Real-World Flash Game Development: How to Follow Best Practices AND Keep Your Sanity

Real-World Flash Game Development......Page 3
Copyright
......Page 4
Games in Flash......Page 5
How to Get the Most Out of This Book......Page 6
Resources on the Web Site......Page 7
1: Computer Science Isn't for Everyone
......Page 8
Adventure......Page 9
Word Games......Page 10
Strategy and Simulation......Page 11
General Development Terms......Page 12
Algorithm......Page 13
Classes......Page 14
Public, Protected, Private, and Internal......Page 15
Game Loop (or Main Loop)......Page 16
Scrolling......Page 17
Events and Listeners......Page 18
You Can Wake Up Now......Page 19
Flash Back......Page 20
Player Penetration......Page 21
Speed to Market......Page 22
Solution: Use an Additional Tool......Page 23
Solution: Use a Third-Party Solution or Roll Your Own......Page 24
Solution: Use Traces and Custom Tools......Page 26
Flaw: Lack of Built-In Game Libraries and Tools......Page 27
Stop Fighting It......Page 28
Application versus Games......Page 29
Flash versus Traditional Game Development......Page 30
The Best Tool for the Job......Page 31
Step 1......Page 32
Step 2......Page 33
Step 3......Page 34
Step 4......Page 35
Step 5......Page 37
Methods Required......Page 38
Step 6 (Optional)......Page 39
4: //Comments FTW!
......Page 42
Part 1: Classes......Page 43
Classes as Files......Page 44
Constants, Variables, and Methods......Page 45
Getter and Setter Methods......Page 47
Inheritance and Polymorphism......Page 49
Interfaces......Page 51
Linking Classes to Assets in Flash......Page 54
Class versus Base Class......Page 55
Using Exported Symbols with No Class File......Page 56
getDefinitionByName and Casting......Page 58
dispatchEvent......Page 59
addEventListener, removeEventListener, and Event Phases......Page 60
Event Propagation and Cancellation......Page 63
Custom Events......Page 64
Part 3: Errors......Page 65
try, catch, finally......Page 66
Throwing Your Own Errors......Page 67
Part 4: Data Structures and Lists......Page 68
Objects......Page 69
Arrays......Page 70
Dictionaries......Page 72
So What Should I Use For My Lists?......Page 73
Part 5: Keep Your Comments to Everyone Else!......Page 74
Event Flow......Page 75
Frame Scripts......Page 76
Working with Multiple SWF Files......Page 79
Garbage Collection......Page 81
Conclusion......Page 83
5: The Least You Can Do versus an Architect’s Approach
......Page 84
Basic Encapsulation: Classes and Containers......Page 85
Store Relevant Values as Variables and Constants......Page 86
Don’t Rely on Your Stage......Page 87
Know When It’s Okay to Phone It In and When It Definitely Isn't......Page 88
OOP Concepts......Page 89
Inheritance......Page 90
Interfaces......Page 91
Practical OOP in Game Development......Page 92
The Singleton: A Good Document Pattern......Page 93
Summary......Page 96
A Better File Format......Page 98
A Few Words about Organization......Page 99
Working with Graphics......Page 100
Raster Formats to Use......Page 102
Compression......Page 103
External Image Tools......Page 106
Key Points to Remember......Page 108
7: Make it Move—ActionScript Animation
......Page 110
Sequencing......Page 111
A Simple Scripted Shooter......Page 112
The Projectile Class......Page 113
The SimpleShooter Class......Page 114
Memory: Tweening Animation......Page 116
The MemoryCard Class......Page 117
The Memory Class......Page 118
Summary......Page 121
Formats to Use......Page 124
Export Settings to Use......Page 125
CS5.5 Feature—Incremental Compilation......Page 126
Tools for Working with Sounds......Page 128
Scripting Sounds......Page 129
The SoundEngine Class......Page 130
Using the Class......Page 143
The SoundMixer Class......Page 146
Video Codecs......Page 148
External Video Uses: Cutscenes and Menus......Page 149
Encoding a Cutscene......Page 150
CutsceneManager......Page 152
Using the CutsceneManager......Page 158
Ease of Use and Library Clutter......Page 159
Setting Up an Internal Video......Page 160
Summary......Page 163
Bringing Data In: Understanding the URLLoader Class......Page 164
E4X......Page 165
Crossword Puzzle......Page 166
The CrosswordTile Class......Page 170
The CrosswordClue Class......Page 174
The CrosswordPuzzle Class......Page 175
Content Is a Two-Way Street: A Crossword Builder......Page 186
Sending Data Back Out......Page 187
One More Example: XML versus Flash Vars......Page 188
Summary......Page 189
11: Four-Letter Word: M-A-T-H
......Page 190
Part One: Geometry and Trigonometry......Page 191
A Quick Explanation of Radians and Pi......Page 195
3D in Flash......Page 199
Perspective Projection......Page 200
The Tunnel Class......Page 203
Vector......Page 218
Velocity......Page 219
Inertia......Page 220
Example: A Top–Down Driving Engine......Page 221
The Vehicle Class......Page 222
The Time Class......Page 224
The Game Class......Page 226
Example: Top–Down Driving Game with Drift......Page 230
Review......Page 233
What You Can Do versus What You Need......Page 234
HitTestObject—The Most Basic Detection......Page 235
HitTestPoint—One Step Up......Page 236
Radius/Distance Testing—Great for Circles......Page 241
Rect Testing......Page 242
The Enemy Class......Page 243
The SimpleShooterCollisions Class Additions......Page 244
Weaknesses of This Method......Page 246
Pixel-Perfect Collision Detection and Physics......Page 248
When All Else Fails, Mix 'N Match......Page 249
13: MixUp—A Simple Engine
......Page 250
The MixUp Class......Page 252
The Title Class......Page 255
The RulesPanel Class......Page 256
The Game Class......Page 257
The Interfaces......Page 261
The GameBoard Class......Page 263
The SourceImageEmbedded Class......Page 270
The GameHistory and Results Classes......Page 272
The SourceImageCamera Class......Page 274
Review......Page 277
14: Bringing It All Together: A Platformer
......Page 278
Data Flow......Page 279
The Game Flow and Features......Page 280
The Player Character......Page 281
The Level File Format and Asset Structure......Page 282
The Level XML......Page 284
The Game Outline......Page 287
The ISprite Interface......Page 288
The IPlayer Interface......Page 289
The IItem Interface......Page 290
The IWall Interface......Page 291
The PlatformerEvent Class......Page 292
The PlatformerConfig Class......Page 293
The GridReference Class......Page 294
The CollisionGrid Class......Page 296
The PlatformerEngine Class......Page 297
The PlatformerExample Class......Page 315
The Player Class......Page 317
The Enemy Class......Page 319
The Item Class......Page 320
The Portal Class and Wall Class......Page 321
The Assets......Page 322
Taking It Further......Page 325
15: Marble Runner: Our First Mobile Game
......Page 326
Part 1: Best Practices for iOS Games......Page 327
Filters (and PixelBender)......Page 328
Vector Shapes (and Shape Tweens)......Page 329
Text......Page 330
Runtime Loaded SWFs......Page 331
The GPU Is Here to Help......Page 332
Code Matters, Too......Page 333
Use Static Properties and Functions......Page 334
Recycle, Both In Your Code and In Your Home......Page 335
Avoid Extremely Large Frameworks and Libraries......Page 336
Don’t Use Events Where You Can Easily Use Functions......Page 337
A Question of Balance: Inheritance versus Interfaces......Page 338
Space.as......Page 339
Rock.as......Page 340
SpaceRocks.as: The Document Class......Page 343
Part 2: Marble Runner......Page 345
The Accelerometer Class......Page 346
How Accelerometer Values Are Computed......Page 347
The Game: Marble Runner......Page 349
The Classes......Page 350
LabyrinthEngine......Page 351
LabyrinthLevel......Page 357
IBall, IHazard, IWall......Page 359
MarbleRunner: The Document Class......Page 361
Title......Page 363
Leaderboard......Page 364
GameClip......Page 368
Marble......Page 371
HazardPit and StandardWall......Page 374
Results......Page 375
Level Design......Page 376
Pickups......Page 377
Scrolling Levels......Page 378
16: Air Hockey: A Multitouch, Multiplayer Tablet Game
......Page 380
Multitouch Input for Devices......Page 381
The Finite-State Machine......Page 382
Physics Simulation with Box2D......Page 383
The Game: Two-Player Air Hockey......Page 384
The Classes......Page 385
Main.as......Page 386
Title.as......Page 387
Rules.as......Page 388
GameTouchController.as......Page 390
Game.as......Page 394
AirHockeyEngine.as......Page 404
Ready to Build......Page 412
Conclusion......Page 413
Afterword: Flash’s Future in Games......Page 414
A......Page 416
C......Page 417
F......Page 418
G......Page 419
M......Page 420
P......Page 421
R......Page 422
S......Page 423
V......Page 424
X......Page 425
Bugs......Page 426
Traces......Page 427
The Debugger......Page 429
The FrameRateProfiler Class......Page 432
The MemoryProfiler Class......Page 436
The Sample Package......Page 439
Summary......Page 443
On Your Guard......Page 444
Set a Minimum Delay for Accepting Input......Page 445
Memory Hacking......Page 446
Hash Data......Page 447
Breakup Data......Page 449
Protecting Sent and Received Data......Page 450
Ciphering......Page 451
Summary......Page 452
Mobile: The New Hotness......Page 454
Getting from A to iOS: The Pipeline......Page 456
Application Settings and Art......Page 457
The Developer Certificate......Page 460
The UDID......Page 464
The AppID......Page 465
The Provisioning Profile......Page 466
The XFL File......Page 467
The Document Class......Page 468
Document Resolution......Page 474
Publish Settings......Page 475
Deploy!......Page 476
The End of the Starting Point......Page 477
Testing 1, 2, 3: The Microphone Object......Page 478
Considerations......Page 481
Lights, Camera Object, ActionScript!......Page 482
Conclusion......Page 486
Always Leave Ample Room for Text Fields......Page 488
The Strings Panel......Page 489
Writing JSFL......Page 496
Custom Panels and MMExecute......Page 497
Enter the JSFLConverter......Page 498
The Move Items Panel......Page 500
Conclusion......Page 502
Setting up AMFPHP......Page 504
Setting up the Database Tables......Page 506
The HighScores Service......Page 508