AdvancED Game Design with Flash

Prelim......Page 1
Contents at a Glance......Page 6
Contents......Page 7
About the Author......Page 15
About the Technical Reviewer......Page 16
About the Cover Image Designer......Page 17
Acknowledgments......Page 18
Things you need to know......Page 19
Things you need to have......Page 21
Organizing the project folder......Page 25
FLAs and metadata for Flash Professional......Page 26
Setting the path to the class library......Page 27
Packages and namespaces......Page 28
Using SWC Files......Page 30
Testing the class library installation......Page 31
Code format conventions......Page 34
Public properties or getters and setters?......Page 37
Modeling Game Data......Page 41
The problem with Euler integration......Page 43
Understanding Verlet integration......Page 44
Using Verlet integration......Page 45
Using the main application class......Page 53
Figuring out the new velocity, checking collisions, and moving the player......Page 55
Testing the system......Page 57
Revving the Verlet velocity engine......Page 58
Moving the spaceship......Page 61
Understanding MVC......Page 63
MVC in action......Page 65
The view......Page 68
The controller......Page 69
MVC your way......Page 70
An MVC player and map view example......Page 72
The PlayerModel......Page 74
The PlayerView......Page 76
The PlayerController......Page 80
The MapView......Page 81
The PlayerMVC application class......Page 83
Verlet + MVC + physics = fun!......Page 84
Making stars......Page 87
Moving stars......Page 88
Drawing squares......Page 90
Drawing circles......Page 92
Adding filters......Page 93
Gradient fills......Page 94
Drawing the ship......Page 97
Drawing the ship’s thruster flame......Page 98
Add both shapes to a container sprite......Page 99
Using drawPath for really complex shapes......Page 101
Vectors: Ghosts in the Machine......Page 107
Vector characteristics......Page 109
The x and y components......Page 110
Vector magnitude......Page 112
Calculating the angle......Page 113
Vector normals......Page 115
Normalizing vectors......Page 118
Creating the vector model......Page 120
Let’s see what those vectors look like!......Page 127
Updating the vector each frame......Page 130
Rotating text......Page 131
Rounding numbers to a specific number of decimal places......Page 133
Scaling vectors......Page 136
Gravity in action......Page 140
Real gravity......Page 145
Are the vectors pointing in the same direction?......Page 147
DragHandle objects......Page 148
The VectorMath class......Page 149
Projection in action......Page 150
Using vector projection for environmental boundaries......Page 153
Finding the intersection point......Page 156
Intersection in action......Page 158
Collision on one side of the line......Page 162
Getting the vector magnitude and orientation......Page 164
Detecting a collision......Page 165
Resolving the collision......Page 169
Bounce......Page 175
Momentum......Page 178
Solid objects......Page 179
Collision on both sides of the line......Page 181
Bounce, friction, and gravity......Page 186
Embedding fonts......Page 191
Embedding images......Page 193
Create vectors......Page 195
Normalized vectors (unit vectors)......Page 196
Gravity......Page 197
Resolve a collision with a vector......Page 198
Bounce......Page 199
Friction......Page 200
Collisions Between Circles......Page 201
Understanding abstract and concrete classes......Page 202
Creating an abstract Verlet motion class......Page 206
Creating an abstract view class......Page 212
Creating a concrete CircleView class......Page 214
Collisions between moving and stationary circles......Page 221
Collision between a circle and a line......Page 227
Finding the point of contact......Page 228
Finding the edge of the line......Page 233
Collision between moving circles......Page 242
Collisions Between Polygons......Page 263
Understanding SAT......Page 264
Using SAT......Page 265
An SAT limitation......Page 271
Finding the amount of overlap......Page 272
Finding the collision side......Page 274
Rectangle collision handling in action......Page 278
Bounce and friction......Page 282
SAT with triangles—the wrong way......Page 286
SAT with triangles—the right way......Page 287
Triangle collision handling in action......Page 290
Plot the hypotenuse as a vector......Page 291
Create a distance vector between the centers of the objects......Page 292
Project the distance vector onto the hypotenuse’s normal......Page 293
Project the square onto the hypotenuse’s normal......Page 294
Find the dot product......Page 299
Check if the shapes are overlapping......Page 300
Triangle collision wrap-up......Page 301
Circle and square collisions......Page 308
Circle and triangle collisions......Page 316
Left-facing triangles......Page 322
Case study 1: Polygon environment......Page 323
Handling slopes......Page 325
Case study 2: Block Game......Page 326
MVC saves the day again!......Page 327
The application class......Page 329
The GameModel......Page 330
The GameView......Page 332
The GameController......Page 334
Plotting the grid of blocks......Page 340
Pixel-Perfect Collision and Destructible Environments......Page 345
Checking for a collision......Page 350
The problems with bitmap collision......Page 354
Finding the collision boundary......Page 355
Creating bitmaps from sprites......Page 361
Creating the asteroid bitmap......Page 363
Collision with the asteroid......Page 364
Inside out......Page 367
Surfaces......Page 368
Concave shapes......Page 370
A really huge cave......Page 377
Scrolling......Page 379
The mini-map......Page 380
The map marker......Page 384
Using two-dimensional arrays......Page 385
Creating and adding the objects......Page 389
Scrolling the objects......Page 390
Drawing and rotating the cannon......Page 392
Firing bullets......Page 395
Moving and removing bullets......Page 397
Bitmap collision using points......Page 399
Erasing the bitmap......Page 400
Jagged rocks......Page 402
Explosions, Blitting, and Optimization......Page 407
Using timer events for animation......Page 409
Creating the Explosion class......Page 411
Dynamic properties......Page 414
Adding and removing explosions......Page 415
Taking a snapshot......Page 419
Slicing and dicing......Page 424
Tiles, tile sheets, and grids......Page 426
Making the bitmap explosion......Page 428
Introducing bit-block transfer......Page 441
Basic blitting......Page 444
Calculating the frame rate and memory usage......Page 456
MovieClip vs. copyPixels......Page 459
To blit or not to blit?......Page 461
Blit explosions......Page 464
The Perlin noise effect......Page 478
Smoke trail optimization......Page 482
Make It Fun! Sound, Music, and AI......Page 485
Adding sound effects......Page 488
Playing music......Page 491
Playing and pausing......Page 493
Fast-forwarding and rewinding......Page 495
Changing the volume and speaker panning......Page 496
Looping music......Page 499
Using sound and music in a game......Page 500
Finding sound effects and music......Page 502
Creating simple buttons......Page 503
Making custom buttons......Page 504
Chasing the player......Page 516
Structure: your best friend and worst enemy......Page 519
Creating a simple helper class......Page 521
Structuring Escape!......Page 523
Managing game screens......Page 524
Delaying the game-over screen......Page 528
Multiple views of the game data......Page 529
Lying in wait......Page 531
Traveling along a fixed path......Page 536
Managing game states......Page 538
Now make your own game!......Page 540
Tile-Based Game Design......Page 543
The tile sheet......Page 545
Tile sheet coordinates......Page 547
Making a map......Page 548
Describing the map with a two-dimensional array......Page 550
Creating the tile model......Page 552
Putting the map in the game......Page 555
Blitting tiles......Page 561
Reviewing the Map application class......Page 564
Layering maps......Page 569
Making the game character move......Page 572
Jumping......Page 573
Moving with the mouse......Page 574
Blitting a moving character in a tile-based world......Page 577
Understanding spatial grid collision......Page 580
Finding the corners......Page 582
Applying a spatial grid to platform collision......Page 586
Working with round tiles......Page 594
Adding soft platforms......Page 595
Adding elevators......Page 598
Collecting objects......Page 602
Wind them up and let them loose!......Page 606
Squashing enemies......Page 610
Blit animations......Page 613
Movie clips vs. blitting for animation......Page 618
Switching levels......Page 619
Adding a camera......Page 627
Establishing game world coordinates......Page 628
Blitting the tile into a sprite......Page 632
Creating the car’s control system......Page 635
Stuck in the grass......Page 638
Creating the AI car......Page 643
Controlling the AI car......Page 644
Understanding dynamic spatial grids......Page 646
Updating a dynamic grid......Page 647
Creating a collision map......Page 651
Pathfinding......Page 663
Centering game objects......Page 665
Moving and changing direction......Page 666
Moving Button Fairy......Page 667
Changing direction......Page 671
Random movement in a maze......Page 673
Finding an intersection......Page 674
Changing direction......Page 677
Chasing......Page 682
Tile-based line of sight......Page 687
Understanding A*......Page 696
Calculating costs......Page 697
Finding the second step......Page 700
A* in code......Page 707
Creating a node map......Page 708
The complete AStar class......Page 709
Using the AStar class......Page 716
Understanding heuristics......Page 720
Rounding corners......Page 724
Walking the path......Page 725
Influence map......Page 728
Dijkstra’s algorithm......Page 729
XML and External Data......Page 731
Creating and loading shared objects......Page 732
Using shared objects......Page 733
Limitations of local shared objects......Page 738
Loading and saving files to a specific location......Page 739
Loading the file......Page 740
Saving the file......Page 742
The building blocks of XML......Page 744
XML hierarchy......Page 746
XML and ActionScript......Page 749
Reading elements, text nodes, and attributes......Page 751
Reading attributes......Page 752
Looping through elements and attributes......Page 753
Finding all the child elements......Page 754
A better way to find what you’re looking for......Page 758
Adding new elements and attributes......Page 760
Building XML documents from existing variables......Page 762
Removing nodes from XML documents......Page 763
Creating a game level map......Page 765
Loading and interpreting the XML map data......Page 766
Creating multiple game levels with XML......Page 770
Using URLLoader to load files......Page 781
Runtime loading security issues......Page 782
Problems loading files locally......Page 783
Problems loading files remotely......Page 784
2D physics......Page 785
Online multiplayer games......Page 786
Where to next?......Page 787
A......Page 789
B......Page 790
C......Page 791
E......Page 793
G......Page 794
I......Page 796
M......Page 797
P......Page 798
S......Page 800
T......Page 804
V......Page 805
Z......Page 806