5 ms·

LibGDX 1.0 released

171 points by octopus 13y ago

pplante 13y ago
I found LibGDX to be an incredible framework to quickly iterate with. I really miss working with it as much as I did in 2012. The core developers are some really great guys who are always willing to lend a hand. I probably wouldn't have finished Droid Towers if it wasn't for their continued encouragement.
Kaedon 13y ago
Good timing! I just started working with libGDX yesterday with my little brother. We decided it would be better to use it than roll our own Java framework and I think that was the right choice. It's been fairly straight-forward to work through the install and demo game located here: https://github.com/libgdx/libgdx/wiki/A-simple-game https://github.com/libgdx/libgdx/wiki/A-simple-game
aaronsnoswell 13y ago
Been working with LibGDX since 2010 - I still remember buying the Newton physics game on my Motorola Droid. This was the best 2D Android game engine back then, and it still is in my opinion :) Congrats to the devs!
bmoresbest55 13y ago
I used this framework back on version 0.95 for a school project. We started late (of course) and got stuck on an API call that we could not figure out. Emailed a dev at like 10 or 11pm and got a response. Act of heroism...
- Uehreka 13y ago
  It wouldn't happen to have been an Asteroids clone with motion controls, would it?
z3phyr 13y ago
I would love to use this with clojure!
- Jach 13y ago
  You can. https://github.com/libgdx/libgdx/wiki/Using-libgdx-with-Clojure https://github.com/libgdx/libgdx/wiki/Using-libgdx-with-Cloj... (Bounce Away is a pretty fun game that uses both.) The problem I'm waiting for someone else to solve though (and maybe I'll just make it a side-project one day...) is a more idiomatic Clojure interface to LibGDX. Something like PyGame would be pretty sweet too, though PyGame is wrapped around SDL and the whole "blitting" pattern of getting stuff to the screen (which doesn't care if you're writing functional, oop, or procedural code) doesn't really work outside of 2D games.
  - georgeoliver 13y ago
    wait no more (I haven't tried it)? https://github.com/oakes/play-clj https://github.com/oakes/play-clj
    - gw 13y ago
      Thanks for mentioning my project. I just updated it tonight to support 1.0!
  - z3phyr 13y ago
    Thanks! Just a couple of days before, I was thinking about the idea of using lisp for virtual worlds. Now I could start tinkering at least :)
- octopus 13y ago
  You already can, just be warned that if you use something different than Java you won't be able to export to the web. From my understanding (please correct me if I'm wrong) LibGDX converts only Java code to JavaScript and HTML5.
  - kodablah 13y ago
nubbee 13y ago
I'd love to see a benchmark between LibGDX and OpenFL to test if either is noticeably faster on the various platforms they support.
jokoon 13y ago
looks like a really big effort to make developing on android a better experience, by clumping libs together, rather than just a game engine. I was not able to find out if the scene2d thing has a partitioning algorithm of some sort. Maybe It's irrelevant for an android device ? Seems like good stuff though. Sadly I don't really "like" java...
- terhechte 13y ago
  You can use any of the JVM languages with libgdx, such as Clojure, Scala, Kotlin even JRuby [1] [1] https://github.com/mickey/libgdx-jruby-exemple https://github.com/mickey/libgdx-jruby-exemple
  - jokoon 13y ago
    I've often considered C++ as a mandatory requirement for game development. Java is fine though, but I just don't use it, and if I have to choose between java and C++, I go for C++...
    - octopus 13y ago
      If you prefer C++, Cocos2d-X may be a good fit for you. I've tried it, but I just couldn't stand it, because of the way they've translated the Objective-C object model and bolted this on top of C++. To me it looks hardly idiomatic C++. I can understand their technical reasons though (easier to translate the original Cocos2d-iphone to C++).
    - marktangotango 13y ago
      I've often considered Assembler as a mandatory requirement for game development. C++ is fine though, but I just don't use it, and if I have to choose between C++ and Assembler, I go for Assembler... What a difference two decades makes eh?
      - omarhegazy 13y ago
        It really depends on what you're doing. Triple-A games and most graphically advanced 3D games pretty much require you to use C++.
sdfjkl 13y ago
For those as ignorant of the Java/Android scene as me: LibGDX is a game-development application framework written in Java with some C/C++ components for performance dependent code. It allows for the development of desktop and Android games by using the same code base. It is cross-platform, supporting Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, Android, WebGL enabled browser and iOS. -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libgdx https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libgdx
tosinaf 13y ago
It's a really good framework, just need to give it a chance.
chaghalibaghali 13y ago
I recently managed to release my first game (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.thomshutt.bom https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.thomshutt....) using LibGDX and it really was a pleasure to work with - lightweight and not too opinionated, but with some nice abstractions over the more fiddly aspects such as out of the box Desktop/Web/Android/iOS support, input handling, app lifecycles etc.
Rezo 13y ago
LibGDX is a lot of fun to work with, and a great way to target both Android and iOS with the same code base. What you might not have thought of, is that you don't have to limit yourself to games. I created a successful productivity app entirely in LibGDX (shameless plug, https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.absoluteattention.timer https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.absoluteat...). Features common in games and LibGDX, such as the very good performance and the rich animation capabilities can add a bit of flair to an otherwise boring app and make it stand out from the crowd. I see that with the 1.0 release, you can now even embed a LibGDX fragment into your otherwise 'native' Android app. I can see this being very useful for apps where you want to have your animated custom gauges and widgets surrounded by the native OS chrome.
- hedron 13y ago
  I found the most powerful feature is that you can create an app without a need to deploy it to a real device over and over again. It saves a lot of time even creating a multi touch game like Sum and Blossom https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.carrotfield.sumandblossom https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.carrotfiel...
  - smrtinsert 13y ago
    I'm considering using for the same thing. Especially with scene2d ui available - the temptation is large to build something that targets all desktops and ios and android easily. It's time for cross platform uis again, native is getting old.
  - Rezo 13y ago
    I agree fully, it's a huge productivity win. I built a small layer that simulates or at least stubs out all the device-only APIs for the desktop target; switching resolutions & DPI dependent assets (works), loading translated strings from Android XML files (works), opening the marketplace (stub), setting alarms and timers, etc. I estimate I spent 99% of the development time on the desktop target with a redeployment cycle of just a few seconds, and only test on the device occasionally.
mentos 13y ago
Great framework, great developers! Really enjoyed reading the summary of their past 4 years, sounds like it was a really great ride.
gagege 13y ago
If you're interested in an entity-component architecture for game development, here's a nice example project to get you started with learning how to do it. It uses libgdx for graphics and Artemis (http://gamadu.com/artemis/ http://gamadu.com/artemis/) for the entity component system: http://code.google.com/p/spaceship-warrior/source/browse/src/com/gamadu/spaceshipwarrior/#spaceshipwarrior http://code.google.com/p/spaceship-warrior/source/browse/src...
omarhegazy 13y ago
My favorite part about 1.0 is Gradle. No more Eclipse! Time to start writing my games in Emacs, maybe even Sublime Text ... Great fucking work, guys! Congratulations.

171 points by octopus 13y ago

I found LibGDX to be an incredible framework to quickly iterate with. I really miss working with it as much as I did in 2012. The core developers are some really great guys who are always willing to lend a hand. I probably wouldn't have finished Droid Towers if it wasn't for their continued encouragement.

Kaedon 13y ago

Good timing! I just started working with libGDX yesterday with my little brother. We decided it would be better to use it than roll our own Java framework and I think that was the right choice. It's been fairly straight-forward to work through the install and demo game located here: https://github.com/libgdx/libgdx/wiki/A-simple-game https://github.com/libgdx/libgdx/wiki/A-simple-game

aaronsnoswell 13y ago

Been working with LibGDX since 2010 - I still remember buying the Newton physics game on my Motorola Droid. This was the best 2D Android game engine back then, and it still is in my opinion :) Congrats to the devs!

bmoresbest55 13y ago

I used this framework back on version 0.95 for a school project. We started late (of course) and got stuck on an API call that we could not figure out. Emailed a dev at like 10 or 11pm and got a response. Act of heroism...

Uehreka 13y ago
It wouldn't happen to have been an Asteroids clone with motion controls, would it?

z3phyr 13y ago

I would love to use this with clojure!

Jach 13y ago
You can. https://github.com/libgdx/libgdx/wiki/Using-libgdx-with-Clojure https://github.com/libgdx/libgdx/wiki/Using-libgdx-with-Cloj... (Bounce Away is a pretty fun game that uses both.) The problem I'm waiting for someone else to solve though (and maybe I'll just make it a side-project one day...) is a more idiomatic Clojure interface to LibGDX. Something like PyGame would be pretty sweet too, though PyGame is wrapped around SDL and the whole "blitting" pattern of getting stuff to the screen (which doesn't care if you're writing functional, oop, or procedural code) doesn't really work outside of 2D games.
- georgeoliver 13y ago
  wait no more (I haven't tried it)? https://github.com/oakes/play-clj https://github.com/oakes/play-clj
  - gw 13y ago
    Thanks for mentioning my project. I just updated it tonight to support 1.0!
- z3phyr 13y ago
  Thanks! Just a couple of days before, I was thinking about the idea of using lisp for virtual worlds. Now I could start tinkering at least :)
octopus 13y ago
You already can, just be warned that if you use something different than Java you won't be able to export to the web. From my understanding (please correct me if I'm wrong) LibGDX converts only Java code to JavaScript and HTML5.
- kodablah 13y ago

nubbee 13y ago

I'd love to see a benchmark between LibGDX and OpenFL to test if either is noticeably faster on the various platforms they support.

jokoon 13y ago

looks like a really big effort to make developing on android a better experience, by clumping libs together, rather than just a game engine. I was not able to find out if the scene2d thing has a partitioning algorithm of some sort. Maybe It's irrelevant for an android device ? Seems like good stuff though. Sadly I don't really "like" java...

terhechte 13y ago
You can use any of the JVM languages with libgdx, such as Clojure, Scala, Kotlin even JRuby [1] [1] https://github.com/mickey/libgdx-jruby-exemple https://github.com/mickey/libgdx-jruby-exemple
- jokoon 13y ago
  I've often considered C++ as a mandatory requirement for game development. Java is fine though, but I just don't use it, and if I have to choose between java and C++, I go for C++...
  - octopus 13y ago
    If you prefer C++, Cocos2d-X may be a good fit for you. I've tried it, but I just couldn't stand it, because of the way they've translated the Objective-C object model and bolted this on top of C++. To me it looks hardly idiomatic C++. I can understand their technical reasons though (easier to translate the original Cocos2d-iphone to C++).
  - marktangotango 13y ago
    I've often considered Assembler as a mandatory requirement for game development. C++ is fine though, but I just don't use it, and if I have to choose between C++ and Assembler, I go for Assembler... What a difference two decades makes eh?
    - omarhegazy 13y ago
      It really depends on what you're doing. Triple-A games and most graphically advanced 3D games pretty much require you to use C++.

sdfjkl 13y ago

For those as ignorant of the Java/Android scene as me: LibGDX is a game-development application framework written in Java with some C/C++ components for performance dependent code. It allows for the development of desktop and Android games by using the same code base. It is cross-platform, supporting Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, Android, WebGL enabled browser and iOS. -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libgdx https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libgdx

tosinaf 13y ago

It's a really good framework, just need to give it a chance.

chaghalibaghali 13y ago

I recently managed to release my first game (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.thomshutt.bom https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.thomshutt....) using LibGDX and it really was a pleasure to work with - lightweight and not too opinionated, but with some nice abstractions over the more fiddly aspects such as out of the box Desktop/Web/Android/iOS support, input handling, app lifecycles etc.

Rezo 13y ago

LibGDX is a lot of fun to work with, and a great way to target both Android and iOS with the same code base. What you might not have thought of, is that you don't have to limit yourself to games. I created a successful productivity app entirely in LibGDX (shameless plug, https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.absoluteattention.timer https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.absoluteat...). Features common in games and LibGDX, such as the very good performance and the rich animation capabilities can add a bit of flair to an otherwise boring app and make it stand out from the crowd. I see that with the 1.0 release, you can now even embed a LibGDX fragment into your otherwise 'native' Android app. I can see this being very useful for apps where you want to have your animated custom gauges and widgets surrounded by the native OS chrome.

hedron 13y ago
I found the most powerful feature is that you can create an app without a need to deploy it to a real device over and over again. It saves a lot of time even creating a multi touch game like Sum and Blossom https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.carrotfield.sumandblossom https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.carrotfiel...
- smrtinsert 13y ago
  I'm considering using for the same thing. Especially with scene2d ui available - the temptation is large to build something that targets all desktops and ios and android easily. It's time for cross platform uis again, native is getting old.
- Rezo 13y ago
  I agree fully, it's a huge productivity win. I built a small layer that simulates or at least stubs out all the device-only APIs for the desktop target; switching resolutions & DPI dependent assets (works), loading translated strings from Android XML files (works), opening the marketplace (stub), setting alarms and timers, etc. I estimate I spent 99% of the development time on the desktop target with a redeployment cycle of just a few seconds, and only test on the device occasionally.

mentos 13y ago

Great framework, great developers! Really enjoyed reading the summary of their past 4 years, sounds like it was a really great ride.

gagege 13y ago

If you're interested in an entity-component architecture for game development, here's a nice example project to get you started with learning how to do it. It uses libgdx for graphics and Artemis (http://gamadu.com/artemis/ http://gamadu.com/artemis/) for the entity component system: http://code.google.com/p/spaceship-warrior/source/browse/src/com/gamadu/spaceshipwarrior/#spaceshipwarrior http://code.google.com/p/spaceship-warrior/source/browse/src...

omarhegazy 13y ago

My favorite part about 1.0 is Gradle. No more Eclipse! Time to start writing my games in Emacs, maybe even Sublime Text ... Great fucking work, guys! Congratulations.