The name comes from a pun between Jabba The Hutt and Java, the name of the progrmaming language used for developing this game.

This software can be considered "vintage" because it was completed almost entirely about 20 years ago. In computer science it appears as a remarkable time frame that makes this application really long-lived.

Indeed. Development started in 2001 and was completed in middle 2002. Then in 2011 and 2016 some minor changes and improvements were made just before the last break. In 2020 it was publicly released for the first time.

Retrogaming is usually based upon systems that are obsolete or discontinued. This is not the case obviously, since Java The Hutt runs on modern PCs and MACs. A more suitable definition would be "ported retrogaming" since it can be played on modern hardware via ports or compilations. However this definition does not fit as well, for at least two reasons. Firstly, it was released in 2020. Secondly, this software was re-compiled in recent times, even though in its very first release it would have been runnable on most desktops and notebooks without any maintenace at all. It's still fun to call it a vintage software anyway, despite the differences explained above.

I ask myself the same question. However I don't have an adequate answer so far. During several meetings and events attended around the startup ecosystem, I heard an enlighting quote that I always keep in mind: "DONE IT'S BETTER THAN PERFECT". This sentence explains why the app was never released for so many years. Another daily mantra of mine is "STAY ON TARGET".

This software was completed and ready to be shared in 2002. Just as today, a site was developed as well so that eveyone could download the executables. Since this software was released for purposes of study, education, and historical reference too, its internet site was part of the project. In the age of smartphones, mobile apps and responsive webites, it is fascinating to look at a piece of the internet just like it was in the past times. If you look at the html source, you will be brought back in a journey made of html tables, clickable areas and sectioned images.

Now that this project has finally seen the light, I sincerely hope this game is here to stay. It's just a fan product made for fun but, in relation to the time available, some minor and major updates will be released... hopefully in less than 20 years. Check the ROADMAP section for detailed information about the next planned updates.

Java The Hutt already supports i18n (internationalization) and is designed to have multi-language features. I will consider specific requests about this feature, focusing on localizations where English language is not so spread.