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Glossary
This glossary defines key terms used throughout LITIENGINE documentation.
Core Concepts
Entity
A game object that exists in the game world. Entities have a name, location, size, and can be rendered. Base class for most game objects in LITIENGINE.
Environment
A game level or scene containing entities, maps, and game state. Only one environment can be active at a time. Accessed via Game.world().environment().
MapObject
An abstract object placed on a Tiled map. Contains properties that define how the object is processed when the map is loaded. MapObjects are converted to Entities by MapObjectLoaders.
Spritesheet
A single image file containing multiple frames of animation or multiple sprites arranged in a grid. Used for entity animations and tiles.
Entity Types
Creature
An entity with collision, combat, movement, and animation capabilities. The most feature-rich entity type, typically used for players, enemies, and NPCs.
Prop
A static or interactive object in the game world. Props can have health and transition through states (intact, damaged, destroyed).
CollisionEntity
An entity that participates in collision detection. Has a defined collision box that can interact with other collidable entities and the environment.
CombatEntity
An entity with health points and combat mechanics. Can take damage, die, and be resurrected.
Trigger
An area-based entity that fires events when other entities enter or exit its bounds. Used for scripting game events.
Emitter
An entity that spawns and manages particles for visual effects like fire, smoke, or magic.
LightSource
An entity that illuminates the surrounding area with dynamic lighting.
Spawnpoint
A marker that defines where entities should appear when spawned.
Controllers
EntityController
A component attached to an entity that controls a specific aspect of its behavior. Controllers are updated every tick.
AnimationController
Manages which spritesheet animation is displayed for an entity. Determines animation based on entity state.
MovementController
Handles entity movement, velocity, acceleration, and collision response during movement.
BehaviorController
Controls AI behavior, typically using a state machine to switch between different behaviors.
Game Architecture
Game Loop
The core update cycle that runs at a fixed tick rate (default 60 ticks/second). Handles game logic and rendering.
Screen
A container for GUI components and game rendering. Screens manage different game states (menu, gameplay, pause, etc.).
Camera
Determines which portion of the game world is visible. Controls viewport position and zoom level.
Resources
Static access point for loading and caching game assets (images, sounds, fonts, spritesheets).
Physics
Collision Box
A rectangular area used for collision detection. Can be smaller than the entity’s visual bounds.
Collision Type
Defines what an entity collides with: STATIC, DYNAMIC, ANY, or NONE.
Force
A physics effect that applies movement to an entity over time. Can be one-time impulse or continuous (like gravity).
Input
Input4j
The input handling library used by LITIENGINE for gamepad support. Replaces JInput as of version 0.11.1.
KeyboardEntityController
A movement controller that translates keyboard input into entity movement.
utiLITI Editor
utiLITI
The dedicated project management and map editor tool that comes with LITIENGINE.
.litidata
The resource bundle file format used by LITIENGINE. Contains spritesheets, sounds, maps, and other assets.
Resource Bundle
A collection of game assets packaged into a single .litidata file for easy loading.
Animation
Keyframe
A single frame in an animation sequence. Animations advance through keyframes at a specified duration.
Frame Duration
How long each keyframe is displayed, measured in milliseconds.
Sprite Prefix
A naming convention prefix used to identify spritesheets for an entity (e.g., “player” matches “player-idle-left.png”).
Combat
Hitpoints (HP)
A combat entity’s health value. When HP reaches zero, the entity dies.
Team
An identifier used to distinguish friend from foe in combat. Entities on the same team typically don’t damage each other.
Ability
A special action that can be executed by a creature. Has cooldown, duration, and optional effects.
Cooldown
The time in milliseconds before an ability can be used again.
Rendering
RenderType
The layer an entity renders on: BACKGROUND, GROUND, NORMAL, OVERLAY, or UI.
RenderEngine
The system responsible for drawing entities, shapes, text, and images to the screen.
Resolution Scaling
A rendering mode where all players see the same portion of the game world regardless of window size.
Configuration
config.properties
A file containing game configuration settings (resolution, audio, input, etc.).
Annotation
Java annotations used to define static entity properties (@EntityInfo, @CollisionInfo, @MovementInfo, etc.).
Tiled Map Editor
TMX
The Tile Map XML format used by Tiled editor. LITIENGINE loads .tmx files as game levels.
TSX
Tile Set XML format. Defines a tileset’s properties and image reference.
Tileset
A collection of tiles used to build map layers. Contains the source image and tile definitions.
Layer
A horizontal slice of a map. Can contain tiles, objects, or images. Layers are rendered in order.
Object Layer
A map layer containing MapObjects (entities, triggers, collision boxes, etc.).
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