S3 Tutorial: Controlling the Main Timeline of a SWF Embedded at Compile-Time

Today I was working a a new piece of the Essential Flash Games framework that allows sponsor swf files to be embedded at compile time and displayed before a game reaches the title screen. I am using Flash Develop and the Flex SDK, but the embed compiler directive is also available in the latest versions of the Flash IDE. I wanted to embed rather than load to ensure that the final swf file is a single self-contained unit that can be easily spread to game portals. I tried this a number of different ways to no avail. Most of the standard swf embed code works fine with assets inside the library of embedded swf, but not when trying to control the main time line of the swf itself. So, this is what we are going to cover: If you have been trying to embed swf files at compile time but cannot get your code to recognize the embedded swf, or the totalFrames attribute of the embedded swf returns 0, or if the swf only shows the final frame of your animation then read on. I had all of those problems today and more, but finally figured out a method to make this work properly.

Controlling the Main Time Line of a swf file embedded at run time.

1. Here is the asset that we are going to embed. I Embed all of my assets in a separate Library class as Static Const variables. This could just as easily be in the main document class for your game or application. I will do it the later way here to keep it uncomplicated. This assumes that the 8bitrocketlogo2.swf is in the same folder as the document class. This logo swf is a multi frame animation with 85 frames on the main time line(its just important that there is more than a single frame because you will want to see if you can play and jump to frames to ensure you have control over the time line)... [more]

amesChart's Barry White Responds (redux)

Last week I did a some coverage of GamesChart and it sparked a little controversy. It seems that one of the principals behind the new venture is none other than Barry White from the now defunct GameJacket. You can't forget Barry as he has the single best name in the games business. Anyway, while Steve and I had nothing but good fortune working with Game Jacket, there are quite a few who were owed money when the company finally went south.  It seems that some people have also been receiving emails directly from Barry about GamesChart and he was being accused of "spamming" people who do not want to receive this email. It is fair for people to be upset about supposed spam, especially when the terms of the Game Jacket user agreement stated that they would not sell or use the email list for anything other than GameJacket related correspondence.

So, my first question for Barry was where he was getting the email addresses he was sending to because 8bitrocket had been a long time member of GameJacket and we did not receive any spam email from him.  Here is his response:

8bitrocket: Barry, we did not receive any email(s) from you about GamesChart. Where did the list come from that you are sending to?...[more]

ad information can be annoying, but bad information in the hands of decision makers can be downright dangerous. An article that was posted today by CIO magazine is just such a thing. The article is entitled "Is it Time for the Web to Abandon Flash?", and it gives current I.T. decision makers some very very bad advice about Flash and HTML 5. (much more after the jump, including vitrol, graphs and funny stories involving coyotes: read on!)

pdated! - Barry White Responds.

GamesChart (Game Jacket Guys Get Back Into The System?) 

Barry White left a message below with some very detailed information on GamesChart.

"I do just want to point out that we are in very early Developer Beta, so there''s lots of things that haven''t been added yet and we''ve still got to include more category charts on the API and also launch the Publisher Beta. That''s the main reason why all the games are being directed back to GamesChart.com ..not because it''s a pyramid scheme. In fact, if all goes to plan - I would be over the moon if none of the games ever linked back to the main site :P"

• Every game that has the GamesChart API embedded in it is tracked by GamesChart
• The API also loads in a series of dynamic charts that actually display within the Flash game itself
• The most popular games each week make their way to the top of the charts
• Any gamers who click on a game listed in these charts is taken to play that game on another portal
• Publishers use an advanced pay per click bidding system to purchase this traffic and drive users back to their own sites to play the games they have bid on
• Games need to be uploaded to the Publishers portal before they can receive traffic (big upside)
  
• Developers receive up to a 50% revenue share of any outbound clicks generated from within their game should they choose to display it (also full blacklisting available)
  
• Publishers also receive 10% of total revenues generated from any GamesChart enabled games featured on their site

...[more]

Here is a short video of the "Plus" version of "Flak Cannon" from the "Essential Guide To Flash Games Book".  I have taken the game beyond the scope of the book.  A free tutorial will be available later this year that describes how to take the game described in the book and enhance to it make this game.  In the meantime it will go out "virally" self-sponsored by the book.

The book now has a release date of March 12, 2010.  since we are in final final minor text revisions, it seems like this date is firm.

pple/Adobe/HTML 5 Saga: Who Is Big Brother Now?

Well, I never expected to be writing about HTML5 years before it will be finished, but the whole iPad/No Flash support saga has me up at night wondering if we need to move sooner than later.

First off, far from Apple relenting on Flash, Steve Jobs called Adobe "lazy" yesterday because they won't fix some (alleged) bugs in Flash.

At the same time, these guys over at Freeciv has done some rendering tests between different browsers and the HTML 5. The FPS seems pretty low, which is what we saw when we looked at the HTML 5 NES emulator a few days ago. Still, the HTML 5 Canvas seems to be gaining steam as Flash has taken a beating in the press in the past few days.

In our view, the iPad appears to be a (new) feature-free, broken system without support for multiple plug-ins. It's a closed, totalitarian universe. Wow, have things changed at Apple in the past 25 years. Remember this commercial?

Who is big brother now?

hy Does Apple Hate Flash: The HTML 5 Canvas Might Be The Answer

Many people on the web have been questioning why Apple "really" hates Flash and why it has not been included in the iPod Touch, iPhone, or new iPad. Everything from "Flash runs slow" to "Flash is not secure" from "Apple was to control all apps" to "Apple hates Adobe" have been bandied about by internet pundits world-wide. However, while all of these are probably partially true, we think we might have found the "real" answer.

The iPod touch, iPhone and iPad all include Apple's Safari web browser. Apple has been very active in the creation of the next generation HTML 5 spec. In fact, many people have speculated that HTML 5 support for H.264 is the reason why Apple can ignore Flash and it's video capabilities. However, it's not just H.264 video that Apple has hand in creating. They have also had significant influence in the creation of a new JavaScript element in HTML 5: The Canvas.

The HTML 5 Canvas is basically a bitmap screen that can be manipulated with JavaScript in HTML. Bitmaps can be loaded, cut, displayed, tiled, scrolled, collision detected, etc. all without any kind of external plug-in. These are the same functions that many professional Flash developers use to create their games. In fact, some HTML 5 developers have already created games that work in modern browsers and look very much like Flash games. This platform game is very good example:

Millionaire Tycoon Jameson Hsu From Mochi Media removes his monacle for a bit to talk about the Shanda Buyout And Mochi game intellectual property. We asked Jameson a question about how Shanda will treat developer intellectual property in the Mochi system. This was his response. Very encouraging.

Here is  link to the full chat: http://mochiland.com/articles/log-from-live-community-chat-with-jameson-and-bob

(PS: Jameson, we jest.  We know you don't have a monocle...yet).

bitrocket Inter-Media Mash-Up: January 28, 2010

Its no secret that I have had my head buried in the proverbial sand over the last month, slogging through page after page of revisions on the book we are writing. I have not had too much time to visit blogs and have not visited a message board other than BigSoccer.com in a number of weeks. But, the lovely folks who fill up my in-box daily have sent me a few good links, and also I have squeezed out a few minutes to play, view, listen to, read, and consume media (including Flash Games) of all sorts (in small digestible pieces) that might be of interest to some readers. Here is what I have been taking a look at, in no particular order...

Bit Trip Beat
I finally played this game. I know, Steve reviewed it a few months back, and I did play it for a few minutes then, but I never purchased it. I downloaded the demo from Wiiware and was hooked from the first twist of the Wiimote... [more after the jump]

ast week I spent over an hour talking with one of my favorite game journalists, Tom Chick, about one of my favorite games of all-time, Roller Coaster Tycoon.    Actually, we seemed to discuss many things other than Roller Coaster Tycoon, but it was still fun.

You can listen to it here:

http://www.quartertothree.com/fp/2010/01/28/qt3-games-podcast-jupiter-jones-and-rollercoaster-tycoon/

o it looks like the new iPad, the one that apple claims is  the "Best Way To Surf The Web", does not support Flash.    That  means that any full-form web site that uses Flash for ANYTHING will not work correctly.  This is not just games or animations, but all sorts of features that ubiquitous for normal web browsing:

-Flash ad rotators, and rich advertisements

-Flash audio players

-Flash  video players

-Flash site navigation (menus, menu bars,  etc).

-Flash image  manipuations apps (3D rotate, zoom, crop, etc)

-Flash product demos

-Flash mini sites

-Flash landing pages

-Flash based catalogs  and "Sunday" ads

-Flash photo viewers/manipulators

-Flash educational apps and games

-Flash games and  animations (of course)

By the way , this most likely includes all other plug-ins like Silverlight, Unity, etc..

I'm OK with my iPhone/iPod Touch not having this functionality, but not a device the purports to be a full-page "web browser".  To support the iPad, sites will need to re-written as  straight HTML 4.0 or 5.0 + CSS/JavaScript.   Of course, Flash deve.lopers can still target  the iPhone (and by extension, the iPad) with Flash CS5, but that is just for native apps. 

Technology-wise,  Apple may have just taken the world  a year or so into the future with an  amazingly cool design.  However, for web site development and Flash (and other) plug-in support, they have taken us 10 years into the past.  You know, back when the bubble burst.

(last paragraph edited @2:02 Pacific Time by ickydime's clarification request)

pdate:

Jameson Hsu of Mochi Media confirmed yesterday (1/27/2010) that Shanda does not intend to do anything with developer I.P. that would jeopardize Mochi's standing in the development community.  This is great news.  We will continue to follow this story and report anything that might be of note.

How did we miss this?:
Mochi Media Acquired By Shanda Games For $80 Million

Great.  

Here is an article about these guys and their (alleged) notorious "Gold Farming" ways of old. Hopefully things have turned around a bit for them. Apparently Shanda has been trying to go legit (if in fact they needed to "go legit", which is still a not quite clear) for a couple years, so this could be a positive step for Mochi, but it might also just be a way for their funders to finally get a payout.

However, one word of caution.  Remember this from Mochi Terms Of Service:

lash Indie Game Review Mash-up: January 19, 2010

I am going to "clear" out the notebook (so to speak) and review a list of games that people have sent me over the last few weeks. I have not had time to do reviews in that time, but I as encourage people to send games for review it would be nice if I actually reviewed some of them every once in a while.

Games reviewed: Right Brained Robot, Luminr, Vowels in Your Bowels, 2mazed, 2009 The Game

Game: Right Brained Robot
Author: Ace The Super Villain

ave you ever wondered what the pages of a book look like when they are in the middle of being reviewed by multiple people?  No?  Too bad. Here are some examples anyway.  See all those different colored balloons to the right?  Those are are the digital voices of people who know much more about writing books then you do, making that fact well-known.

We just recieved this nice email from Flash Game Developer Jens Winterstein. He recently dug into our library of free music loops to use in one of his games:

 

(more after the jump)

he office politik: Twilight v. The Atari 800

Ok, so I really want to write something about Flash games or indie games, or retro games, but every ounce of my energy for and interest in those topics is being funneled into the final revisions for the book. I would love to "mash some Flash shit up" or review some "sweet retro zar jaz", but I'm struck with something worse than writers block: I have been "Twilighted!". Some of you may well know that Steve and I don't get to work on indie games all day long. We both work for a very large American multi-national company. While I would love to live the indie life all day in and day out, I have not been able to find the right combination of Mochi pennies and contract dollars to do so. Maybe once the book is complete I will try again, but for now I keep my family living in sunny Southern California because of my day job.

Let's get something straight though, I don't particularly like working for that "man", but it is a necessary evil right now. I am damn lucky to have decent job in the current economy, so I am not crying. There are people and tasks at every company that I probably wouldn't like or respect very much. So when you (the reader) starts to say to him/her self:

"Oh shit, here we go again, this American twit is going to complain about the state of I.T. in 2010 or he is going to rage on about how making money and living comfortably in California sucks! What a wanker!"

Don't worry, I'm not there today...[more after the jump]

rt Clokey was one of the masters of "stop motion" animation. He is best known for the "Gumby" cartoons.

Gumby : The Small Planets

There were a few episodes the dealt with space. This one stands out as the best....and most bizarre.

"My beautiful arpeggio ruined!"