• Home
  • Tutorials
    • Game Development Tutorial>
      • Unit 1: Beginning Java>
        • Before you begin...
        • Day 1: Setting Up
        • Day 2: Java Basics
        • Day 3: More Basics
        • Day 4: Java Math
        • Day 5: More Math
        • Day 6: If... else...
        • Day 7: More Control Flow
        • Day 8: Looping
        • Day 9: More on Looping
        • Day 10: Inheritance, Interface
        • Day 11: Threads and Graphics
      • Unit 2: Creating a Game I>
        • Day 1: Foundations
        • Day 2: Basic Framework
        • Day 3: Taking User Input
        • Day 4: Enter the Robot
        • Day 5: Background and Sprites
        • Day 6: Adding Enemies
        • Day 7: Shooting Bullets
        • Day 8: Animations
        • Day 9: 2D-Arrays
        • Day 10: Painting the Tilemap
      • Unit 3: Creating a Game II>
        • Day 1: Level Creation - Part 1
        • Day 2: Level Creation - Part 2
        • Day 3: Level Creation - Part 3
        • Collision Detection Basics
        • Day 4: Collision Detection Part 1
        • Day 5: Collision Detection Part 2
        • Day 6: Collision Detection Part 3
        • Day 7: Health System & Death
        • Day 8: Basic AI & Final Touches
      • Unit 4: Android Game Development>
        • Day 1: Introduction to Android
        • Day 2: Setting up for Development
        • Day 3: Creating our First Android Application
        • Day 4: Parts of an Android Application
        • Day 5: The Android Game Framework: Part I
        • Day 6: The Android Game Framework: Part II
        • Create an Android Game From Scratch (or port your existing game)
        • Day 7: Creating an Android Game (From Start to Finish)
      • Reference Sheet
    • Zombie Bird Tutorial (Flappy Bird Remake)>
      • Introduction
      • Day 1: Flappy Bird - An In-depth Analysis
      • Day 2: Setting up libGDX
      • Day 3: Understanding the libGDX Framework
      • Day 4: GameWorld and GameRenderer and the Orthographic Camera
      • Day 5: The Flight of the Dead - Adding the Bird
      • Day 6: Adding Graphics - Welcome to the Necropolis
      • Day 7: The Grass, the Bird and the Skull Pipe
      • Day 8: Collision Detection and Sound Effects
      • Day 9: Finishing Gameplay and Basic UI
      • Day 10: GameStates and High Score
      • Day 11: Supporting iOS/Android + SplashScreen, Menus and Tweening
      • Day 12: Completed UI & Source Code
    • Android Application Development Tutorial>
      • Unit 1: Writing Basic Android Apps>
        • Before you begin...
        • Day 1: Android 101
        • Day 2: Getting to Know the Android Project
        • Day 3: The Development Machine
        • Day 4: Building a Music App - Part 1: Building Blocks
        • Day 5: Building a Music App - Part 2: Intents
        • Day 6: Building a Music App - Part 3: Activity Lifecycles
  • Forum
  • About Us
    • Contact Us
  • Our Games
    • TUMBL: FallDown
  • Donate
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

GAME DEVELOPMENT TUTORIAL: Day 1-1: Setting Up

09/16/2012

59 Comments

 
Picture
Welcome to Kilobolt's Android game development tutorial series! I'm James, and I am so glad that you chose to begin this tutorial.

The path to app/game development will be challenging and often frustrating, but it will be an extremely rewarding and satisfying process every step of the way.

So my advice to you is this: persevere and don't feel like you are in this alone. I try to answer all the questions you may have in our Forums, and there are thousands of other readers who would be happy to help. 

Thank you for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful journey. 

Lesson #1-0: What is Java?

Java -- everyone's heard of it. But what is it really?
I'm not going to delve too deeply into Java details, as all of that information IS available online and you are here for one thing: app/game development.

All you need to know for now is that Java is both a programming language (that lets you communicate with computers) and a platform (that is driven by a virtual machine that interprets all of your code).

Java was designed to be everywhere -- in phones, cars, computers, and any other object that is computerized. The developers promised that you would be able to write one program that will run on any device that runs the Java platform. This promise kind of fell short, as Java did not proliferate the world's electronics devices at the rate and the extent people expected; however, a few years ago, Android came along, and this open source platform began to do what Java could not. Android devices started making their ways into cars, desktops, tablets, phones, refrigerators, and more recently, Nexus Q's (update: cancelled). Who knows what else in the future?

Well, Java will be the primary language of all Android app/game development that we will cover (at least in the predictable future), so this is why we will start with Java.

If you already know how to do something that I cover in a lesson, feel free to skip it! I will try to make this guide cumulative, yet easy to incorporate into what you already know. 
_______________________________________________

Now we setup our development environment. I realize this is the most boring part of app/game development... bear with me here and don't be discouraged! This is important!

*One final note* : The following instructions are for Mac and Windows.
_______________________________________________ 

Lesson #1-1: Downloading Java and Eclipse.

Before we can do any sort of Java programming, we must first prepare our development machine!

To install Java Development Kit (JDK - it lets you create java programs), follow the following steps:

Mac users: Most likely, Java is pre-installed on your computer. Skip this. Optionally, check out this link:https://www.java.com/en/download/help/mac_java_update.xml

1. Here's the link to the download (To people reading this guide in the far future: if the following link no longer functions, search for JDK on Google. If Google no longer exists, I don't know... try Bing??).
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/index.html

2. Once you are there, look for "Java SE 7uXX (where XX is any current version... it was 21 when I downloaded it in the image below)" , click Download below JDK.  

3. Below Java SE Development Kit 7uXX, look for YOUR operating system and version to download the corresponding JDK. 

Note: Windows x86 refers to 32-bit, while Windows x64 refers to 64-bit.

You can check this information by right clicking on My Computer (or Computer), properties, and you should see your type next to System type.
Picture
3. When the download is completed, follow the provided instructions to get the JDK installed! 

Now we must download Eclipse, the IDE. Feel free to look up more information on Eclipse, but once you begin programming, you will easily understand what its awesome capabilities are.

Eclipse will compile your code, let you export your code, help you correct your code, organize it, etc. 
It's extremely useful and very powerful!

1. Follow this link to the Eclipse.org's download page: 
http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/

2. Download the corresponding version of Eclipse. Eclipse Classic will be fine here.
Picture
3. You will get a .zip file containing the Eclipse folder. No installation is needed. Place it where you want to, and open eclipse.exe. I recommend that you pin it to your taskbar, dock, or Start menu.

_______________________________________________

Lesson #1-2: Setting up Eclipse:

1. Upon starting Eclipse, it will ask you where you want to place your "workspace." 
Your workspace is where all of your resources, code, assets, etc. will be kept. 
Choose a location that you will be able to access easily.

2. Once that happens, you will see a welcome screen like so: 
Picture
I will pick up right here from the welcome screen in the next lesson!
_______________________________________________
Day 1: Summarized

Today, we discussed Java and began setting up our developmental computers, installing both the JDK and Eclipse.

Tomorrow, we will write our first Java programs and discuss the meaning of Java jargon. 
_______________________________________________ 
Go to Day 2: Java Basics
 


Comments

Chris
09/16/2012 11:44am

awesome!

Reply
Brian
10/30/2012 5:18pm

Hello,
First let me say thank you sooo much for offering these free lessons. Absolutely invaluable to those aspiring! I just downloaded eclipse classic 4.2.1 and i also got the java 6. I am operating windows 7 32bit ultimate edition. The eclipse program wont open though, it says "the eclipse executable launcher was unable to locate its companion library". I have tried downloading from several different mirrors, and i have tried unzipping the file. Do you have any advice for this

Reply
James C.
10/31/2012 7:40am

Refer to:
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/10876538/the-eclipse-executable-launcher-was-unable-to-locate-its-companion-launcher-jar

Reply
Reece
11/13/2012 2:09pm

This is just what I've been looking for. Thank you so much!!

Reply
Tore
11/22/2012 8:44am

This is of great help to me :) I just have a question...You said this tutorial included mac, yet i do not find the operating system listed on the java download site. What should I do? I also own a 32-bit windows system, but they only have 64 or 86

Reply
James C.
11/22/2012 8:53am

Java comes pre-installed on a Mac!
Also, 32 bit is x86 and 64 bit is x64.

Hope that helps :)

Reply
Tore
11/22/2012 9:10am

That was an amazingly quick response. Yes that helps! :D You're great!

Ahad link
12/21/2012 7:16pm

Hey James.
Love your tutorials, just wanted to ask you if I wanted to upload my game to Play Store they ask for $25. Is that a one time fee or do i have to pay everytime i upload an app. Please Reply.

Reply
James C.
12/21/2012 7:23pm

It's a one time fee. Just for registration.

Reply
Primevyl
01/03/2013 7:32am

Thanks so much i will definitely donate! i am very eager to learn all things Android!

Reply
manu alwaye link
01/24/2013 6:24pm

really i am greatful to u as i am a beginer in android with no knoledge in java and c ......as i study the basics and training 4 game devp..from u...its nw feeling like am reached the right place to get started

Reply
Kane
03/29/2013 6:05am

James + all the way. This tutorial
Is by far the best one ive seen online.
Im completley a beginner and im understanding.
If i ever have any questions illbe sure to email youu.

Reply
Yusif Alizade link
03/29/2013 10:46pm

Your lessons really good.i decided read all this. already i read day1 i'll read all lessons soon.it is so useful

Reply
awesome
04/21/2013 2:43pm

james ive got a question.Is java 7 jdk good now because java 6 is the older version?

Reply
James C.
04/21/2013 7:12pm

Yep. Java 7 is fine.

Reply
Erik T
05/08/2013 2:30pm

So i should get Java 7 sdk instead?

Craig
04/27/2013 3:47pm

Hi. Just wanted to say thanks and great job on the tutorials. I've gone through several days, and also skipped around and browsed. It's a lot harder to make a good tutorial than most people think - finding the proper balance of avoiding too much info without giving too little info, while at the same time explaining terms that are common to programmers in ways that a total noob can understand. You've done a great job.

Reply
Yindave
05/22/2013 6:03am

Hi, i just started searching for help and a beginners tutorial to improve my android dev knowledge. I Have to say the way you describe this, and the plans for learning are amazing! the best I ever had/seen in ages! i just finished some pages, but i do hope you keep this up for the following! thanks a lot! i'll gladly donate some!

Reply
Gopi
05/29/2013 12:53am

Hi, first of all thank u for the beautiful tutorial.....
I was trying to download java6 from the link given from u bt I coundn't do it properly, its asking to sign up for oracle's... can u pls guild me ... is it compulsory tat I need to sign up?

Reply
James C.
05/29/2013 8:35am

Just download JDK7.

Reply
Gopi
05/29/2013 11:41pm

Thank u James C

Makara
06/04/2013 8:18am

Wow! that's great. I looking for this too long :)

Reply
thank you+
06/04/2013 8:29am

hey I JUST COMMENTED TO SO TONS OF THAnK yOu.
You hav don a great job by giving dis free tutorial
god bless YOU

Reply
lara
06/20/2013 12:57am

Hi, what is Nexus Q's?

Reply
mohit bhandari
07/14/2013 9:47pm

sir,by mistake i have downloaded 64 bit while my laptob is 32 bit is there any problem in this.it feels great seeing people who are willing to give such free tutorials .thank you

Reply
Saad
07/24/2013 11:16pm

@mohit bhandari, try to download the correct version :)

Reply
Aman
08/05/2013 9:08am

hey i have windows 7 32 bit operating system so which 1 should download

Reply
Jake
08/08/2013 7:44pm

x86

Reply
Click for website developer link
08/23/2013 5:11am

Thanks for sharing these useful information about "Game developer"! Hope that you will continue doing nice article like this. I will be one of your loyal readers if you maintain this kind of post! This is one of the best posts I found so far. The contents are very good and very informative.

Reply
David
08/28/2013 8:38pm

they no longer have eclipse classic which should i use?

Reply
Ali
09/14/2013 4:14am

yea i was also having the same issue but i found it here
--> http://www.filehippo.com/download_eclipse_classic_32/13371/

Note: its 32 bit (x86) .u can also find 64 bit by searching.

Reply
박종화
09/11/2013 7:53am

잘보고 있습니다. 좋은 내용 감사합니다!

Reply
Melenay
09/14/2013 12:24pm

So I wanted to learn these things too and I'm so happy to have found this :D thank you for making this! I do have one question: Is it possible to make games (not big games for pc or something like that) on your own or do you need more people?

Reply
Heanre link
09/20/2013 11:19pm

I AM SO OVERWHELMED WITH THESE TUTORIALS YOU PROVIDED!!!!!

Reply
sayak
09/21/2013 3:39am

hey,i downloaded jdk 7u40 ..... can i work with it or i have to download
Java SE Development Kit 7u21 ? !

Reply
PacMan13x link
10/19/2013 10:21pm

You're good to go.

Reply
goldenboy
09/30/2013 8:14am

hi guys i have download the jdk 7 u40 even 7 u21 but both did not installed i have windows 8 32 bit ...so after trying lots of version i finally drop down to jdk 6 and it works fine ..does it matter ?? please guide i know the updated version may include many new features

Reply
Don
10/17/2013 2:10pm

At the recommended url http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/index.html it shows Java SE 7u45 but there are 3 packages to choose from.
JDK - JDK 7 Docs - Server JRE - JRE 7 Docs

I need the 32-bits but cannot see the options list anywhere.

Can you please advise what I need to do?
Thanks in advance!

Reply
James Cho
10/17/2013 5:56pm

Look for x86 JDK!

Reply
Don
10/18/2013 12:07am

Hi James...

Thanks for your quick response - it's appreciated.

I knew that would be your reply and regretably I have to say that having looked through the options I must be blind because there is absolutely no reference to anything remotely like x86 JDK. I have checked and followed every tab and link on the page in question.

I even ran a search for "x86 JDK" but was redirected to an Oracle problem page for the same.

The image you show above does make the choice simple, however, the image you show and the list on the image does not show.

I wish I could have uploaded the image that is available to me at my end, and I am using the same url you posted above.

I daresay, the fault is mine somehow, but what exactly I don't have a clue.

I have spent hours trying to find the list (above), to no avail :(

I'm sorry to type the above response, because you have done a great job creating the tutorial for us and it truly is appreciated, and of course you are not responsible for who shows what on their pages, (pages do get changed).

After surfing for the aforementioned "x86 JDK" I did find the "Android SDK Bundle (Eclipse)" for Windows at this url:
http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html - that includes the Eclipse software, but didn't download it as it isn't the way you show above.

PacMan13x link
10/19/2013 10:13pm

Don't stress out man. Here, try this
http://download.oracle.com/otn-pub/java/jdk/7u45-b18/jdk-7u45-windows-i586.exe

Reply
Don
10/20/2013 12:02am

@ PacMan13x

*lol* Thanks for your reply :)

It wasn't a case of stressing out from my end - it was more a case of being thorough so you could see that I had read and followed the instuctions and to show my request for help was not a lame "do it for me" stunt ;)

Anyway - that url did the trick so at least I'm off the bench,

Cheers!

Reply
Kaustav
10/23/2013 3:10am

The ECLIPSE link doesn't contain the classic version anymore
it has the standard version
evry time i try to download , it gives a very slow downoad speed and shows error in download after downloading only 11 mb
thre is no problem wid my network
i downloaded th java JDK mentioned above in only 3 mins

Reply
xen
10/29/2013 5:14am

http://www.filehippo.com/download_eclipse_classic_32/download/e36e4f14dd6eba2cf4fd31da5f6efffa/ try this for eclipse classic

Reply
xen
10/29/2013 5:18am

i downloaded jdk 7u45... can i work with it or i have to download
Java SE Development Kit 7u21 ???

Reply
Aegnor
10/29/2013 11:27am

Hey, I have a question, can i use the ADT bundle for this tutorial? Im a begginer in Android development, and i have just (before finding this great tutorial) set up the ADT and JDK... can i follow the tutorial if I use the Eclipse that comes in the Android sdk bundle?

Thanks a lot :)

Reply
jeem
02/11/2014 7:14am

Hi I am a beginner Thanks man for your helpful tutorial.It is really awesome.I have found jdk 7u51 and download it is that ok

Reply
PacMan link
02/12/2014 12:04pm

Yup, you're good to go

Reply
fraze
02/12/2014 2:03am

hey im new to all this programming stuff. im running widows vista 32bit. im tring to download eclipse-standard-kepler-SR1-win32.zip but everytime I try to open it an invalid file error pops up. any way around this?

Reply
PacMan link
02/12/2014 12:02pm

Try this:
http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/download.php?file=/technology/epp/downloads/release/kepler/SR1/eclipse-standard-kepler-SR1-win32.zip&mirror_id=492

Reply
fraze
02/12/2014 3:53pm

hey it worked! thanks man!

PacMan link
02/12/2014 12:02pm

Try this:
http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/download.php?file=/technology/epp/downloads/release/kepler/SR1/eclipse-standard-kepler-SR1-win32.zip&mirror_id=492

Reply
PacMan link
02/12/2014 12:02pm

Try this:
http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/download.php?file=/technology/epp/downloads/release/kepler/SR1/eclipse-standard-kepler-SR1-win32.zip&mirror_id=492

Reply
Mo
02/13/2014 8:33am

So I attempted to download eclipse but after it was done it stated it will run a security scan. That was a day ago and I cant find the program at all.

Reply
David
02/15/2014 3:15am

Hi, James

Thanks for this tutorial but every time I try to open eclipse an error message pops up saying:
A java runtime environment (JRE) or Java Development Kit (JDK) must be available to run eclipse. No java virtual machine was found after searching the following locations:

I don't know why it says this because
I tried downloading both of them and
I reinstalled them lots of times! Please Help!!

Reply
Arpan J.
02/21/2014 7:25am

This is what I was searching for thank you kilobolt lots and lots of thanx

Reply
Casper
03/11/2014 6:01am

A java runtime environment (JRE) or java development kit (jdk) must be available in order to run Eclipse. No java virtual machine was found after searching the following location: D:\eclipse\jre\bin\javaw.exe
javaw.exe in your current PATH

??????????????????????? I cant solve it ;((
i look up on the internet and i have no idea ><"
please help me ~~~

thx

Reply
victor
03/13/2014 4:12pm

great job guys,thanks a lot for what you're doing.QUESTION:I tried cant find eclipse classic on their site,what do I do pls?

Reply
PacMan link
03/16/2014 8:40am

I think Eclipse Classic changed its name to Eclipse Standard. You can go ahead and download Eclipse Standard.

Happy coding!

Reply



Leave a Reply

    Author

    James Cho is the lead developer at Kilobolt Studios. He is a college student at Duke University and loves soccer, music, and sharing knowledge.


© 2014 Kilobolt, LLC. All rights reserved.