GameDev.net Gives The Essential Guide To Flash Games 4 Gs!
GameDev.net has reviewed The Essential Guide To Flash games, and has given it 4 Gs!
Here is a good quote:
"The level of the book starts off quite simply. While it might help to
know a bit of computer programming, knowledge of ActionScript or the
"Flash way of doing things" isn't important. If you have a little bit of
programming, the book will move at a reasonable pace to teach you the
rest."
While the review has a few inaccuracies (there are 10 games, not 6, and while we don't create and graphics for title screens we certainly create them in our framework and we also show you how to create a high score table with Mochi services), it's still nice to see a review in the wild.
You can read the review here:
http://www.gamedev.net/columns/books/bookdetails.asp?productid=778
Fixed Stand-Alone Flash Player 10.1 Will Be Not Be Released Until The Final Version Of 10.1 Player
Earlier this week I found out (and tested) that Adobe had fixed bitmapData.hitTest() in the latest RC2 version of the Flash Player. However, the stand-alone player delivered with CS5 was not updated. This means that you still have to test all your code in a browser, and not in the Flash IDE.
Now word had come from Adobe that the stand-alone player will not be updated until the final version of 10.1 is released. I was just this on the Adobe prerelease forums.
"Flash CS5 released with the beta 3 version of Player 10.1. We will
release a StandAlone player update once the final version of the Player
ships."
While this is not a huge issue, it does means that until 10.1 is finalized, you will need to download the 10.1 RC2 Flash player, and test all your code in an external browser. If not, you may still find weird bugs even though you think you have updated to 10.1 RC2.
Adobe Fixes bitmapData Collision Detection issue in Flash layer 10.1 RC2!!!
I've had an open issue with Adobe for the past 6 weeks that was so grievous, I did not even want to talk about it openly: Flash Player 10.1 crashed to the desktop when trying to run the game Flak Cannon from "The Essential Guide To Flash Games".
I was able to zero the offending code down to the any place where there was a check of the bitmapData.hitTest(). Simply replacing that code with a standard hitTestObject() would make the problem go away...except it would also render most of the cool part of Flak Cannon useless, as the game play is pretty-much based on pixel-perfect collision detection.
I'm happy to say that Adobe informed me yesterday that this issue has been fixed in Flash Player 10.1 RC2, available here:
http://labs.adobe.com/downloads/flashplayer10.html#flashplayer10
Whew! I'm sure this issue could have affected 100's of games and apps that have already been published on the internet. I'm very happy Adobe waited to fix bugs like this before they let 10.1 into the wild. Bravo!
Essential Guide To Flash Games Errata F.A.Q.
Unfortunately when you write a book, some things get lost in the translation from manuscript to the final product. This is a running list of things that need changing or clarification for the book "The Essential guide To Flash Games". Even though we did everything possible to avoid these errors, we sincerely apologize for them.
Also, if you have anything to add, please put them in the comments below:
Chapter 1:
- P 8 : the lines "A package is finite grouping of classes that are used for a similar
purpose. The game framework itself will be package." should read: "A package is finite a grouping of classes that are used for a similar
purpose. The game framework itself will be a package." - P. 20: there should be a semi-colon ";" at the end of the line "chancesLabel.text = "Misses:"
- P. 41: "'away' should be 'enemy'": The code on page 41 says "break away". It should read "break enemy"
- P 41: The text reads "break out of the nested loop and get me the next item from the main loop". In this specific case, the execution break both loops. The text should read: "break out of the nested loop and get and resume execution after the main
loop" - P 41: To fix the problem stated above and make the code break out of only one loop, the following code should be used:
enemy: for (var i:int=enemies.length-1;i>=0;i ) {
tempEnemy = enemies[i];
missile: for (var j:int=missiles.length-1;j>=0;j ) {
tempMissile = missiles[j];
if (tempEnemy.hitTestObject(tempMissile)) {
score++;
scoreText.text = score.toString();
makeExplosion(tempEnemy.x, tempEnemy.y);
removeEnemy(i);
removeMissile(j);
break missile;
}
}
}
- No Flex SDK in ch. 1 : There was no code in chapter 1 for the Flex SDK. This was by design, but some people have asked for it. This is a link to a set of code and a short explanation for the ch. 1 games written specifically for the Flex SDK. Get it here:http://www.8bitrocket.com/newsdisplay.aspx?newspage=38671
Chapter 2
Page 87
content.autoSize should content.autoSize=true;
label.autoSize should be label.autoSize=true;
Chapter 4 & 5:
- P. 174: SoundManager missing: If you are copying the code directly from the book, you will need to change the constructor in GameFrameWork.as to the following:
public function GameFrameWork() {
soundManager = new SoundManager();}
This issue does not exist in the code downloaded from the FoED web site. We are working with FoED to update this in all future copies of the book, and to alert previous buyers of the change.
- Flack instead of Flak: If you see any instances of the word "Flack", they are supposed to be read "Flak". Please note any you find in the comments below
- No crosshairs.gif: There is no crosshairs.gif file in any of the code put up for download (although this should be fixed soon). Here is the image you need:
- Crash!: The Game Crashes in Flash Player 10.1 RC1 or before: This was an Adobe created bug in Flash Player 10.1 RC1. They have fixed it in RC2. You can get the details here.
Chapter 5:
- ScoreBoard Flashing: The ScoreBoard flashes in the background in the games in Chapter 5. This not really Errata, but it is a bit annoying and can be easily fixed.
You can take-out the code in Main() that adds scorboard init():
//addChild(scoreBoard);
Then change the that creates
levelInScreen so that it is 20 pixels shorter than the screen size (580)
and add a line of code to makes sure levelInScreen appears below the
scoreboard (so it does not "flash" when levelInScreen is displayed)levelInScreen = new
BasicScreen(FrameWorkStates.STATE_SYSTEM_GAME_OVER, 580,400, false,
0x000000);levelInScreen.y = 20;
and add it later
by overriding a function like this:override public function
systemNewGame():void {
addChild(scoreBoard);super.systemNewGame();
}
Chapter 10:
- Driving off: The driving code in chapter 10 seems a bit off. This is a link to a tutorial on how to update it:http://www.8bitrocket.com/newsdisplay.aspx?newspage=38757
Chapter 12:
- Mochi missing: The Mochi package needs to be included in GameFrameWork.as. See this story for details: http://www.8bitrocket.com/newsdisplay.aspx?newspage=39058
- Tunnel Panic in the Flash IDE: To export Tunnel Panic in Ch. 12 in the flash IDE you need to have Access Network Only set. See this story for details: http://www.8bitrocket.com/newsdisplay.aspx?newspage=39101
Flash And Flex Developer Magazine Gives "The Essential Guide To Flash Games" a Gobsmackingly Great Review!!
The current issue of Flash and Flex Developer Magazine (free download) has two articles about "The Essential Guide To Flash Games" book. The first is part one of "Creating An AS3 Game Framework" which is Chapter 2 of our book. It will be continued in the next issue. The second article is a review of the book. We are really speechless about how great the review reads.
I'm not even sure if it is legal for me to do this, but I'm posting the review below. I need to do it for posterity. I never thought something we made would get a such a good magazine review.
However, PLEASE go download the magazine (again, it's a free virtual magazine) and read our article on Creating an AS3 Game Framework (and all the other great articles), then patronize all their sponsors. Thanks!
Why not buy the book now?
The Essential guide To Flash Games: Facebook Page: Please "Like It"
OK, there is nothing really special to note here, except that we have created a "Facebook" page for the "Essential Guide To Flash Games". We would really appreciate it if you could go over there and "like" it so it can get a bit of promotion. We might actually buy a Facebook ad to see it it gets us any traffic.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Essential-Guide-To-Flash-Games-Book/117111721651800?ref=ts
Thanks,
Steve and Jeff Fulton
PS: Yes, we are groveling.
Terry Paton Gives Our book A Nice Review!
One man Flash Game factory Terry Paton has reviewed our book on his site, and he had some very nice things to say:
"The examples give a great understanding for how game engines work. Once
you've gone through the various chapters and the game tutorials you
should come out the other end knowing how to make a variety of game
engines and have enough insight to develop ones they didn't cover."
Go on over to Terry's Site to check it out. While you are there, why not play his latest game, Drive 2. It's a very well made, top-down scrolling arcade racer...may a favorite kind!
Using the Essential Flash Games Framework Hint #1: The mochi package
We have a had a few emails from people who are having some trouble publishing the games from the framework. One of these was an actual problem and it was fixed with a new code update yesterday. While the text in the book is correct, the files on the download site were wrong.
Most of the other problems have been confusion over what parts the framework are necessary for the games. The short answer is THE ENTIRE FRAMEWORK is necessary even for games that don't need some of the classes. This doesn't mean that you will compile the entire framework into each game, but the classes in the
/source/classes/com
and
/source/classes/mochi
folders are needed for all of the games to compile.
This is necessary even though only the final game in chapter 12 uses Mochi. The reason being that even though the framework is built upon and iterated through the 12 chapters, we only delivered the final full version of the com.efg.framework package with the book source code.
The com.efg.framework.GameFrameWork.as file imports the mochi.as3.* package in this final version. If you plan to just compile the source and not work through the chapters (a very likely scenario), you must make sure not to omit importing any of the classes used in this file or delete the packages from the source folder. Both the IDE and FlashDevelop delivered project and source files already have class paths set for these to work properly. You do not need to do ANYTHING for them to work correctly. Just don't delete classes even if you think you will not need them.
The Mochi classes add a little overhead to the framework, but not enough for you to need to delete the references to them if you are not going to use them.
Using the Essential Flash Games Framework Hint #2: Mochi Ads and the IDE
In Chapter 12 we explore adding Mochi ads to the Essential Flash Games framework. In the IDE I have found a slight problem that has been fixed in the new code download, but it is an easy fix for you to make yourself.
The Tunnel Panic game fla in chapter 12 (TunnelPanic.fla) works fine in the IDE when exported with the "Access Local Files Only" setting selected in the Publish Settings >Flash >Local Playback Security option. But the ads don't show and the game never starts with this setting when you attempt to play the SWF outside the IDE (in a browser or with the various debug players).
This is easily fixed by changing the setting to "Access Network Only" and re-publishing.
I have not seen this problem before and the FlexSDK version is unaffected . It might only be a problem with the debug players, but to be safe, change this setting before publishing or exporting this .fla in the Flash IDE.