Research for 2D Java Game

[Gudradain]

@EvolvedMonkey

I am first going to focus on making an engine alongside a game.

Yay!!! Welcome to the club man

I think we all had that idea here at some point to create the best super engine but 99,9% of us drop the idea. Don’t know why…

My suggestions would be :

Idea : Eclipse
Prototype : Java2D or Slick
Mobile : libGDX
Web : HTML5/javascript or some tools that convert code to HTML5/javascript
Desktop : libGDX, LWJGL or JOGL
Physics : Box2D (but only if you really need it)

General suggestions

Keep it simple. If you want to make a game just make a game. The fastest way to make a game is just to make a game. Good luck!

[EvolvedMonkey]

Thanks for the info again.

It’s not really about making a game. I just want to explore game development from the basics up (well, not the utter basics).

The game is more to test out features and such Same goes for the editor.

I have to say… It’s allot easier making stuff in c# with XNA But I won’t give up this easily

[pitbuller]

@Mads

@cylab

I second libGDX over Slick2D - just because of the Android option.

I havent used LibGDX too much, but isn’t that basicly OpenGL bindings, like in LWJGL? That is harder to manage than Slick2D’s Java2D-like API.

Phys2D can only do so much. Box2D has greater functionality, and is faster. However, it’s also harder to use. Always such a tradeoff

Edit: Since you asked for networking, I’m going to say that JBoss’ Netty is good, and Kryonet too. Kryonet is really nice and easy to work with.

LibGdx is only bit harder than slick2d but the gains are enourmous. You have access to pure openGL but for most 2d games only opengl function that is needed is GlClear.

And its lot more thant just bindings its framework that offers almoust anything without being bloated.

[davedes]

[quote]LibGdx is only bit harder than slick2d but the gains are enourmous. You have access to pure openGL but for most 2d games only opengl function that is needed is GlClear.
[/quote]
Slick also exposes OpenGL functions – or you could just call GL11/GL20/etc directly (about as “pure opengl” as you can get). I would argue that doing custom GL rendering is just as easy with Slick/Slick-Util, if not easier.

And I don’t know what you’re on about glClear being all you need… ???

[EvolvedMonkey]

Is netbeans any good for game development?

[BoBear2681]

@EvolvedMonkey

Is netbeans any good for game development?

Asking about IDE’s will start a huge flame war about which one is “the best.” There was actually a recent thread about it. Really, it won’t matter too much which one you pick, especially if you’re just starting out. Just pick one and get to work! You can even play around with all of them to see which one you prefer if you want, but the basic features you’ll need for game development (source control integration, code completion, debugging, etc.), the “big 3” of Eclipse, NetBeans and IntelliJ should be all pretty much the same.

If you want to go with what’s the most “popular,” many people recommend Eclipse because it seems to have the largest mindshare/marketshare, and has a large plugin ecosystem (you’ll need very few, if any, extra plugins for game development in Java). But using it is not going to make you more productive than the other two big players.

[sproingie]

The best IDE is the one you work the best with. Give eclipse, idea, and netbeans each a try for a few weeks each.

[pitbuller]

@davedes

[quote]LibGdx is only bit harder than slick2d but the gains are enourmous. You have access to pure openGL but for most 2d games only opengl function that is needed is GlClear.

Slick also exposes OpenGL functions – or you could just call GL11/GL20/etc directly (about as “pure opengl” as you can get). I would argue that doing custom GL rendering is just as easy with Slick/Slick-Util, if not easier.

And I don’t know what you’re on about glClear being all you need… ???
[/quote]
In libGdx there is high level efficient 2d API. If user don’t want to use direct openGL then there is hardly any need spriteBatch is all that you need. I have used pure openGL calls in slick2d and I must say that it’s get messy to quick. But at libGdx its ease becouse its expose everything that is needed and everything work together.
I must admit that slick can help somebody to start more quickly but it does not teach the things that you actually need later when you want to ship something more advanced.

[ReBirth]

@Cero

@cylab

I second libGDX over Slick2D - just because of the Android option.

Its convenient, but in most cases you dont make a game for android and pc, which are just the same ported game

by nature, an android game should be very different in terms of gameplay, controls, objective, complexity and other stuff

its like porting a ps3/360 game to wii with wiimote controls, but same gameplay
not really good.

+1. Plus android games suffer to button control.

[cylab]

@ReBirth

@Cero

@cylab

I second libGDX over Slick2D - just because of the Android option.

Its convenient, but in most cases you dont make a game for android and pc, which are just the same ported game

by nature, an android game should be very different in terms of gameplay, controls, objective, complexity and other stuff

its like porting a ps3/360 game to wii with wiimote controls, but same gameplay
not really good.

+1. Plus android games suffer to button control.

Even while I think that it’s possible to design a game that would work for both PC and Android, I was more referring to the fact that you only have to learn one framework to make games for both platforms - nobody said anything about making the same game for both.

And the other way around, it really helps productivity a lot to be able to test/debug your Android game on your dev-PC directly instead of fiddling with emulators and remote devices…

[ReBirth]

Yeah, but sometimes they really made it. For example Assassin Creed on android which is pain to play.