What this book covers

Chapter 1, As the Prophecy Foretold, a Hero is Born, introduces you to the fundamentals and specific features of RPG video games, and discusses how this book will help build foundational knowledge for a commercial RPG. This chapter will also walk you through the basics of video game architecture, with a high-level overview of the component layout and application lifecycle in LibGDX. Finally, after learning about setting up your development and build environment, you will run your first demo application.

Chapter 2, Welcome to the Land of BludBourne, initially discusses how to create maps for BludBourne with a tile editor and how to load them using asset management classes. You will then implement your main render loop with a camera for displaying your loaded maps. We will then discuss some features specific to maps, including spawn points and a portal system. Finally, you will learn about adding animation to your player sprite and implementing input handling so that your player can move around the game world.

Chapter 3, It's Pretty Lonely in BludBourne…, discusses how to implement the Entity Component System design pattern for BludBourne. We will then cover scripting support using JSON to define NPC properties. Finally, we will implement a physics component with collision detection and an input component for the NPCs' movement.

Chapter 4, Where Do I Put My Stuff?, covers HUD layouts with skins. We will learn about integrating player stats into the UI. We will then apply this knowledge by implementing a drag and drop inventory system for your player. Finally, we will discuss how to persist player state with save and load game profiles.

Chapter 5, Time to Breathe Some Life into This Town, discusses the theory behind dialog trees and implements an interactive speech system for the NPC characters. Finally, we will develop shop store UIs for the player with item and money transactions.

Chapter 6, So Many Quests, So Little Time…, discusses quest systems, including dependency graph theory and implementation. Finally, we will create a quest log UI, including the steps involved with creating scripts for quests.

Chapter 7, Time to Show These Monsters Who's the Boss, discusses how to implement a battle system with a UI including enemy NPC battle mechanics. We will then look at how we can connect HUD updates to state changes in BludBourne. We will cover a few tricks for implementing the consumption of items from the player's inventory. Finally, we will develop a leveling system for the player.

Chapter 8, Oh, No! Looks Like Drama!, discusses how to integrate sound and music into the world of BludBourne. We will also look at how to create cutscenes and integrate them into the game.

Chapter 9, Time to Set the Mood, covers an assorted list of special effects that can give your RPG some nice polish. We will first learn about creating transitions between screens. We will then learn about the theory behind a shake camera class and implement it. We will then look at how a static lighting model fits into BludBourne, including implementing a day-to-night cycle. Finally, we will cover particle effects that can used to make the spells pop and torches smoke.

Chapter 10, Prophecy Fulfilled, Our Hero Awaits the Next Adventure, covers deployment topics for your game, including discussing digital distribution platforms. We will then look at security measures, including obfuscating save game profiles, executable jars, native launchers, and obfuscating the final packaged JAR. Finally, we will look at a few tips and tricks regarding test coverage for builds and some debugging tips.