Getting Started
Get LÖVE
Download the latest version of LÖVE from the website, and install it. If you're on Windows and don't want to install LÖVE, you can also just download the zipped executables and extract them anywhere.
You can inspect what Version of Löve you have installed like this:
love --version
Making a Game
To make a minimal game, create a folder anywhere, and open up your favorite code editor. Notepad++ is a pretty good one for Windows, and it has Lua support built in. Create a new file in the folder you just created, and name it main.lua. Put the following code in the file, and save it.
function love.draw()
love.graphics.print("Hello World", 400, 300)
end
Running Games
LÖVE can load a game in two ways:
- From a folder.
- From a .love file (a renamed .zip-file).
In both cases, there has to be a file called main.lua in the root path. This file will be loaded when LÖVE starts. If this file is missing, LÖVE will not recognize the folder or .love file as game, and you will be presented with the standard no-game screen. A frequently made mistake is zipping the folder, but only zip its contents for a correct .love.
Windows
On Windows, the easiest way to run the game is to drag the folder onto love.exe, or a shortcut to love.exe. Remember to drag the folder containing main.lua, and not main.lua itself.
There's also the Scite option.
You can also call it from command line:
For instance:
love C:\games\mygame love C:\games\packagedgame.love
On Windows, there is a special option which will attach a console to the Window. This allows you to see standard output.
love --console
Linux
On Linux, you can use the command line:
love /home/path/to/game love /home/path/to/packagedgame.love
If you have installed the .deb, you can double click on .love files in your file manager as well.
Mac OSX
On Mac OSX, a folder or .love file can be dropped onto the Love.app application bundle. On the Mac OSX Terminal (commandline), you can use love like this (assuming it's installed to the Applications directory):
open -a love mygame
In some cases it may be faster to invoke the love binary inside the application bundle directly via the following:
/Applications/love.app/Contents/MacOS/love mygame
You can setup an alias in your Terminal session to call the binary when you use love by adding an alias to your ~/.bash_profile (open -a TextEdit ~/.bash_profile):
# alias to love alias love="/Applications/love.app/Contents/MacOS/love"
Now you can call love from the commandline like Linux and Windows:
love /home/path/to/game
Next steps
- Tutorial:Callback_Functions will teach you the basic structure of a love game.
- Category:Tutorials are the next piece of reading
