Yes Happy,
The javadocs for the "getImage()" methods state that only GIF, JPEG an PNG formats are supported. No BMP support.

I don't have experience in java game programming (or graphics programming), but have you looked at "Java Advanced Imaging" (JAI)?

http://java.sun.com/products/java-media/jai/

I don't mean to be condescending, but have you tried an Internet search? When I searched for "java game programming" on "Yahoo"

http://www.yahoo.com

I got over 400,000 results!

Hope this has helped you.

Good Luck,
Avi.

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Why is a duck?