Recommended Physics and Graphics Libraries?

Engines, Libraries and Tools
#1

Hey guys,

I’m planning on taking the next step in game development by using a real library for graphics and physics, and I’m looking for some pointers on what the standard/best/recommended way to proceed is.

I have quite a bit of experience with Java2D game development, and I’ve been using Processing to prototype games for a while. But most of my googling of this topic seems to lead to outdated tutorials and sites, so I’m hoping to get some incite from you guys.

I was thinking of using LWJGL/Slick and Phys2D, but the Phys2D download is over 4 years old now. Is there a newer, recommended way to do physics? Is Slick old too?

I’m only really interested in 2D at this point, so I’m not really worried about 3D support. In a perfect world I’d find a physics engine and a graphics library that makes it simple to “skin” and draw the physics objects. Being able to port over to Android is pretty important, so I’d take a “worse” library that worked on Android over a better one that only works on desktops.

Anyway, thanks for any help you can give me. I’m looking forward to spending my first free weekend in a while finally coding again instead of dealing with pesky web development!

#2

LibGDX bundles box2d, and of course naturally supports Android. Still not highly integrated with the graphics, but it’s about as one-stop shopping as you’ll get in java-land without using a full blown engine like jMonkeyEngine.

#3

Thanks for the reply! I’ll check out LibGDX. One thing I like about LWJGL is that you can still deploy it like a normal Java application via applet or webstart- I’ll have to think about how deploying will work with LibGDX and any libraries that support Android deployment. Hmmm.

And JMonkeyEngine looks amazing, but baby steps first!

#4

Also, you should think about what you need your graphics engine to do. If you’re planning on doing something like a platformer style game, then writing your own physics engine will be better than trying to adapt something like Box2D to do so. If you’re doing a physics game (Think construction or castle/building destruction) then it’s no problem.

#5

The answer is always libGDX. (kidding but it seems that way from many people in this forum :P)

You can deploy libGDX as a HTML5 app (if that’s what you call it), much better than applets. And it’s only a bit of hassle to set up right.

#6

+1 for libgdx too.

#7

Wow I’ll definitely have to give more thought to LibGDX then. I thought my approach of Slick + Phys2D was the standard way to go, but it looks like I’m behind the times!