Installation Instructions

The sections below describe how to configure a machine with the environment.

Requirements

Before installing, you must have a working Java JRE installed on your machine, and a copy of the Eclipse v3.x platform from www.eclipse.org.

Installing the Environment

The following steps install the games onto your machine as an Eclipse plugin and initialize your workspace.

  1. Download game zip file.
  2. Unzip into the [Eclipse install dir]/eclipse directory, where [Eclipse install dir] is the directory in which Eclipse is installed. This should create one or more files with names like [Eclipse install dir]/eclipse/plugins/com.ibm.games*.jar

    Note: One jar file is shared between CodeRally, CodeRuler, and CodeInvaders, so you can safely ignore the overwrite error if you have downloaded multiple games.

  3. Start Eclipse.
  4. Go to File > New > Project...
  5. Go to Other > Game Project.
  6. Select one of the available games and enter a project name. Click Finish.
  7. Select the Window > Perspective... menuitem.
  8. Select Java from the list and click OK.

Getting Started

You are now ready to start writing code! If you are unfamiliar with the environment, take the following steps to write and test your code: (The example below is for CodeRally, but other games are equivalent)
  1. Expand the CodeRally project, and expand the src > (default package).
  2. Right click on RallyCar.java and select Open.
  3. You can now start modifying your rally car. Change the car colour. Make changes to the methods of the RallyCar class as indicated.
  4. When you are ready to test your car, double-click on games.xml within the project.
  5. When the Game Editor appears, enter a name and organization for your car.
  6. Select File > Save or Click Ctrl-S.
  7. Click Add My Team >.
  8. Select another team from the list on the left. Click Add >. Repeat for as many teams as desired.
  9. Click Run to watch the match.
  10. Once the match is over, you can click on the exit button at the top right of the CodeRally screen.
Additional information is provided in the manual and javadoc for each game. To view the manual, go to the Eclipse help system (Go to Help > Help Contents within the IDE) and look for the name of the game.