Book Image

Learning Java by Building Android Games - Second Edition

By : John Horton
Book Image

Learning Java by Building Android Games - Second Edition

By: John Horton

Overview of this book

Android is one of the most popular mobile operating systems presently. It uses the most popular programming language, Java, as the primary language for building apps of all types. However, this book is unlike other Android books in that it doesn’t assume that you already have Java proficiency. This new and expanded second edition of Learning Java by Building Android Games shows you how to start building Android games from scratch. The difficulty level will grow steadily as you explore key Java topics, such as variables, loops, methods, object oriented programming, and design patterns, including code and examples that are written for Java 9 and Android P. At each stage, you will put what you’ve learned into practice by developing a game. You will build games such as Minesweeper, Retro Pong, Bullet Hell, and Classic Snake and Scrolling Shooter games. In the later chapters, you will create a time-trial, open-world platform game. By the end of the book, you will not only have grasped Java and Android but will also have developed six cool games for the Android platform.
Table of Contents (30 chapters)
Learning Java by Building Android Games Second Edition
Contributors
Preface
Index

The game loop


What is a game loop anyway? Almost every game has a game loop. Even games you might suspect do not, like turn-based games, still need to synchronize player input with drawing and AI while following the rules of the underlying operating system.

There is a constant need to update the objects in the game, perhaps by moving them, draw everything in its current position all the while responding to user input. A picture might help:

Our game loop comprises three main phases.

  1. Update all game objects by moving them, detecting collisions and processing AI (artificial intelligence) if used

  2. Based on the just-updated data, draw the frame of animation in its latest state

  3. Respond to screen touches from the player

We already have a draw method for handling that part of the loop. This suggests that we will have a method to do all the updating as well. We will soon code the outline of an update method. In addition, we know that we can respond to screen touches although we will need to adapt slightly...