Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Introduction to LibGDX and
Project Setup
This topic will take you on an exciting tour to show and teach you about game
development using the open source LibGDX framework. Actually, you have chosen
just the right time to read about game development as the game industry is in a
remarkable state of change. With the advent of increasingly powerful smartphones
and tablets as well as the ever-growing application stores for desktop computers
and mobile platforms serving millions of users a day, it has never been easier for
Independent Game Developers
(also known as
Indies
) to enter the market with
virtually no risks and very low budgets.
In this chapter, you will learn about what LibGDX is and the advantages that it
provides when developing your own games. You will also get a brief overview of the
feature set that LibGDX provides.
Before you can start developing games with LibGDX, you have to install and set up
your development environment accordingly. You will be using the freely available and
open source software
Eclipse
as your
Integrated Development Environment
(
IDE
) to
set up a basic project that uses LibGDX. It will feature a runnable example application
for every currently supported target platform. These platforms are as follows:
• Windows
• Linux
• Mac OS X
• Android (2.2+)
• iOS
• HTML5 (using JavaScript and WebGL)
