The Game API package, which in itself is an extension of LCDUI and thus the MIDP 2.0 API, provides a series of classes that enable the development of rich gaming content for wireless devices.
Mobile devices have minimal processing power, so much of the API
is intended to improve performance by minimizing the amount of work
done in Java™; this approach also has the added
benefit of reducing application size. The APIs are structured to provide
considerable freedom when implementing them, thereby permitting the
extensive use of native code, hardware acceleration and device-specific
image data formats as needed. The API uses the standard low-level
graphics classes from MIDP (Graphics, Image, and so on) so that the high-level Game API classes
can be used in conjunction with graphics primitives. For example,
it would be possible to render a complex background using the Game
API and then render something on top of it using graphics primitives
such as drawLine.
The Game API has its own package: javax.microedition.lcdui.game. It is included as part of the MIDP 2.0
API specification. The API was first introduced in S60 2nd
Edition and Series 40 2nd Edition.
This guide features the use of the following MIDP 2.0 Game API features:
Class GameCanvas, a subclass of Canvas with game-related features
Class Sprite, for animated sprites
Class TiledLayer, for tiled game backgrounds,
including animated tiles
Class LayerManager, for managing Sprites and TiledLayers
The following MIDP 2.0 features will also be covered, as they are useful for games:
MIDP 2.0 Media API, for playing sound effects
Features of the MIDP 2.0 low-level UI, including transparent images, full-screen mode, vibration, and backlight flashing
For more information about the Game API, see: