Here is a brief overview of what you will learn in this book.
Part 1: Fundamental Concepts
In the first part, you will be introduced to the LibGDX
library, and build a custom framework on top of this library to simplify
creating a variety of games.
Chapter 1: Getting Started with Java and LibGDX
This chapter explains how to set up BlueJ, a Java development
environment, which is chosen for simplicity and user-friendliness. Instructions for setting up the LibGDX software library are given, and a
visual “Hello, World!” program is presented (which displays an image of the
world in a window).
Chapter
2: The LibGDX Framework
This chapter begins by discussing the overall structure
of a video game program, including the stages that a game program progresses
through, and the tasks that must be accomplished at each stage. Many of the
major features and classes of the LibGDX library are introduced in the process
of creating a basic game called Starfish Collector. This game is a recurring
example throughout the book: features will be added to this project when
introducing new topics.
Chapter
3: Extending the Framework
In this chapter, you’ll start with one of the core LibGDX
classes that represents game entities, and create an extension of this class to
support animation, physics-based movement, improved collision detection, and
the ability to manage multiple instances of an entity using lists.
Chapter
4: Shoot-em-up Games
This chapter demonstrates the power of the framework you
have created by using that framework to make an entirely new game: Space Rocks,
a space themed shoot-em-up game inspired by the classic arcade game Asteroids.
Chapter
5: Text and User Interfaces
In this chapter, you will learn how to display text,
create buttons that display an image or text, and design a user interface using
tables. First, you will be introduced to these skills by adding these features
to the Starfish Collector game from Chapter 3. Then you will build on and
strengthen these skills while learning how to create cutscenes (sometimes
called in-game cinematics) that provide a narrative element to your games. In the final section, you will create a visual novel style game called The
Missing Homework, which focuses on a story and allows the player to make
decisions about how the story proceeds.
Chapter
6: Audio
In this chapter, you will learn how to add audio elements
- sound effects and background music - to your game. First, you will be
introduced to these topics by adding these features to the Starfish Collector.
Then you will build on these skills by a musical
rhythm-based game called Rhythm
Tapper, in which the player presses a sequence of keys indicated visually
and synchronized with music playing in the background.
Chapter 17: The Journey Continues
Part 2: Intermediate Examples
With the solid foundation in the fundamental concepts
and classes in LibGDX and the custom framework you developed and refined in
Part 1, you are now prepared to create a variety of video games from different
genres, each featuring different mechanics.
Chapter
7: Side-Scrolling Games
In this chapter, you will create a side-scrolling action
game called Plane Dodger, inspired by modern smartphone games such as Flappy
Bird and Jetpack Joyride. Along the way, you will learn how to create an
endless scrolling background effect, simulate gravity using acceleration
settings, and implement a difficulty ramp that increases the challenge to the
player as time passes.
Chapter 8:
Bouncing and Collision Games
In this chapter, you will create a ball-bouncing,
brick-breaking game called Rectangle Destroyer, inspired by arcade and early
console games such as Breakout and Arkanoid. New features that will be
implemented in this game include moving an object using the mouse, simulating
objects bouncing off of other objects, and creating power-up items that the
player can collect.
Chapter
9: Drag and Drop Games
In this chapter, you will learn how to add drag and drop
functionality to your games, and create a new class containing the related
code. To demonstrate the flexibility of this new class, you will create two new
games that make use of this class. The first will be a jigsaw puzzle game,
which consists of an image that has been broken into pieces and must be
rearranged correctly on a grid. The second will be a solitaire card game called
52 Card Pickup, where a standard deck of playing cards must be organized into
piles.
Chapter 10:
Tilemaps
This chapter will explain how to use Tiled, a
general-purpose map editing software program that can be used for multiple
aspects of the level design process. Then you will create a class that allows
you to import the data from tilemap files into the custrom framework you have
developed. This knowledge will be used to improve two previous game
projects: for the Starfish Collector
game, you will design a maze-like level (using rocks for walls) and add some
scenery, while for the Rectangle Destroyer game, you will design a colorful
layout of bricks.
Chapter
11: Platform Games
In this chapter, you will learn how to create the
platform game Jumping Jack,
inspired by arcade and console games such as Donkey Kong and Super Mario Bros.
New concepts introduced in this chapter include game entities with multiple
animations, platform physics, using extra actors as "sensors" to
monitor the area around an object for overlap and collision, jump-through
platforms, and key-and-lock mechanics.
Chapter
12: Adventure Games
This chapter features the most ambitious game project in
the entire book: a combat-based adventure game named Treasure Quest, inspired
by classic console games such as The Legend of Zelda. This game uses new
features such as enemy combat with two different types of weapons (a sword and
an arrow), non-player characters (NPCs) with messages that depend on the state
of the game (such as the number of enemies remaining), and an item shop
mechanic.
Part 3: Advanced Topics
This final part of the book contains some additional
optional features that can be added to many of the previous projects, and some game projects and involve advanced algorithms and graphics.
Chapter
13: Alternative Sources of User Input
This chapter will explore two alternative sources of user
input: gamepad controllers and touch-screen controls. In particular, you will
add these alternative sources of user input to the Starfish Collector game that
has been featured in previous chapters.
Chapter 14:
Maze Games
In this chapter, you will learn how to create the
maze-based game Maze Runman, inspired by arcade games such as Pac-Man and the early
console game Maze Craze. The main new concepts in this chapter are algorithms
for generating and solving mazes.
Chapter 15:
Advanced 2D Graphics
In this chapter, you will learn two techniques for
incorporating sophisticated graphics into your projects. The first topic is
particle systems, which can create special effects such as explosions, which
will be incorporated into the Space Rocks game in place of spritesheet-based
animations. The second topic is shader programming, which manipulate the pixels
of a rendered image to create effects such as blurring or glowing, which will
be incorporated into the Starfish Collector game.
Chapter
16: Introduction to 3D Graphics and Games
This chapter introduces some of the 3D graphics
capabilities of LibGDX and the concepts and classes necessary to describe and
render a three-dimensional scene. You’ll create the game Starfish Collector 3D, a
three-dimensional version of the Starfish Collector game introduced at the
beginning of the book.
Chapter 17: The Journey Continues
This final chapter presents a variety of steps to
consider as you continue on in game development. Among these, you’ll explore
working on additional projects, learning skills in related areas, and bringing
your games to a wider audience. Along the way, the chapter presents lists of
resources of all types, and general advice for many situations.
