LibGDX - how to close game and dispose objects properly

Question

can someone tell me how to close game and dispose objects properly? I tried several methods but always have problems. I have ImageButton with ClickListener.

Here's code of listener:

exitListener = new ClickListener(){
            @Override
            public void clicked(InputEvent event, float x, float y) {
                getGame().dispose(); // reference to GameClass 
                Gdx.app.exit();
                super.clicked(event, x, y);
            }
        };

but something causes problems because I have error:

buffer not allocated with newUnsafeByteBuffer or already disposed

and logs show that stage.dispose() causes problems.

Answer 1

The problem is because you're trying to dispose of the Stage while you're still inside the clicklistener, and it isn't done processing yet. Instead of trying to quit at that point, I would set a variable like stillRunning = false; in your listener, and then check it at the end of your game loop in render() when you know your process is outside of the Stage.

Answer 2

Some people argue that the proper way to dispose of your game properly is by letting the Operating System do it. That means, don't free any resources at all, just quit the program and let the OS do the clean up. Of course, that only goes for resources that the OS is defined to clean up, and also of course, not everybody agrees with this mentality.