Skip to main content
Space Birds uses Gradle as its build system. The project includes Gradle wrapper scripts, so you don’t need to install Gradle separately.

​
Prerequisites

  • JDK 8 or higher - Required for all platforms
  • Android SDK - Required for Android builds (compile SDK 35, min SDK 21)

​
Build Commands

​
Desktop (LWJGL3)

The desktop platform uses LWJGL3 as the backend. 
.\gradlew lwjgl3:run
This command runs the game directly without creating a JAR file.

​
Building Runnable JARs

Create a runnable JAR file that includes all dependencies: 
./gradlew lwjgl3:jar
The cross-platform JAR is about 6-7MB larger than platform-specific JARs. Use platform-specific builds for distribution to reduce file size.
Output location: lwjgl3/build/libs/SpaceEscape_AULA-{version}.jar Run the JAR: 
java -jar SpaceEscape_AULA-{version}.jar

​
Android

Build an APK for Android devices: 
./gradlew android:assembleDebug
Output location: android/build/outputs/apk/
Release builds require signing configuration. Debug APKs are suitable for testing only.

​
Useful Gradle Tasks

TaskDescription
buildBuilds sources and archives for all projects
cleanRemoves build folders with compiled classes
lwjgl3:runStarts the desktop application
lwjgl3:jarCreates a runnable JAR for desktop
android:assembleDebugBuilds a debug APK
testRuns unit tests (if any)
generateAssetListCreates assets.txt listing all game assets

​
Gradle Flags

./gradlew build --continue     # Continue on errors
./gradlew build --daemon        # Use Gradle daemon
./gradlew build --offline       # Use cached dependencies
./gradlew build --refresh-dependencies  # Force dependency validation

​
Project Configuration

Application ID: com.pmm.games Main class: com.pmm.games.lwjgl3.Lwjgl3Launcher Version: Defined in gradle.properties as projectVersion Desktop window: 640x480 pixels (configurable in Lwjgl3Launcher.java:31)

​
Build System Details

The desktop build uses:
  • Backend: LWJGL3 (Lightweight Java Game Library 3)
  • OpenGL: ANGLE GLES20 emulation for better compatibility
  • VSync: Enabled by default
  • FPS limit: Monitor refresh rate + 1
  • Java compatibility: Source and target version 8
The JAR task creates a fat JAR with all dependencies included, making it easy to distribute.
The Android build uses:
  • Compile SDK: 35
  • Target SDK: 35
  • Minimum SDK: 21 (Android 5.0 Lollipop)
  • ABIs supported: arm64-v8a, armeabi-v7a, x86, x86_64
  • ProGuard: Enabled for release builds (code minification)
  • Immersive mode: Enabled for fullscreen experience
Native libraries are automatically extracted and packaged via the copyAndroidNatives task.

​
Asset Generation

The build automatically generates an assets.txt file listing all game assets during the processResources phase: 
./gradlew generateAssetList
This creates a manifest of all files in the assets/ directory.

​
Troubleshooting

Ensure you’re using JDK 8 or higher:
java -version
Set JAVA_HOME to point to a valid JDK installation.
Check that Android SDK is properly configured:
  1. Create local.properties in the project root
  2. Add: sdk.dir=/path/to/android/sdk
Alternatively, set the ANDROID_SDK_ROOT environment variable.
Increase Gradle heap size in gradle.properties:
org.gradle.jvmargs=-Xmx2048m

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get started for freeTalk to us