draw(Graphics g) {
g.drawImage(
image,
-8640,
-9060,
null);
}
}
With the GraphicPosition class computing the position on screen, with the following arguments in constructor : An anchor object, an xOffset and a yOffset

I now draw the background using the drawImage(Image img, int dx1, int dy1, int dx2, int dy2, int sx1, int sy1, int sx2, int sy2, ImageObserver observer)
As matt suggested, it causes a less significant fps drop because i'm no longer creating a huge temporary image and the good thing about this solution is that the difference in frame rate with bigger images seems to be small.
Here is the code I used and worked for me :
public class Foreground implements Drawable {
private final String name;
private final BufferedImage image;
private final Behavior behavior;
private final int width;
public Foreground(String name, Behavior behavior){
this.name = name;
this.image = FileSystem.readBufferedImage(GraphicType.FOREGROUND, name);
this.behavior = behavior;
}
#Override
public void draw(Graphics g) {
/*This variable represents the width on the image of the number of cells
In my code its is the width on the image of 20 cells*/
int widthOnImageForNbCellsDisplayed = (image.getWidth()/behavior.width()) * Settings.NB_CELLS_ON_SCREEN_WIDTH;
/*This posXInImage represents the position of the top left corner of the
area of the image we want to draw*/
int posXInImage = (int)(
Game.player.posX()
* image.getWidth()
/ (double)behavior.width()
- widthOnImageForNbCellsDisplayed/2
);
int posYInImage = (int)(
Game.player.posY()
* image.getHeight()
/ (double)behavior.height()
- widthOnImageForNbCellsDisplayed/2
);
/*Here is struggled with the fact that the position of the second
coordinates is absolute and not relative to the first coordinates
,what I was originally thinking*/
g.drawImage(image,
0,
-(Game.frame.getWidth() - Game.frame.getHeight())/2,
Game.frame.getWidth(),
Game.frame.getWidth()-(Game.frame.getWidth() - Game.frame.getHeight())/2,
posXInImage,
posYInImage,
posXInImage + widthOnImageForNbCellsDisplayed,
posYInImage + widthOnImageForNbCellsDisplayed,
null);
}
}

What is the best way to read pixels of a JavaFX Canvas?

I want to get the color for specific coordinates inside a Canvas. I already tried getting a snapshot using this code:
WritableImage snap = gc.getCanvas().snapshot(null, null);
snap.getPixelReader().getArgb(x, y); //This just gets the color without assigning it.
But it just takes too much time for my application. I was wondering if there is any other way to access the color of a pixel for which I know the coordinates.

A Canvas buffers the drawing instructions prescribed by invoking the methods of a GraphicsContext. There are no pixels to read until the Canvas is rendered in a later pulse, and the internal format of the instruction buffer is not exposed in the API.
If a snapshot() of the Canvas is feasible, a rendered pixel may be examined using the resulting image's PixelReader.
int aRGB = image.getPixelReader().getArgb(x, y);
This example focuses on a single pixel. This example displays the ARGB BlendMode result in a TextField and a Tooltip as the mouse moves on the Canvas. More examples may be found here.
As an alternative, consider drawing into a BufferedImage, illustrated here, which allows access to the image's pixels directly and via its WritableRaster. Adding the following line to this complete example outputs the expected value for opaque red in ARGB order: ffff0000.
System.out.println(Integer.toHexString(bi.getRGB(50, 550)));

public class Pixel
{
private static final SnapshotParameters SP = new SnapshotParameters();
private static final WritableImage WI = new WritableImage(1, 1);
private static final PixelReader PR = WI.getPixelReader();
private Pixel()
{
}
public static int getArgb(Node n, double x, double y)
{
synchronized (WI)
{
Rectangle2D r = new Rectangle2D(x, y, 1, 1);
SP.setViewport(r);
n.snapshot(SP, WI);
return PR.getArgb(0, 0);
}
}
public static Color getColor(Node n, double x, double y)
{
synchronized (WI)
{
Rectangle2D r = new Rectangle2D(x, y, 1, 1);
SP.setViewport(r);
n.snapshot(SP, WI);
return PR.getColor(0, 0);
}
}
}

How do you embed a resizable JPanel inside of a JTextPane?

There are many questions of the converse, inserting a JTextPane into a JPanel. This is not my question. I need to be able to insert a custom JPanel (with drag and drop, drag, and mouse click listeners) into a JTextPane, which is then put into a JScrollPane, and finally put into a JFrame for displaying. The reason is because I need to have an image with support for resizing by dragging it within a chat client, which is itself primarily text.
Conveniently enough, there is a relevant method in JTextPane: insertComponent(Component c), but whenever I use it, my components end up being squished to exactly one line of text worth of space (even though they report having a larger size). This is perfect for plain buttons, but if I need anything larger, I'm out of luck. I can insert images by themselves just fine, with ImageIcons, but images wrapped inside a JPanel don't work at all (plus I can't add any listeners to ImageIcons, since they're not GUI elements; overriding one isn't an option).
Whenever a user drags an image into the chat client, this bit of code inserts the custom JPanel:
private void sendImage(BufferedImage im, int cl) throws IOException {
if(output == null) return;
//Send the image itself over to your friend
byte[] toSend = toBytes(im, cl);
sendString(nickname.hashCode() + "image"); //Header for image
output.writeInt(toSend.length); //Tells how many bytes to read.
output.write(toSend);
//Let the user know that the image was sent
float linmb = (float)(toSend.length / 1048576.0); //Size of file sent
addText("\n" + nickname + " sent an image! (" + linmb + " MB)\n", Color.RED.darker());
//Show the image itself
DraggerPanel d = new DraggerPanel(im, true);
text.insertComponent(d);
d.repaint();
//Spacer
addText("\n");
}
This is the source for DraggerPanel, the custom JPanel that holds an image:
public class DraggerPanel extends JPanel {
private BufferedImage image; //The image we're drawing
private Point startingPoint = null; //Starting point for resizing
private boolean first = true; //Is this the first drag?
private boolean lockedDrag; //If true, then lock x and y to be proportionally dragged.
public DraggerPanel(BufferedImage image, boolean lockedDrag) {
super();
this.image = image;
this.lockedDrag = lockedDrag;
//The listener for dragging events.
addMouseMotionListener(new MouseMotionListener() {
private int inWidth = 0, inHeight = 0; //Initial height and width values
private double ratio = 0; //Ratio of height to width for locked drag.
public void mouseDragged(MouseEvent m) {
if (first) { //If we're first, record initial position.
startingPoint = m.getPoint();
first = false;
inWidth = getWidth();
inHeight = getHeight();
ratio = (double)inHeight / inWidth;
} else { //Otherwise, change the size of the window.
if (!lockedDrag) {
int w = (int)startingPoint.getX() - m.getX();
int h = (int)startingPoint.getY() - m.getY();
setSize(Math.abs(inWidth - w), Math.abs(inHeight - h));
} else {
int w = (int)startingPoint.getX() - m.getX();
int h = (int)((double)ratio * w);
setSize(Math.abs(inWidth - w), Math.abs(inHeight - h));
}
}
repaint();
}
public void mouseMoved(MouseEvent m){
}
});
//Lets us know when you're not dragging anymore.
addMouseListener(new MouseAdapter(){public void mouseReleased(MouseEvent m){first = true;}});
//Set appropriate size.
if(image != null) setSize(image.getWidth(), image.getHeight());
else setSize(200,200);
//We're live, baby.
setVisible(true);
}
public void paint(Graphics g) {
if (image == null) super.paint(g);
else g.drawImage(image, 0, 0, getWidth(), getHeight(), null);
}
}
Update 1: I followed #camickr 's advice, and updated the DraggerPanel to use setPreferredSize instead of setSize, as well as overrode paintComponent() instead of paint(). Now, the image has the proper height, but is stretched to the width of the JTextPane (which seems like what it was doing before). Furthermore, resizing doesn't seem to matter- the image doesn't change its size at all. Mouse events are definitely going through, but not affecting the size. It seems as though the original problem isn't fully resolved, since the JPanel's size isn't what I need it to be, and the solution to that will also lead to a solution to the resizing issue.
Update 2: I did it! I finally did it. To the future time travelers who have this issue, I basically yelled at the JTextPane by not only using setSize() in my overridden JPanel, but also setPreferredSize() and setMaximumSize(). The preferred one works well with height, and the maximum sets the width (God knows why). Thanks for your tips, #camickr!

my components end up being squished to exactly one line of text worth of space (even though they report having a larger size).
I would guess the size is not important.
I would think you need to override the getPreferredSize() method of your DraggerPanel to return the preferred size of the panel so the text pane can display the panel.
Also, custom painting is done by overriding the paintComponent(...) method NOT the paint() method.

Does Java Graphics (Graphics2D) uses graphics card? [duplicate]

I'm having performance oddities with Java2D. I know of the sun.java2d.opengl VM parameter to enable 3D acceleration for 2D, but even using that has some weird issues.
Here are results of tests I ran:
Drawing a 25x18 map with 32x32 pixel tiles on a JComponent
Image 1 = .bmp format, Image 2 = A .png format
Without -Dsun.java2d.opengl=true
120 FPS using .BMP image 1
13 FPS using .PNG image 2
With -Dsun.java2d.opengl=true
12 FPS using .BMP image 1
700 FPS using .PNG image 2
Without acceleration, I'm assuming some kind of transformation is taking place with every drawImage() I do in software, and is pulling down the FPS considerably in the case of .PNG. Why though, with acceleration, would the results switch (and PNG actually performs incredibly faster)?! Craziness!
.BMP Image 1 is translated to an image type of TYPE_INT_RGB. .PNG Image 2 is translated to an image type of TYPE_CUSTOM. In order to get consistent speed with and without opengl acceleration, I have to create a new BufferedImage with an image type of TYPE_INT_ARGB, and draw Image 1 or Image 2 to this new image.
Here are the results running with that:
Without -Dsun.java2d.opengl=true
120 FPS using .BMP image 1
120 FPS using .PNG image 2
With -Dsun.java2d.opengl=true
700 FPS using .BMP image 1
700 FPS using .PNG image 2
My real question is, can I assume that TYPE_INT_ARGB will be the native image type for all systems and platforms? I'm assuming this value could be different. Is there some way for me to get the native value so that I can always create new BufferedImages for maximum performance?
Thanks in advance...

I think I found a solution by researching and putting bits and pieces together from too many Google searches.
Here it is, comments and all:
private BufferedImage toCompatibleImage(BufferedImage image)
{
// obtain the current system graphical settings
GraphicsConfiguration gfxConfig = GraphicsEnvironment.
getLocalGraphicsEnvironment().getDefaultScreenDevice().
getDefaultConfiguration();
/*
* if image is already compatible and optimized for current system
* settings, simply return it
*/
if (image.getColorModel().equals(gfxConfig.getColorModel()))
return image;
// image is not optimized, so create a new image that is
BufferedImage newImage = gfxConfig.createCompatibleImage(
image.getWidth(), image.getHeight(), image.getTransparency());
// get the graphics context of the new image to draw the old image on
Graphics2D g2d = newImage.createGraphics();
// actually draw the image and dispose of context no longer needed
g2d.drawImage(image, 0, 0, null);
g2d.dispose();
// return the new optimized image
return newImage;
}
In my previous post, GraphicsConfiguration was what held the information needed to create optimized images on a system. It seems to work pretty well, but I would have thought Java would automatically do this for you. Obviously you can't get too comfortable with Java. :) I guess I ended up answering my own question. Oh well, hopefully it'll help some of you I've seen trying to make use of Java for 2D games.

Well, this is old post but I'd like to share my findings about direct drawing with Swing/AWT, without BufferedImage.
Some kind of drawing, as 3D, are better done when painting directly to a int[] buffer. Once done the images, you can use an ImageProducer instance, like MemoryImageSource, to produce images. I'm assuming you know how to perform your drawings directly, without help of Graphics/Graphics2.
/**
* How to use MemoryImageSource to render images on JPanel
* Example by A.Borges (2015)
*/
public class MyCanvas extends JPanel implements Runnable {
public int pixel[];
public int width;
public int height;
private Image imageBuffer;
private MemoryImageSource mImageProducer;
private ColorModel cm;
private Thread thread;
public MyCanvas() {
super(true);
thread = new Thread(this, "MyCanvas Thread");
}
/**
* Call it after been visible and after resizes.
*/
public void init(){
cm = getCompatibleColorModel();
width = getWidth();
height = getHeight();
int screenSize = width * height;
if(pixel == null || pixel.length < screenSize){
pixel = new int[screenSize];
}
mImageProducer = new MemoryImageSource(width, height, cm, pixel,0, width);
mImageProducer.setAnimated(true);
mImageProducer.setFullBufferUpdates(true);
imageBuffer = Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().createImage(mImageProducer);
if(thread.isInterrupted() || !thread.isAlive()){
thread.start();
}
}
/**
* Do your draws in here !!
* pixel is your canvas!
*/
public /* abstract */ void render(){
// rubisch draw
int[] p = pixel; // this avoid crash when resizing
if(p.length != width * height) return;
for(int x=0; x < width; x++){
for(int y=0; y<height; y++){
int color = (((x + i) % 255) & 0xFF) << 16; //red
color |= (((y + j) % 255) & 0xFF) << 8; //green
color |= (((y/2 + x/2 - j) % 255) & 0xFF) ; //blue
p[ x + y * width] = color;
}
}
i += 1;
j += 1;
}
private int i=1,j=256;
#Override
public void run() {
while (true) {
// request a JPanel re-drawing
repaint();
try {Thread.sleep(5);} catch (InterruptedException e) {}
}
}
#Override
public void paintComponent(Graphics g) {
super.paintComponent(g);
// perform draws on pixels
render();
// ask ImageProducer to update image
mImageProducer.newPixels();
// draw it on panel
g.drawImage(this.imageBuffer, 0, 0, this);
}
/**
* Overrides ImageObserver.imageUpdate.
* Always return true, assuming that imageBuffer is ready to go when called
*/
#Override
public boolean imageUpdate(Image image, int a, int b, int c, int d, int e) {
return true;
}
}// end class
Note we need unique instance of MemoryImageSource and Image. Do not create new Image or new ImageProducer for each frames, unless you have resized your JPanel. See init() method above.
In a rendering thread, ask a repaint(). On Swing, repaint() will call the overridden paintComponent(), where it call your render() method and then ask your imageProducer to update image.
With Image done, draw it with Graphics.drawImage().
To have a compatible Image, use proper ColorModel when you create your Image. I use GraphicsConfiguration.getColorModel():
/**
* Get Best Color model available for current screen.
* #return color model
*/
protected static ColorModel getCompatibleColorModel(){
GraphicsConfiguration gfx_config = GraphicsEnvironment.
getLocalGraphicsEnvironment().getDefaultScreenDevice().
getDefaultConfiguration();
return gfx_config.getColorModel();
}

From what I remember when I was thinking about doing graphics programming in Java, the built in libraries are slow. I was advised on GameDev.Net that anyone doing anything serious would have to use something like jogl

Java2D Performance Issues

I'm having performance oddities with Java2D. I know of the sun.java2d.opengl VM parameter to enable 3D acceleration for 2D, but even using that has some weird issues.
Here are results of tests I ran:
Drawing a 25x18 map with 32x32 pixel tiles on a JComponent
Image 1 = .bmp format, Image 2 = A .png format
Without -Dsun.java2d.opengl=true
120 FPS using .BMP image 1
13 FPS using .PNG image 2
With -Dsun.java2d.opengl=true
12 FPS using .BMP image 1
700 FPS using .PNG image 2
Without acceleration, I'm assuming some kind of transformation is taking place with every drawImage() I do in software, and is pulling down the FPS considerably in the case of .PNG. Why though, with acceleration, would the results switch (and PNG actually performs incredibly faster)?! Craziness!
.BMP Image 1 is translated to an image type of TYPE_INT_RGB. .PNG Image 2 is translated to an image type of TYPE_CUSTOM. In order to get consistent speed with and without opengl acceleration, I have to create a new BufferedImage with an image type of TYPE_INT_ARGB, and draw Image 1 or Image 2 to this new image.
Here are the results running with that:
Without -Dsun.java2d.opengl=true
120 FPS using .BMP image 1
120 FPS using .PNG image 2
With -Dsun.java2d.opengl=true
700 FPS using .BMP image 1
700 FPS using .PNG image 2
My real question is, can I assume that TYPE_INT_ARGB will be the native image type for all systems and platforms? I'm assuming this value could be different. Is there some way for me to get the native value so that I can always create new BufferedImages for maximum performance?
Thanks in advance...

I think I found a solution by researching and putting bits and pieces together from too many Google searches.
Here it is, comments and all:
private BufferedImage toCompatibleImage(BufferedImage image)
{
// obtain the current system graphical settings
GraphicsConfiguration gfxConfig = GraphicsEnvironment.
getLocalGraphicsEnvironment().getDefaultScreenDevice().
getDefaultConfiguration();
/*
* if image is already compatible and optimized for current system
* settings, simply return it
*/
if (image.getColorModel().equals(gfxConfig.getColorModel()))
return image;
// image is not optimized, so create a new image that is
BufferedImage newImage = gfxConfig.createCompatibleImage(
image.getWidth(), image.getHeight(), image.getTransparency());
// get the graphics context of the new image to draw the old image on
Graphics2D g2d = newImage.createGraphics();
// actually draw the image and dispose of context no longer needed
g2d.drawImage(image, 0, 0, null);
g2d.dispose();
// return the new optimized image
return newImage;
}
In my previous post, GraphicsConfiguration was what held the information needed to create optimized images on a system. It seems to work pretty well, but I would have thought Java would automatically do this for you. Obviously you can't get too comfortable with Java. :) I guess I ended up answering my own question. Oh well, hopefully it'll help some of you I've seen trying to make use of Java for 2D games.

Well, this is old post but I'd like to share my findings about direct drawing with Swing/AWT, without BufferedImage.
Some kind of drawing, as 3D, are better done when painting directly to a int[] buffer. Once done the images, you can use an ImageProducer instance, like MemoryImageSource, to produce images. I'm assuming you know how to perform your drawings directly, without help of Graphics/Graphics2.
/**
* How to use MemoryImageSource to render images on JPanel
* Example by A.Borges (2015)
*/
public class MyCanvas extends JPanel implements Runnable {
public int pixel[];
public int width;
public int height;
private Image imageBuffer;
private MemoryImageSource mImageProducer;
private ColorModel cm;
private Thread thread;
public MyCanvas() {
super(true);
thread = new Thread(this, "MyCanvas Thread");
}
/**
* Call it after been visible and after resizes.
*/
public void init(){
cm = getCompatibleColorModel();
width = getWidth();
height = getHeight();
int screenSize = width * height;
if(pixel == null || pixel.length < screenSize){
pixel = new int[screenSize];
}
mImageProducer = new MemoryImageSource(width, height, cm, pixel,0, width);
mImageProducer.setAnimated(true);
mImageProducer.setFullBufferUpdates(true);
imageBuffer = Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().createImage(mImageProducer);
if(thread.isInterrupted() || !thread.isAlive()){
thread.start();
}
}
/**
* Do your draws in here !!
* pixel is your canvas!
*/
public /* abstract */ void render(){
// rubisch draw
int[] p = pixel; // this avoid crash when resizing
if(p.length != width * height) return;
for(int x=0; x < width; x++){
for(int y=0; y<height; y++){
int color = (((x + i) % 255) & 0xFF) << 16; //red
color |= (((y + j) % 255) & 0xFF) << 8; //green
color |= (((y/2 + x/2 - j) % 255) & 0xFF) ; //blue
p[ x + y * width] = color;
}
}
i += 1;
j += 1;
}
private int i=1,j=256;
#Override
public void run() {
while (true) {
// request a JPanel re-drawing
repaint();
try {Thread.sleep(5);} catch (InterruptedException e) {}
}
}
#Override
public void paintComponent(Graphics g) {
super.paintComponent(g);
// perform draws on pixels
render();
// ask ImageProducer to update image
mImageProducer.newPixels();
// draw it on panel
g.drawImage(this.imageBuffer, 0, 0, this);
}
/**
* Overrides ImageObserver.imageUpdate.
* Always return true, assuming that imageBuffer is ready to go when called
*/
#Override
public boolean imageUpdate(Image image, int a, int b, int c, int d, int e) {
return true;
}
}// end class
Note we need unique instance of MemoryImageSource and Image. Do not create new Image or new ImageProducer for each frames, unless you have resized your JPanel. See init() method above.
In a rendering thread, ask a repaint(). On Swing, repaint() will call the overridden paintComponent(), where it call your render() method and then ask your imageProducer to update image.
With Image done, draw it with Graphics.drawImage().
To have a compatible Image, use proper ColorModel when you create your Image. I use GraphicsConfiguration.getColorModel():
/**
* Get Best Color model available for current screen.
* #return color model
*/
protected static ColorModel getCompatibleColorModel(){
GraphicsConfiguration gfx_config = GraphicsEnvironment.
getLocalGraphicsEnvironment().getDefaultScreenDevice().
getDefaultConfiguration();
return gfx_config.getColorModel();
}

From what I remember when I was thinking about doing graphics programming in Java, the built in libraries are slow. I was advised on GameDev.Net that anyone doing anything serious would have to use something like jogl