Learning Libgdx Game Development - Softcover

Balakrishnan, Suryakumar

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1783554770 ISBN 13: 9781783554775

Publisher: Packt Pub Ltd, 2015

Synopsis

Wield the power of the LibGDX framework to create a cross-platform game

About This Book

• Write your game code once and run it on a multitude of platforms using LibGDX
• Learn about the key features of LibGDX that will ease and speed up your development cycles
• An easy-to-follow, comprehensive guide that will help you develop games in LibGDX successfully

Who This Book Is For

This book is aimed at indie and existing game developers as well as those who want to get started with game development using LibGDX. Basic knowledge of Java programming and game development is required.

What You Will Learn

• Set up a cross-platform project using Gradle and test the base code required for game building
• Speed up your overall productivity with the stunning JVM Code Hot Swapping feature
• Use Scene2D to create and organize complex menu structures
• Automate the creation of texture atlases using TexturePacker
• Manage and play audio files and add special effects to your game to improve its look and feel
• Learn 2D physics simulation using Box2D
• Understand more about 3D programming using the new LibGDX 3D API
• Use the LibGDX Bullet wrapper for 3D physics simulation

In Detail

LibGDX is a multiplatform game development framework, and is one of the most popular frameworks for building games, providing a comprehensive set of development capabilities and features to use and incorporate into games.

This book starts off by introducing you to LibGDX and how to use its project setup tool to build an application that can support multiple platforms, before gradually moving on to configuring your game. Then, you will learn to organize resources, create a scene, actors, and a menu system. You will also enhance the visual appearance of your game and manage its transitions, along with music and sound effects. You will then move on to cover the advanced programming techniques and create and manage different kinds of animations.

Finally, you will be introduced to the basics of 3D programming and the 3D physics engine. By the end of this book, you will be able to start developing your very own cross-platform games using the LibGDX framework.

About this title

About the Author

Suryakumar Balakrishnan Nair

Suryakumar Balakrishnan Nair is an engineering graduate from Cochin University of Science and Technology, Cochin, India with a specialization in computer science. He just loves programming and likes to keep on experimenting. He has designed a dozen games on the Android platform using LibGDX. He loves traveling and visiting various places. He reads articles and books on a range of issues from politics to environment. He is currently working as a full-time Android game developer for an Indian game company, Csharks (http://csharks.com/site/).

Andreas Oehlke

Andreas Oehlke is a professional software engineer and computer scientist who feels very much at home on any Linux/UNIX machine. He holds a bachelor's degree in Computer Science and loves to assemble and disassemble software and hardware alike. The exorbitant affinity for electronics and computers has always been his trademark. His hobbies include game and web development, programming in general (software design and new languages), programming embedded systems with microcontrollers, playing sports, and making music. He currently works full time as a software engineer for a German financial institution. Furthermore, he has worked as a consultant and game developer in San Francisco, CA. In his spare time, he provides his expertise to a German start-up called Gamerald (http://www.gamerald.com/).

Edition details

• Publisher: Packt Pub Ltd
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1783554770
• ISBN 13: 9781783554775
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 478