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libGDX

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libGDX vs Unity: What are the differences?

libGDX: A Java game development framework that provides a unified API that works across all supported platforms. The framework provides an environment for rapid prototyping and fast iterations. Instead of deploying to Android/iOS/Javascript after each code change, you can run and debug your game on the desktop, natively. Desktop JVM features like code hotswapping reduce your iteration times considerably; Unity: Unity brings state-of-the-art, affordable multiplatform tools and services to developers of interactive content everywhere. Unity is the ultimate game development platform. Use Unity to build high-quality 3D and 2D games, deploy them across mobile, desktop, VR/AR, consoles or the Web, and connect with loyal and enthusiastic players and customers.

libGDX and Unity can be primarily classified as "Game Development" tools.

libGDX is an open source tool with 15.7K GitHub stars and 5.86K GitHub forks. Here's a link to libGDX's open source repository on GitHub.

Decisions about libGDX and Unity
norlin
Software Engineer / Game Developer at Norlin Games · | 7 upvotes · 79.6K views

When I started to learn game development, I've tried to use Unity multiple times because it's the most popular option. But never get it worked because of the clunky UI which is very hard to understand for a new user. After some time, I've decided to try UE4 despite there was a lot of rumors that it's "heavy" or requires an AAA team. And suddenly it clicked, everything works as I expecting, UI is clear and much more powerfull, no need to build custom tools to work on the game itself. Blueprints are very helpful for beginners, C++ has a lot of "syntax-sugar" - macroses, a lot of convenient in-engine types for everything. Later while working with Unreal, I've realized it has very consistent roadmap with constant improvements and adding new features. At the same time, each major version update is painless so you can upgrade your project during development to get new features. UE4 is free to use with the full list of features and you only have to pay royalty after getting your first $1 million from the project (and that's just the default case, you can always discuss custom license with an upfront fee, if you want to).

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Arthur Osipyan
Software Engineer at Value Industry · | 2 upvotes · 77K views

I chose Unity over Unreal Engine because Unity has a more user friendly UI for beginners looking to learn game development. Additionally, as someone who uses a lot of online resources to learn new languages and tools, I found a lot of tutorials covering game development with Unity as the core engine. This doesn't mean Unreal is not a great choice for game development, I just personally found learning game development much smoother with the amount of resources available with Unity.

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Pros of libGDX
Pros of Unity
  • 1
    Knows exactly what happening
  • 1
    Java
  • 1
    Fully control
  • 16
    Because it's a powerful engine, you can build anything
  • 14
    C# language
  • 11
    Very Popular
  • 7
    Easy to Use
  • 6
    He Has A Free VErsion
  • 6
    Cross Platform
  • 5
    2nd Game Engine In The World
  • 4
    Good Choise
  • 4
    Very Large Showcase

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Cons of libGDX
Cons of Unity
  • 1
    No GUI
  • 4
    Hard to get started with
  • 4
    Clunky UI
  • 4
    Closed source
  • 3
    No consistency with updates
  • 3
    Requires to build a lot of tools
  • 2
    Gigantic by being 9gb (thats what setup says)

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What is libGDX?

The framework provides an environment for rapid prototyping and fast iterations. Instead of deploying to Android/iOS/Javascript after each code change, you can run and debug your game on the desktop, natively. Desktop JVM features like code hotswapping reduce your iteration times considerably.

What is Unity?

Unity is the ultimate game development platform. Use Unity to build high-quality 3D and 2D games, deploy them across mobile, desktop, VR/AR, consoles or the Web, and connect with loyal and enthusiastic players and customers.

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What companies use libGDX?
What companies use Unity?
See which teams inside your own company are using libGDX or Unity.
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What tools integrate with Unity?

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What are some alternatives to libGDX and Unity?
MonoGame
It is a free C# framework used by game developers to make games for multiple platforms and other systems. It is also used to make Windows and Windows Phone games run on other systems.
Android Studio
Android Studio is a new Android development environment based on IntelliJ IDEA. It provides new features and improvements over Eclipse ADT and will be the official Android IDE once it's ready.
Cocos2D-X
Cocos2d-x is an open-source and cross-platform open source free 2D game engine for mobile game development known for its speed, stability, and ease of use
Godot
It is an advanced, feature-packed, multi-platform 2D and 3D open source game engine. It is developed by hundreds of contributors from all around the world.
JavaFX
It is a set of graphics and media packages that enables developers to design, create, test, debug, and deploy rich client applications that operate consistently across diverse platforms.
See all alternatives