How to Make a Platformer Using libGDX (Udacity)

Making and playing games is easily the most fun you can have with a computer, but there are real career opportunities here as well. Over the last decade, mobile gaming has grown into a huge market. Independent game developers are enjoying unparalleled success, and established gaming studios are hiring faster than ever.

In the course '2D Game Development with libGDX' you learned to build a simple game. Now, you'll learn to build a platformer. These are the skills you'll need to enter the world of professional game development.

What you will learn

-Sprites and Animations

Learn to draw using predefined sprites, animations and stretchable nine-patches.

Learn to pack many sprites into a texture atlas that can be efficiently loaded.

- The Player

Create GigaGal and give her the ability to move and jump.

Add separate sprites for facing left, facing right, standing, and jumping.

Add an animation for GigaGal's walk.

- The Platforms

Add the platforms to GigaGal and allow GigaGal to jump on them and fall off again.

- The Camera

Set up the camera to follow GigaGal around the level.

- The Enemies

Add GigaGal's evil robot adversaries.

- The Bullets

Let GigaGal fight back with her arm cannon and create awesome explosions.

- Level Loading

Add the ability to load level data created in an external tool.

- Adding the HUD and onscreen controls

Add a score display, lives counter, and on screen controls for mobile players.

Prerequisites and requirements

This course builds on '2D Game Development with libGDX', so taking that course first is strongly recommended. Otherwise, you'll need familiarity with the basics of libGDX.

This course assumes basic proficiency with Java and Android Studio, including working with collections, implementing interfaces, and extending abstract classes. It is also assumed that you can read and understand documentation and source code.

To brush up on these skills, consider taking Intro to Java Programming and How to Install Android Studio.