Game Assets

Space Birds uses a variety of assets to create its Angry Birds-themed gameplay experience. All assets are stored in the assets/ directory in the project root.

Asset Directory Structure

assets/
├── images/           # Textures and sprites
│   ├── red.png       # Player character (Angry Bird)
│   ├── cerdo.png     # Obstacle enemy (Pig)
│   ├── bala.jpg      # Bullet projectile
│   ├── noche.jpg     # Game background
│   └── space.jpg     # Menu background
├── music/            # Background music tracks
│   ├── angry-birds.mp3  # Menu theme
│   └── battle.mp3       # Gameplay theme
└── sounds/           # Sound effects
    ├── piuw.mp3           # Shoot sound
    ├── muerteCerdo.mp3    # Explosion sound
    └── tension-drones.mp3 # Engine/ambient sound

Images

Player Character

red.png

Texture

Used for: Player-controlled birdLoaded at: SpaceEscape.java:148Display size: 64x64 pixelsDescription: The main Angry Birds character (red bird) that the player controls. This serves as the “spaceship” in the space shooter theme.Hitbox: 75% of visual size (48x48 pixels) for fair collision detection (Player.java:52-56)

Obstacles

cerdo.png

Texture

Used for: Enemy obstaclesLoaded at: SpaceEscape.java:152Display size: 62x48 pixelsDescription: Pig characters from Angry Birds that serve as enemies falling from the top of the screen.Hitbox: 75% of visual size (46.5x36 pixels) for fair collision detection (Obstacle.java:46-50)Spawn rate: Every 0.5 seconds during gameplay (SpaceEscape.java:297)

Projectiles

bala.jpg

Texture

Used for: Player bulletsLoaded at: SpaceEscape.java:154 and Player.java:60Display size: 10x20 pixelsDescription: Red projectiles fired by the player to destroy pig obstacles.Speed: 10 pixels per frame upward (Player.java:110)Cooldown: 0.3 seconds between shots (Player.java:62)

Backgrounds

noche.jpg

Context: Game background (PLAYING state)Loaded at: SpaceEscape.java:140Usage: Rendered at full screen size behind all game objects (SpaceEscape.java:392)Theme: Night sky/space theme for the shooter gameplay

space.jpg

Context: Menu background (MENU state)Loaded at: SpaceEscape.java:142Usage: Rendered at full screen size on the main menu (SpaceEscape.java:384)Theme: Space-themed logo or title screen

Music

Background music loops continuously based on game state.

angry-birds.mp3

Music

Context: Main menu background musicLoaded at: SpaceEscape.java:155-157Configuration:

backgroundMenuMusic = Gdx.audio.newMusic(Gdx.files.internal("music/angry-birds.mp3"));
backgroundMenuMusic.setLooping(true);
backgroundMenuMusic.setVolume(0.5f);

Playback:

Starts when entering MENU state
Pauses when starting gameplay
Resumes when returning to menu from GAME_OVER

Volume: 50% (0.5f)

Gameplay Music

battle.mp3

Music

Context: Active gameplay background musicLoaded at: SpaceEscape.java:158-160Configuration:

backgroundGameMusic = Gdx.audio.newMusic(Gdx.files.internal("music/battle.mp3"));
backgroundGameMusic.setLooping(true);
backgroundGameMusic.setVolume(1.5f);

Playback:

Starts when entering PLAYING state
Pauses when viewing score screen
Stops when entering GAME_OVER state

Volume: 150% (1.5f) - Louder than menu music for intensity

Volume above 1.0 may cause clipping or distortion on some devices. Consider normalizing the audio file instead.

Sound Effects

Sound effects are played as one-off sounds (not looped).

Shoot Sound

piuw.mp3

Sound

Trigger: Player fires a bulletLoaded at: Player.java:59Played at: Player.java:116Volume: 50% (0.5f)Description: Classic shooting sound effect played when the player presses SPACE or right-clicks to shoot.

shootSound.play(0.5f);

Explosion Sound

muerteCerdo.mp3

Sound

Trigger: Bullet hits pig obstacleLoaded at: SpaceEscape.java:161Played at: SpaceEscape.java:340Volume: 70% (0.7f)Description: Pig death sound from Angry Birds, played when a bullet successfully destroys an obstacle.

explosionSound.play(0.7f);

Engine Sound

tension-drones.mp3

Sound

Trigger: Game starts (entering PLAYING state)Loaded at: Player.java:58Played at: Player.java:228 (via player.activate())Volume: 100% (1.0f)Description: Ambient tension/drone sound that plays once when gameplay begins, simulating a spaceship engine or background tension.

engineSound.play(1f);

This is played as a one-shot sound, not looped. For continuous engine sound, consider using Music with looping enabled instead.

Asset Loading

Loading Strategy

All assets are loaded synchronously in the create() method before the game starts:

@Override
public void create() {
    // Initialize rendering
    batch = new SpriteBatch();
    
    // Load textures
    image = new Texture("images/noche.jpg");
    gameLogo = new Texture("images/space.jpg");
    Texture playerTexture = new Texture("images/red.png");
    obstacleTexture = new Texture("images/cerdo.png");
    bulletTexture = new Texture("images/bala.jpg");
    
    // Load music
    backgroundMenuMusic = Gdx.audio.newMusic(Gdx.files.internal("music/angry-birds.mp3"));
    backgroundGameMusic = Gdx.audio.newMusic(Gdx.files.internal("music/battle.mp3"));
    
    // Load sounds
    explosionSound = Gdx.audio.newSound(Gdx.files.internal("sounds/muerteCerdo.mp3"));
    
    // Player loads its own assets
    player = new Player(playerTexture, x, y, width, height, speed);
}

Synchronous loading blocks the main thread. For larger games, use libGDX’s AssetManager for asynchronous loading with a loading screen.

Asset Paths

Assets are accessed using internal file paths relative to the assets/ directory:

// Correct
Texture texture = new Texture("images/red.png");

// Wrong - don't include 'assets/'
Texture texture = new Texture("assets/images/red.png"); // Error!

libGDX automatically handles the assets/ root directory.

Asset Disposal

All assets must be disposed to prevent memory leaks:

@Override
public void dispose() {
    batch.dispose();
    image.dispose();
    font.dispose();
    player.dispose();
    obstacleTexture.dispose();
    backgroundMenuMusic.dispose();
    backgroundGameMusic.dispose();
    whitePixel.dispose();
    explosionSound.dispose();
    bulletTexture.dispose();
}

Dispose assets in reverse order of creation when possible. Always dispose in the dispose() method, not in the destructor.

Asset Generation

The build system automatically generates an assets.txt manifest file listing all assets:

tasks.register('generateAssetList') {
    inputs.dir("${project.rootDir}/assets/")
    File assetsFolder = new File("${project.rootDir}/assets/")
    File assetsFile = new File(assetsFolder, "assets.txt")
    assetsFile.delete()
    
    fileTree(assetsFolder).collect { 
        assetsFolder.relativePath(it) 
    }.sort().each {
        assetsFile.append(it + "\n")
    }
}

This creates assets/assets.txt with contents like:

images/bala.jpg
images/cerdo.png
images/noche.jpg
images/red.png
images/space.jpg
music/angry-birds.mp3
music/battle.mp3
sounds/muerteCerdo.mp3
sounds/piuw.mp3
sounds/tension-drones.mp3

Asset Optimization

Texture Optimization

Current format: PNG for sprites, JPEG for backgroundsRecommendations:

Use PNG for sprites with transparency
Use JPEG for backgrounds (smaller size)
Keep power-of-two dimensions when possible (32, 64, 128, 256, etc.)
Use texture atlases for multiple small sprites
Enable mipmapping for scaled textures

Current sizes:

Player: 64x64 (optimal)
Obstacle: 62x48 (slightly odd, consider 64x48)
Bullet: 10x20 (very small, efficient)

Audio Optimization

Current format: MP3Recommendations:

Use OGG Vorbis for music (better compression, royalty-free)
Use WAV for short sound effects (no decoding overhead)
Reduce music bitrate (96-128 kbps is sufficient for games)
Use mono audio for sound effects (stereo not needed)
Keep sound effects under 1 second when possible

Volume levels:

Normalize audio files to consistent levels
Avoid setting volume > 1.0 in code (causes clipping)

Loading Performance

For larger games:

// Use AssetManager for async loading
AssetManager assetManager = new AssetManager();

// Queue assets
assetManager.load("images/red.png", Texture.class);
assetManager.load("music/battle.mp3", Music.class);

// Update loading (in render loop)
if (!assetManager.update()) {
    float progress = assetManager.getProgress();
    // Show loading bar
}

// Access loaded assets
Texture player = assetManager.get("images/red.png", Texture.class);

Adding New Assets

Add file to assets directory

Place your file in the appropriate subdirectory:

assets/images/ for textures
assets/music/ for background music
assets/sounds/ for sound effects

Load the asset in code

// In create() method
Texture newTexture = new Texture("images/newsprite.png");
Sound newSound = Gdx.audio.newSound(Gdx.files.internal("sounds/newsound.wav"));

Use the asset

// In render() method
batch.draw(newTexture, x, y, width, height);

// When triggered
newSound.play(volume);

Dispose the asset

// In dispose() method
newTexture.dispose();
newSound.dispose();

Rebuild to update assets.txt

./gradlew generateAssetList

Common Asset Issues

Asset not found error

Error: GdxRuntimeException: Couldn't load file: images/sprite.pngCauses:

File doesn’t exist in assets/ directory
Incorrect path (don’t include assets/ prefix)
Case-sensitive file system (Linux/Android)
File not included in JAR/APK build

Solution:

# Verify file exists
ls assets/images/sprite.png

# Regenerate asset list
./gradlew generateAssetList

# Clean and rebuild
./gradlew clean build

Music won't play

Common issues:

Music file too large (>10MB may cause issues)
Unsupported format (use OGG or MP3)
Forgot to call music.play()
Volume set to 0
Music disposed too early

Debug:

System.out.println("Music playing: " + music.isPlaying());
System.out.println("Music volume: " + music.getVolume());

Memory leaks

Symptom: Game crashes after playing for a while, especially on AndroidCause: Assets not disposed properlySolution:

Always dispose textures, sounds, and music in dispose()
Don’t create new textures every frame
Remove bullets/obstacles from arrays when destroyed
Use object pooling for frequently created/destroyed objects

Getting Started

Game Guide

Development

Asset Directory Structure

Images

Player Character

Obstacles

Projectiles

Backgrounds

noche.jpg

space.jpg

Music

Menu Music

Gameplay Music

Sound Effects

Shoot Sound

Explosion Sound

Engine Sound

Asset Loading

Loading Strategy

Asset Paths

Asset Disposal

Asset Generation

Asset Optimization

Adding New Assets

Common Asset Issues

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Getting Started

Game Guide

Development

​Asset Directory Structure

​Images

​Player Character

​Obstacles

​Projectiles

​Backgrounds

noche.jpg

space.jpg

​Music

​Menu Music

​Gameplay Music

​Sound Effects

​Shoot Sound

​Explosion Sound

​Engine Sound

​Asset Loading

​Loading Strategy

​Asset Paths

​Asset Disposal

​Asset Generation

​Asset Optimization

​Adding New Assets

​Common Asset Issues

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Asset Directory Structure

Images

Player Character

Obstacles

Projectiles

Backgrounds

Music

Menu Music

Gameplay Music

Sound Effects

Shoot Sound

Explosion Sound

Engine Sound

Asset Loading

Loading Strategy

Asset Paths

Asset Disposal

Asset Generation

Asset Optimization

Adding New Assets

Common Asset Issues