Robocode/Download And Install
This page describes how to download and install the Robocode game.
Contents
How to download Robocode
Robocode can be downloaded from the download page at SourceForge; this page contains all Robocode releases available for download.
The file you want to download is a JAR (Java ARchive) file, which is in fact a renamed ZIP file used for distributing Java programs. The name of the file will be named something like robocode-setup-x.y.z.jar, where "x.y.z" indicates the version number.
Debian/Ubuntu Users
A slightly out of date version of Robocode is available in the Universe Section of the Repos. This version is not recommended since it isn't supported by the Robocode Community.
How to install Robocode
NOTE: Java must be installed in order to install and run Robocode! See the System Requirements page for more info.
Windows
If Java has been properly installed (see System Requirements), you should be able to install Robocode by opening (double click) the downloaded setup file (the JAR file). Change of drive and directory is possible by clicking "no" at the first dialog. Now you can change the new location.
Alternatively, you could open a command prompt with "Start/Execute" in the window type in "cmd". You can drag and drop the directory/file from explorer (or desktop) to dos command window and press enter.
In case of no mouse is present change the current drive and directory (using the cd command) to the directory you have downloaded the Robocode setup file into. Now type in (x.y.z must be replaced with the Robocode version):
java -jar robocode-setup-x.y.z.jar
Linux
Open a shell and type in (x.y.z must be replaced with the Robocode version):
java -jar robocode-setup-x.y.z.jar
Ubuntu/Debian With Robocode pre-1.7.2.1
Ubuntu/Debian users could run into a couple of snags while installing Robocode. The best place to install it at is your ~/ directory (which is /home/account_name/ in short hand).
If you have a working java compiler already, you should be set. If not, you need to get a package from the repositories with the javac program in it, or let Robocode install Jikes. If you changed your JDK recently (like sun-java5-jdk to sun-java6-jdk or openjdk-6-jdk), you need to run sudo update-alternatives --auto javac in your shell to get the new javac to link correctly.
How to get notified about new releases
If you want to know exactly when a new release is available, you can subscribe to the Robocode file release RSS feed. The feed will provide you with a link to both the release notes and where to download Robocode.
See also
News and Releases
Tutorials
- System Requirements for Robocode
- The anatomy of a robot
- Getting started with Robocode
- My First Robot Tutorial
- Robocode Game Physics
- Scoring in Robocode
- Using the robot console
- Downloading other robots
- Learning from other robots
- Package your robot
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
- Articles about Robocode
- Starting Robocode from the command line
- Graphical debugging
- Using Eclipse as IDE
- Creating a project for your robots
- Creating a robot in Eclipse
- Running your robot from Eclipse
- Debugging your robot with Eclipse
