1 ) New project
2 ) Select Java project and hit next
3 ) Enter a name for the project
4 ) Select “create a new project in workspace”
5 ) Select your compiler compliance level (might as well use 5.0 if you’ve got it)
6 ) Select “create separate source and output folders” and select the “configure defaults” link next to that
7 ) In your defaults, select “folder” and enter “src” for source and “bin” for output. (You can use your own names if you want.) Hit okay.
8 ) Hit finish. Your project should be created.
9 ) Right-click on the project and do new -> folder. Call the folder “lib”.
10 ) Right-click on “lib” and do “import”.
11 ) Select “file system”.
12 ) Select the JAR you want to import and import it. Repeat for each JAR.
13 ) When you’re done importing JARs, expand the “lib” folder. For each JAR, right click on it and select “add to build path”.
14 ) Now you can create your packages. Right click on src/java and do a “new package”. Call it something like “com.yourdomain.gamename”. If you know you’re going to be developing per a particular architecture, you can create subpackages now, too (e.g., com.yourdomain.gamename.util).
15 ) If you’ll have external images, sounds, etc. in your project, right click on “src” (not “src/java”, just “src”) and make new folders to hold them (so you end up with, for example, “src/java”, “src/textures”, “src/images”, etc.). You can reference these in the code using relative paths (“src/java/subfolder/filename.ext”).
16 ) If you’re importing someone else’s .jar or .zip for your main app, right-click on src and click “import -> from Archive File”. If you’re importing some .src files from a directory, right-click on src and click “import -> from File System.” You’ll get your packages built automagically for you.
That’s the basic breakdown. From there, you create your java classes, and you can reference code in the JARs all willy-nilly. You can also attach source to the JARs (which just tells Eclipse where it can find the source or javadoc) so that you can see the Javadoc comments for the JARs and debug into the JARs, etc.
PS: When you run your files, you’ll have to modify your working directory (in the Arguments tab) to be just “${workspace_loc}”, not “${workspace_loc:project_name}”. You’ll only have to set this up the first time you run a class - Eclipse will save the run profile for later executions.
Good luck!
Christopher Ellison, E.I.T.
Here is the complete step-by-step guide he sent me. I hope this helps you all as much as it did me! ;D