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Building Broomsticks1 Java for macOS

This document describes how to build and run the original Broomsticks1 Java applet on modern macOS systems (including Apple Silicon).

Overview

Broomsticks1 was originally written as a Java Applet (circa 2000-2001) designed to run in web browsers. Since Java applets are no longer supported in modern browsers, we use a standalone wrapper to run the applet as a desktop application.

Prerequisites

Install Java 11 (Temurin) via Homebrew:

brew install --cask temurin@11

Java 11 is required because it's the last LTS version with the java.applet API. Newer versions (17+) have removed applet support entirely.

Setup

The build process creates two files that are gitignored to preserve the original archive:

  1. AppletRunner.java - A wrapper that emulates the applet container
  2. snd/ - Sound files copied from another variant (broomsticksDevF)

1. Copy Sound Files

The broomsticksAdvanced variant references sound files that exist in broomsticksDevF:

cd archive/broomsticks1-java/broomsticksAdvanced
mkdir -p snd
cp ../broomsticksDevF/snd/*.au snd/

2. Create AppletRunner.java

Create archive/broomsticks1-java/broomsticksAdvanced/AppletRunner.java:

import java.applet.*;
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import java.io.*;
import java.net.*;
import java.util.*;

/**
 * Simple wrapper to run a Java Applet as a standalone application.
 * This emulates the applet container environment.
 */
public class AppletRunner extends Frame implements AppletStub, AppletContext {

    private Applet applet;
    private Map<String, String> params = new HashMap<>();
    private URL codeBase;
    private URL documentBase;

    public AppletRunner(String appletClassName) throws Exception {
        super("Broomsticks Advanced Demo");

        // Set up codebase
        File currentDir = new File(".");
        codeBase = currentDir.toURI().toURL();
        documentBase = codeBase;

        // Set default parameters from applet.html
        params.put("PLAYERS", "2");
        params.put("DIVING", "yes");
        params.put("ACCEL", "2");
        params.put("MAXSPEED", "6");
        params.put("GAMEWIDTH", "650");
        params.put("GAMEHEIGHT", "450");
        params.put("RED", "1");
        params.put("BLACK", "2");
        params.put("GOLD", "1");
        params.put("WINSCORE", "50");
        params.put("DURATION", "60");
        params.put("PLAYERSIMG", "images/players.gif");
        params.put("ITEMSIMG", "images/items.gif");
        params.put("FIELDIMG", "images/field.jpg");
        params.put("SKYIMG", "images/sky1.jpg");
        params.put("SOUND", "on");

        // Load the applet class
        Class<?> appletClass = Class.forName(appletClassName);
        applet = (Applet) appletClass.getDeclaredConstructor().newInstance();
        applet.setStub(this);

        // Set up the frame
        setLayout(new BorderLayout());
        add(applet, BorderLayout.CENTER);

        // Window close handling
        addWindowListener(new WindowAdapter() {
            public void windowClosing(WindowEvent e) {
                applet.stop();
                applet.destroy();
                System.exit(0);
            }
        });

        // Initialize and start the applet
        applet.init();
        setSize(420, 520);
        setLocationRelativeTo(null);
        setVisible(true);
        applet.start();
    }

    // AppletStub implementation
    public boolean isActive() { return true; }
    public URL getDocumentBase() { return documentBase; }
    public URL getCodeBase() { return codeBase; }
    public String getParameter(String name) { return params.get(name); }
    public AppletContext getAppletContext() { return this; }
    public void appletResize(int width, int height) {
        setSize(width + getInsets().left + getInsets().right,
                height + getInsets().top + getInsets().bottom);
    }

    // AppletContext implementation
    public AudioClip getAudioClip(URL url) {
        return Applet.newAudioClip(url);
    }

    public Image getImage(URL url) {
        return Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().getImage(url);
    }

    public Applet getApplet(String name) { return null; }
    public Enumeration<Applet> getApplets() { return Collections.enumeration(Collections.emptyList()); }
    public void showDocument(URL url) {}
    public void showDocument(URL url, String target) {}
    public void showStatus(String status) { System.out.println("Status: " + status); }
    public void setStream(String key, InputStream stream) {}
    public InputStream getStream(String key) { return null; }
    public Iterator<String> getStreamKeys() { return Collections.emptyIterator(); }

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        try {
            new AppletRunner("BroomstickApplet");
        } catch (Exception e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
            System.exit(1);
        }
    }
}

3. Compile

cd archive/broomsticks1-java/broomsticksAdvanced
export JAVA_HOME=/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/temurin-11.jdk/Contents/Home
$JAVA_HOME/bin/javac -source 1.8 -target 1.8 BroomstickApplet.java AppletRunner.java

You'll see deprecation warnings - this is expected for 20+ year old code.

Run

cd archive/broomsticks1-java/broomsticksAdvanced
/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/temurin-11.jdk/Contents/Home/bin/java AppletRunner

A window titled "Broomsticks Advanced Demo" will appear with game options.

Controls

Setup Screen

  • Configure game options on the left panel
  • Click the green "Press here to start" button
  • Click inside the game area to begin

In-Game

Player Up Down Left Right Switch Ball
Blue (left) E X S F 1
Green (right) ↑ ↓ ← → Enter
Key Action
P Toggle single-player (AI) mode
B Change background

Gameplay

  • Catch the red ball and fly it into your opponent's basket (opposite side) to score 10 points
  • First player to reach the win score (default 50) wins
  • In single-player mode, use S/F to adjust AI difficulty

Other Variants

The same approach works for other Java variants. Just change the directory and adjust AppletRunner.java parameters as needed:

Variant Directory Notes
Advanced broomsticksAdvanced/ Demo with most options
Expert broomsticksExpert/ Full version
DevF broomsticksDevF/ Development version (has snd/)
devOld broomsticks-devOld/ Early development (has snd/)

Technical Notes

Why Java 11?

  • Java 11 is the last LTS version with java.applet.Applet and java.applet.AppletContext
  • Java 17+ removed the applet API entirely
  • Java 8 also works but is no longer maintained

AppletRunner Details

The AppletRunner class:

  • Implements AppletStub to provide the applet lifecycle methods
  • Implements AppletContext to provide getAudioClip() and getImage()
  • Reads parameters from a hardcoded map (matching applet.html)
  • Wraps the applet in an AWT Frame for standalone execution

Files Created (gitignored)

These files are created during setup but gitignored to preserve the original archive:

archive/broomsticks1-java/broomsticksAdvanced/
├── AppletRunner.java    # Wrapper (gitignored)
├── AppletRunner.class   # Compiled wrapper (gitignored via *.class)
└── snd/                 # Copied sound files (gitignored)
    ├── bump.au
    ├── grab.au
    ├── score.au
    └── win.au

Tested On

  • macOS Sequoia (Apple Silicon M1/M2/M3)
  • Temurin JDK 11.0.25+ (via Homebrew)