<s>
The	O
Java	B-Language
4K	I-Language
Game	I-Language
Programming	I-Language
Contest	I-Language
,	O
also	O
known	O
as	O
Java	B-Language
4K	I-Language
and	O
J4K	B-Language
,	O
is	O
an	O
informal	O
contest	O
that	O
was	O
started	O
by	O
the	O
Java	B-Device
Game	O
Programming	O
community	O
to	O
challenge	O
their	O
software	O
development	O
abilities	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
the	O
rules	O
originally	O
allowed	O
for	O
nearly	O
any	O
distribution	O
method	O
,	O
recent	O
years	O
have	O
required	O
that	O
the	O
games	O
be	O
packaged	O
as	O
either	O
an	O
executable	O
JAR	B-Language
file	I-Language
,	O
a	O
Java	B-Application
Webstart	I-Application
application	O
,	O
or	O
a	O
Java	B-Application
Applet	I-Application
,	O
and	O
now	O
only	O
an	O
applet	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
the	O
Java	B-Language
class	I-Language
file	I-Language
format	O
incurs	O
quite	O
a	O
bit	O
of	O
overhead	O
,	O
creating	O
a	O
complete	O
game	O
in	O
4K	O
can	O
be	O
quite	O
a	O
challenge	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
first	O
conceived	O
,	O
the	O
"	O
prize	O
"	O
for	O
winning	O
the	O
contest	O
was	O
a	O
bundle	O
of	O
"	O
Duke	O
Dollars	O
"	O
,	O
a	O
virtual	O
currency	O
used	O
on	O
Sun	O
Microsystems	O
 '	O
Java	B-Device
forums	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Following	O
the	O
creation	O
of	O
the	O
Java4K	B-Language
contest	O
,	O
spin-offs	O
targeting	O
8K	O
,	O
16K	O
,	O
or	O
a	O
specific	O
API	O
like	O
LWJGL	B-Language
have	O
been	O
launched	O
,	O
usually	O
without	O
success	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
there	O
has	O
been	O
a	O
great	O
deal	O
of	O
debate	O
on	O
why	O
the	O
Java	B-Language
4K	I-Language
contest	I-Language
is	O
so	O
successful	O
,	O
the	O
consensus	O
from	O
the	O
contestants	O
seems	O
to	O
be	O
that	O
it	O
provides	O
a	O
very	O
appealing	O
challenge	O
:	O
not	O
only	O
do	O
the	O
entrants	O
get	O
the	O
chance	O
to	O
show	O
off	O
how	O
much	O
they	O
know	O
about	O
Java	B-Device
programming	O
,	O
but	O
the	O
4K	O
size	O
helps	O
"	O
even	O
the	O
odds	O
"	O
compared	O
to	O
other	O
competitions	O
where	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
artists	O
and	O
musicians	O
can	O
easily	O
place	O
an	O
entry	O
far	O
ahead	O
of	O
the	O
others	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Java	B-Language
4K	I-Language
Game	I-Language
Programming	I-Language
Contest	I-Language
came	O
into	O
being	O
on	O
August	O
28	O
,	O
2002	O
,	O
when	O
a	O
user	O
by	O
the	O
handle	O
of	O
codymanix	O
posted	O
the	O
suggestion	O
to	O
the	O
Sun	O
Microsystems	O
Java	B-Device
forums	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
majority	O
of	O
these	O
entries	O
were	O
Applets	O
,	O
as	O
it	O
was	O
believed	O
that	O
separating	O
the	O
images	O
from	O
the	O
class	B-Language
files	I-Language
would	O
help	O
reduce	O
the	O
size	O
of	O
the	O
file	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Future	O
contests	O
would	O
see	O
a	O
reversal	O
of	O
this	O
as	O
game	O
creators	O
utilized	O
compressed	O
JAR	B-Language
files	I-Language
to	O
reduce	O
the	O
size	O
of	O
their	O
code	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
contestant	O
produced	O
a	O
telnet	B-Protocol
server	O
in	O
4K	O
of	O
Java	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
site	O
had	O
been	O
used	O
the	O
previous	O
year	O
to	O
track	O
entries	O
that	O
had	O
been	O
posted	O
to	O
the	O
official	O
threads	O
on	O
JavaGaming.org	O
and	O
forum.java.sun.com	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Jbanes	O
chose	O
to	O
use	O
runtime-generated	O
PCM	B-Algorithm
sound	O
that	O
sounded	O
more	O
like	O
video	O
games	O
of	O
the	O
late	O
1970s	O
and	O
early	O
1980s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Year	O
3	O
(	O
2005	O
)	O
Year	O
3	O
was	O
defined	O
by	O
a	O
major	O
influx	O
of	O
professional	O
Java	B-Device
developers	O
,	O
3D	O
graphics	O
in	O
the	O
games	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
gradual	O
transition	O
to	O
the	O
JavaGaming.org	O
forums	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
competition	O
was	O
hosted	O
on	O
a	O
new	O
website	O
,	O
Java4k.com	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Just	O
like	O
previous	O
years	O
,	O
there	O
was	O
also	O
a	O
dedicated	O
forum	O
at	O
Java-Gaming.org	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Following	O
problems	O
with	O
Webstart	B-Application
in	O
2009	O
,	O
the	O
2010	O
and	O
later	O
contests	O
were	O
applets-only	O
,	O
but	O
it	O
did	O
introduce	O
the	O
option	O
of	O
using	O
pack200	O
compression	O
.	O
</s>
