Once there were a OpenGL version of robocode called RobocodeGL, but the project seems to be outdated for now.
Recently I got newest version of robocode to work on top of newest version of JOGL, which brings hardware acceleration to all platforms (Java2D's builtin one is outdated and broken on many platforms). It also supports modern gaming technologies such as vertical synchronization, which makes game experience smooth like butter.
However, as it contains a lot of changes, it's not as simple as a single pull request, as we don't want the new feature to break existing users. But I think it's possible to merge work from new robocodeGL step by step, e.g. enabled behind a flag at first. So that all users of robocode can be potentially benefited.
So this thread is here for discussion, of a roadmap for contributing the work on robocodeGL back to official robocode.
Anonymous
For references, here are the discussions about new robocodeGL on robowiki:
http://robowiki.net/wiki/Talk:RobocodeGL
Current work is mainly in three parts:
1. A JOGL based Java2D backend (forked from GLG2D), which is almost fully compatible with exisiting code on Java2D
2. Bug fixs along with change in some logic for VSync to work
3. New game graphics, mainly to support HiDPI and scaling battle field up
The first part can be easily merged, almost no existing code need to be changed, and can be easily hidden behind a flag, for full backward compatibility.
The second part needs some minor refactoring in robocode, as current logic of robocode isn't compatible with VSync.
The third part can also be easily hidden under a flag, so full backward compatibility can be easily achieved.