Category: Programming Languages

Wikipedia and Documentation API

https://www.love2d.org/wiki/Main_Page

LÖVE calls 3 functions. First it calls love.load(). After that it calls love.update() and love.draw(), repeatedly in that order.

So: love.load -> love.update -> love.draw -> love.update -> love.draw -> love.update, etc.

Behind the scenes, LÖVE calls these functions, and we to create them, and fill them with code. This is what we call a callback.

LÖVE is made out of modules, love.graphics, love.audio, love.filesystem. There are about 15 modules, and each module focuses on 1 thing. Everything that you draw is done with love.graphics. And anything with sound is done with love.audio.

The 2D coordinate system that we use in video games is a relatively straightforward one. Everything is measured in pixels from the top left corner. Nearly all of the drawing commands that we do will be expressed in these coordinates.

The top left corner, (0,0) origin with width and height has a value of zero, zero. The x-axis value (positive) increase moving the left to the right direction. The y-axis value increase moving top to bottom direction.

love.load()

 love.load to do one-time setup of your game

love.update(dt)

 love.update which is used to manage your game’s state frame-to-frame. Much like a game loop

love.draw()

 love.draw() which is used to render the game state onto the screen.

Example

Draw a rectangle and it continues to expand in height and width

-- Load some default values for our rectangle.
function love.load()
    x, y, w, h = 20, 20, 60, 20
end
 
-- Increase the size of the rectangle every frame.
function love.update(dt)
    w = w + 1
    h = h + 1
end
 
-- Draw a coloured rectangle.
function love.draw()
    -- In versions prior to 11.0, color component values are (0, 102, 102)
    love.graphics.setColor(0, 0.4, 0.4)
    love.graphics.rectangle("fill", x, y, w, h)
end

From a folder that contains a main.lua file.

On the VSC’s project folder has the main.lua file, and the Pixelbyte’s Love2D extension support installed. To run the main.lua file just press ALT + L (default keybinding) to run the Love2D game.