Jay,
I think you starting in the right place. IMO, the GUI is the last part to do. I used MVC
pattern to do the project. one should get the model working first, without any gui. Then you can start building the network layer, the controler, and when everything is working you can build your gui. This way you will seperate between the presentation layer and your business logic.
However, I didn't follow the previouse steps strictly. At the time of doing my project, I didn't have experiece with RMI. So, I build the project without networking support, then I added the network layer. It was easier for me this way.
SCJD 1.4<br />SCJP 1.4<br />-----------------------------------<br />"With regard to excellence, it is not enough to know, but we must try to have and use it.<br />" Aristotle