9
\$\begingroup\$

I've been an android developer for a while and am thinking about getting into gaming. While looking for a game dev framework, I thought libgdx provides very friendly documentation and functionality. So I would like to use it if there is no big obstacle.

But when I tried to see how many developers employ this library, I could find not that many. Is there anything wrong with this library? In other words, I would like to know its advantages or disadvantages from any experienced developer.

UPDATE: After reviewing its documentations and trying to build simple games with libgdx, I decided to go with it as its documentations are good enough and its community is very active. What I liked the most is that it provides a bunch of demo games that I can learn a lot from.

Improve this question
\$\endgroup\$
5
  • 2
    \$\begingroup\$ One major disadvantage is lack of good documentation. You need to seriously google a lot, and just puzzle things out. It really bugs me. (Plus the forums don't have email notification working.) \$\endgroup\$
    – ashes999
    Jan 2, 2012 at 6:56
  • \$\begingroup\$ @ashes999 thanks for your comment. I can see your point. I saw a couple of good tutorials but what you are saying is a game changer :-) \$\endgroup\$
    – Tae-Sung Shin
    Jan 2, 2012 at 7:38
  • \$\begingroup\$ me too. But other than that, it's pretty awesome. \$\endgroup\$
    – ashes999
    Jan 2, 2012 at 11:38
  • \$\begingroup\$ Where did you find the demo games? That sounds neat. \$\endgroup\$
    – ashes999
    Feb 11, 2012 at 2:53
  • 2
    \$\begingroup\$ @ashes999 source (code.google.com/p/libgdx/source/browse/#svn%2Ftrunk%2Fdemos) is your friend buddy. \$\endgroup\$
    – Tae-Sung Shin
    Feb 11, 2012 at 20:49

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
10
\$\begingroup\$

I decided to go with libGDX for similar reasons. To expound on my comment, I will mention what I find are the pros and cons.

Pros:

  • Works on Android and desktop (no need for emulator)
  • Active user community on forums
  • Lots of robust functionality
  • Works on iOS too (via RoboVM => free)

Cons:

  • Lack of documentation and information
  • Quite low-level (I prefer writing less code to get things done)

All in all, if you're sticking to just Android, it's great. But if you want to do iOS too, I would move to something else, like Unity or Corona SDK.

Improve this answer
\$\endgroup\$
5
  • 3
    \$\begingroup\$ iOS is supported is added since \$\endgroup\$
    – Veger
    Mar 3, 2013 at 21:02
  • \$\begingroup\$ iOS support requires a MonoTouch license, which since increased to $1200 (from $400). \$\endgroup\$
    – ashes999
    Jun 16, 2013 at 9:49
  • 2
    \$\begingroup\$ Starting from libGDX 0.9.9, iOS support will be provided by RoboVM, which does not require a paid license. badlogicgames.com/wordpress/?p=3156 \$\endgroup\$
    – Thomas
    Sep 7, 2013 at 19:22
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Thomas thanks for clarifying. That's awesome news. \$\endgroup\$
    – ashes999
    Sep 7, 2013 at 22:36
  • 1
    \$\begingroup\$ Guys, just updating about RoboVM, it was discontinued (badlogicgames.com/wordpress/?p=3925&cpage=3#comments), they changed to Intel Multi-OS Engine. \$\endgroup\$
    – diogo
    Sep 11, 2017 at 10:22
7
\$\begingroup\$

I just started in libgdx (i have 2 weeks developing there).

The pros, its that you dont need the emulator and you can test everything you do in the real speed, also if you know Java it would be easy (i know Android apps uses Java, but this is more easy, in my point of view), the architecture of libgdx for the game development is too well built.

The Disadvantage is the lack of documentation as all the people say, there are sample codes but it doesnt implement all libgdx so its no complete, and there are some methods that doesnt have documentation and you have to test it yourself and know how does it work :/

Its a good library, its easy to use but you have to google it a lot if you want to use at 100%

Improve this answer
\$\endgroup\$
3
  • 1
    \$\begingroup\$ I too am getting frustrated with the lack of documentation. Need some work on that, but otherwise it's a good framework. \$\endgroup\$
    – While-E
    Feb 22, 2012 at 2:23
  • \$\begingroup\$ Im getting frustrated in the use of box2D X_X :/ indeed its an incredible engine \$\endgroup\$
    – Rudy_TM
    Feb 22, 2012 at 3:56
  • \$\begingroup\$ @While-E You can always contribute to LibGDX! :) As a side note - I've also been struggling with lack of documentation, but you can always dive into source code and deduce few things (it also has high educational value). \$\endgroup\$
    – Mithras
    Mar 13, 2013 at 21:25
3
\$\begingroup\$

I'm the author of the book "Learning Libgdx Game Development".

This book might fill the gap of lacking documentation and aggregated information for beginners.

I've already posted more over here: Where are all the tutorials for libGDX?

Improve this answer
\$\endgroup\$
1
  • 1
    \$\begingroup\$ Welcome to GD.SE! It's always nice to see new people contributing to the site, but this question is over a year and a half old. It'd be nice if you could help answer some of the newer questions. \$\endgroup\$
    – Polar
    Oct 28, 2013 at 23:54

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .