Java: Slick game development - Part #1 Setting up Eclipse

Slick is a 2D game library for Java. It uses OpenGL for rendering. It also contains a lot of utility functions. I want to do a little bit of game programming so instead of writing my own engine (as I would do normally), this time I'm testing Slick.

Step #1: Download Slick libraries

You can get the Slick libraries here. Just download the complete package. It includes the LWJGL libraries that provide the OpenGL layer.

Step #2: Create a new Eclipse project

Create a new Java project in Eclipse and amed it Drones.Nothing fancy at this point.


Step #3: Import the libraries

I created a new lib folder, that will contain all my libraries. I copied the slick.jar and lwjgl.jar from the Slick archive into that folder. To add them to the build you have to open the properties of the project and select "Build Path". Then click "Add JARs..." and select the two JAR archives from the lib folder.


Step #4: Import the native libraries

The LWJGL library needs a native runtime library. On windows systems this is the lwjgl.dll you can find in the root folder of the Slick archive. I copied the DLL into the lib folder too. You can choose a "native" subfolder as you like.
You now have to open the "Referenced Libraries" branch in the package explorer and right click the lwjgl.jar to open its properties. In the properties dialog select "Native Library". Here you can select the "Location path" where Eclipse will look for native libraries, when it starts the application. Just select our lib directory here.
Under the hood this step sets the java.library.path property to point to the lib directory. This property defines where Java searches for native libraries.

Now you are done with setting up Eclipse. You should have a structure that looks something like this: