Real World Flash Game Development

Looking for feedback

I’m now seeing a decent stream of traffic to this site each day, since the release of the book in stores.  While I have no concept of how well the book is moving off the shelves (yet), I am curious about those who have purchased it and are visiting this site.  I’d love to hear what you think of the book – what you like, what you think I could improve, what you would like to see more/less of in a follow-up.  Almost all of the pages on this site are set up for comments, or feel free to email me directly at chris [at] flashgamebook.com (if you’d rather not post publicly).

The same goes for questions anyone has. I’d hate for someone to be reading the book and feel confused about something; I’m here to help!  And for those of you who have yet to purchase the book, what are you waiting for?  :-)

Real World Flash Game Development is out!

It’s official.  Almost exactly a year ago, I signed the contracts that would eventually bring this book to life, and now it is available and shipping from multiple retailers!  If you haven’t, order your copy today!

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Elsevier (my publisher)

The book has gone to print

The book has gone to the printing presses as of today, and the two downloadable appendices are now available in their respective sections, here and here.  Be sure to pre-order it if you haven’t already!

Appendix C

In this appendix we look at some examples using JSFL, the scripting language for controlling the Flash IDE.  We’ll learn how to create some useful examples which can speed up development time by reducing repetitive tasks.

Downloadable Chapter

Appendix C Files

Appendix A

In this companion appendix to Chapter 14, we’ll look at the code behind some examples utilizing the camera and microphone features of Flash.  If you’ve never worked with either of these features, this is a good primer before jumping into the game code.

Appendix A Files

Chapter 18

In the final chapter of the book, we’ll examine the security aspects of Flash and what you can do to protect your data, your code, and your hard work from hacker jerks.

Chapter 18 Files

Chapter 17

Once you’ve gotten through the core of the development process, it’s time to start debugging and optimizing.  This is the subject of Chapter 17.  I’ll discuss techniques and utilities to aid in debugging, as well as thoughts on ways to optimize your code.

Chapter 17 Files

Chapter 16

In Chapter 16, we build upon the foundation laid in Chapter 14.  We take the MixUp puzzle game and convert it to work as a two-player game, utilizing the new RTMFP feature in Flash Player 10.  We channel two camera feeds between users to add a whole new dimension to the game.

Chapter 16 Files

Chapters 12 & 13

In Chapters 12 and 13 we look at issues surrounding code structure, like design patterns and basic standards.  We look at a couple of effective models for organizing your classes in preparation for the big projects in Chapters 14 and 15.

Chapter 12 Files

Chapter 13 had no associated files.

Chapter 9

Chapter 9 deals with using external data, specifically XML, as a source for your game’s content.  We’ll dissect a crossword puzzle game to see how XML provides a flexible, re-usable container for text-based elements.

Chapter 9 Files