Litch – Building a 2D Java Game Engine from Scratch

Litch is my personal project: a 2D game engine and framework written in Java, using LWJGL for OpenGL rendering.
The goal is to create a flexible, modular engine for learning, prototyping, and eventually building full games.

✅ What’s Finished

• Window & Rendering Core:
  • Window/context creation with LWJGL.
  • Main game loop and timing.
  • Primitive shape renderer (rectangles, lines, circles).
• Basic UI System:
  • Text rendering (bitmap fonts).
  • Image/sprite rendering for UI elements.
• Entity-Component System (ECS):
  • Scene management.
  • Entity and component registration.
  • Basic transform and rendering components.
• Input Handling:
  • Keyboard and mouse input support.

🛠️ In Progress

• Scene Serialization:
  • Saving/loading scenes and entities.
• Component System Expansion:
  • More built-in components (physics, animation, etc.).
• UI Improvements:
  • More widgets and layout options.
• Resource Management:
  • Texture, font, and asset loading/management.

📝 TODO / Roadmap

• Sprite and animation system
• Physics integration (Box2D)
• Audio playback and management
• Game state management (menus, pause, etc.)
• Documentation and code samples (in progress)
• Demo game(s) to showcase engine features (in progress)

Final Thoughts

Litch is a work-in-progress, but already supports basic 2D rendering, UI, and an ECS architecture.
I’m using it as a learning platform and a foundation for future games.
Contributions, feedback, and ideas are welcome!

Check out the code and follow progress on GitHub.

Stay tuned for more updates as Litch evolves!