There are a few excellent starting points for learning Java game development. The first would be Oracle’s official Java 2D and JavaFX game development tutorials. On the Oracle website, they have extensive documentation and tutorials specifically focused on using the Java 2D and JavaFX APIs for creating games. The Java 2D tutorials cover basics of working with graphics, inputs, animation, platforms etc. while creating simple games. The JavaFX tutorials are also very useful as JavaFX provides robust tools for building graphical user interfaces and media playback that are useful for games. These official tutorials from Oracle are reliable starting points to learn the fundamentals of game development in Java.
Another major resource is the book “Java Games Development” from O’Reilly Media. This book provides a comprehensive guide to learning 2D game development in Java. It starts from the basics of setting up a development environment in Java and designing game architecture, and gradually builds up to creating full-fledged games. It covers topics like game loops, collision detection, sound and music playback, networking etc. An important advantage of this book is that it comes bundled with all the game code examples and assets so readers can directly run and modify the code being explained. Having the full code examples is very useful for learning. This 800 page book is like a definitive tutorial for game development using plain Java and Swing/AWT libraries.
For learning Java game development using a game framework like LibGDX, their official websitelibgdx.badlogicgames.com is a top resource. LibGDX is a very popular open source framework for cross-platform 2D and 3D game development in Java. The LibGDX website provides comprehensive documentation and tutorials on using it to create games. It covers topics from setting up the development environment to framework architecture and includes tutorials to create complete games. Being created by experienced game developers, the LibGDX tutorials are structured very well to take users from basics to advanced usage. They also have detailed documentation of all the framework APIs. For anyone looking to get productive with Java game development quickly, learning LibGDX is highly recommended.
Udemy is another fantastic source for Java game development courses and tutorials. They have several in-depth courses focused on different aspects like learning LibGDX, creating 2D games, 3D game development etc. Some notable courses include “Java Game Development Tutorial” by Ben Tristem which is over 15 hours long and takes users from setting up the environment to publishing finished games. Then there is “Complete Java Game Development Course” by John Purcell which is 30 hours long and covers game engines, frameworks and building full fledged 2D and 3D games. Udemy courses are led by highly experienced instructors and include full coding projects and exercises to learn by doing. They are usually very affordable as well. Udemy is a great supplemental learning resource for hands-on coding practice.
Finally, YouTube is an invaluable free resource for video based Java game dev tutorials. Channels like GameDevTV, Cherno, CodeLab have great Java/LibGDX game programming video series. CodeLab in particular has an excellent 50+ video Java Game Development Tutorial playlist where they build a full 2D game from scratch explaining each step. GameDevTV also has comprehensive courses on mastering LibGDX, Java 2D and Java 3D game development. Watching coding tutorial videos is a very engaging way to learn for many and YouTube hosts some of the best video content for Java game programming.
For reliable and extensive resources to learn Java game development, I would highly recommend using the official Oracle Java 2D/JavaFX tutorials for basics, the O’Reilly “Java Game Development” book as the primary guide, supplementing it with the LibGDX documentation and tutorials for framework usage, and Udemy/YouTube for hands-on coding practice videos. Following tutorials from these sources will provide users with a solid foundation and skills to create full-fledged 2D and 3D Java games.
Andrew Stroud