Launcher
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SKCraft
No HTML5 support
This isn't working for me: https://samistine.com/modloader/news
Result: https://drive.google.com/a/samistine.com/file/d/0Bxlo02bHRnwzX3VObVh1U1JTWnc/view?usp=drivesdk
Unfortunately the "browser" in Java is very bad and there's no straightforward alternative. Java 8+ comes with a proper browser (WebKit) but that would force users to need Java 8 to run the launcher.
If/when I make a new version of the launcher, I'll prob switch out of Java entirely (Electron maybe?).
I hate to suggest it but perhaps moving to Java 8 isn't a bad idea @sk89q
Java 7 become EOL after April 2015 (Source) unless the user (highly unlikley) has a support contact with Oracle.
The main problem with moving to Java 8 is that a lot of users unknowingly have an old version of Java, and the launcher simply won't run and won't even emit a useful error message to the user.
With Windows, the problem can somewhat be rectified by wrapping the .jar in an .exe but I'm not sure what the situation is with Mac OS X.
Also despite Java 7 being EOL, the number of users who still use it is possibly as high as 30%.
Is it possible to use java 8 features only when being run by a java 8 jre?
Yes, in this particular case. I've considered it but I haven't gotten around to it.
I also haven't actually used the new WebKit browser so I don't know how well it works or how easily it integrates into the UI framework the launcher is currently using.
I think Electron is a nice idea but I think the biggest problem is that Electron is a normal binary. Electron is based on Chromium and Chromium is REALY BIG. You can't compile Chromium with 32 Bit because 32 Bit computer havn't enough RAM 😂. Although I had problems with rendering SVG's, its just a news page...
I tried added html5 support to my launcher (forked for this project), about 2 months ago I removed it because I wasn't happy with how much ram it was using plus it required java 8
Well most people have broadband now, so it's not that big. I'm more worried about memory usage, but in comparison, Java uses a lot of memory as well.
The main plus of Electron is (1) making the launcher look good (like the Battle.net launcher) is extremely easy and (2) it's an active project with a lot of people doing the same thing. There are other options (i.e. C++ and Qt) if you you want to use HTML/CSS UIs but you end up embedding Chrome again anyway, though at least things like the log window don't have to be in Chrome.
