Writing Flash Games – A Guide to Flash Game Development
Browser games have become hugely popular in recent years. Social games on sites like Facebook and Addicting Games have reached and all time high, and Flash game developers are now in huge demand to come out with new titles. Flash developers in general however tend to shy away from creating games, which they see as overly complex applications. With the right methodology however, and a solid plan, any Flash developer can add game design to their repertoire and complete with the games studios.
Games are quite complex applications. Not only is the game specific code quite unique (you won’t see path finding algorithms, or collision detection in an office app!) but they tend to have lots of extras like game over screens, and pregame animations which all add to the amount of work and time required to develop them. So the only way to develop a game methodically is to start with a solid written design, and then a list of required assets (graphics, audio etc.) and only then should you consider starting to code.
After a design has been drafted, creating a mock-up game in Flash is the next step. At this stage the idea is to write the Actionscript code for the game to be functional, but not worrying too much about how the game looks. I often use place holder graphics at this stage, which will later be swapped out with the proper graphics produced by an artist, and unless it is integral to the game I leave the audio out entirely. Once the mock-up has been developed, and tested, the next stage is to integrate the graphics and audio. If the design phase was completed carefully with consideration to the graphics and audio, the artists (if the developer is not creating the graphics themselves) can be producing the graphical assets while the mock-up is being created. This allows the graphics and audio to be integrated relatively quickly and easily, and the game is now fully tested again.
Once the preloaders, splash screens, and final touches are added it’s time for beta testing. This stage allows you to iron out any bugs, and get feedback from your users. Once you’re happy, the game can be published, and you can congratulate yourself on a job well done!
If you’re thinking of getting started in Flash game development then it’s a really good idea to edit an existing game or two first. Making changes to an existing game, such as adding new levels or power-ups, can be a far less daunting task than building a whole game from scratch. You can even take the source code for an existing game and turn it into a new game entirely. Then once you’ve gained more experience you’ll be in a better position to start building your own games from scratch.
Find flash games tutorials and articles at www.ViralFlashGames.com, and download editable Flash game source files at http://www.viralflashgames.com
