{"id":1053,"date":"2010-05-26T23:31:00","date_gmt":"2010-05-26T23:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nrdland.com\/?p=1053"},"modified":"2010-05-26T23:31:00","modified_gmt":"2010-05-26T23:31:00","slug":"flash-tactics-4-the-joy-of-flash-game-libraries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/nrdland.com\/?p=1053","title":{"rendered":"Flash Tactics #4: The Joy of Flash Game Libraries"},"content":{"rendered":"

Flash is a fast and easy tool for making games. Plain and simple. There are very few tools where it’s easier to get something on-screen and moving.<\/p>\n

So what happens when you add a set of Flash libraries for that makes is even FASTER to make Flash games? <\/p>\n

Six months ago, in Dec 2009, I had never programmed a game, ever. The closest I came was a non-functioning bowling score app I wrote in BASIC on a Mac in grade 12 (which was back in 1992…) Since then, I haven’t programmed anything. Nothing, zip, nada.<\/p>\n

Today, Ray Ardent is a 12+ level platformer with 10 power-ups, parallax scrolling, multiple dinosaurs with their own AI (who explode into chunks when they die), cut scenes, music and fx, motion blur, pick-ups and double jumps (because double jumps are awesome!).<\/p>\n

Not bad for a guy who’s never programmed a game before.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Flixel - FTW<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There’s absolutely no way making Ray Ardent would have been possible without Flixel<\/a>, the awesome Flash library from Adam Saltsman<\/a> (aka:Adam Atomic) of Canabalt<\/a> fame.<\/p>\n

Without Flixel, my first game probably would have been something signifigantly smaller, simpler and I know for a fact that the code would have been a gigantic mess. <\/p>\n

Flixel gave me a structure to follow and set the framework which allowed me to have a basic prototype up and running in a couple of days (knowing what I know now, making the original Ray Ardent Prototype would take a couple of hours, as opposed to a week).<\/p>\n

As Ray Ardent grew in scope and complexity, the Flixel framework let me get new features up and running quickly and if I needed to build something from scratch, it was easy to extend and build upon Flixel. When problems came up, the Flixel Community was fantastic, with helpful responses and code samples. <\/p>\n

As a bonus, I met a couple of other local developers using Flixel through the community and we’ve gotten together a couple of times to talk games, Flash and life.<\/p>\n

Flash game libraries take the pain out of a lot of elements of game development that are boring, repetitive and time consuming, letting you focus on making the game. It is a solid foundation upon which you can build a game.<\/p>\n

For any developer looking at Flash and making Flash games, I cannot recommend libraries enough. Yes, you’ll have to learn to use Flex\/FlashDevelop and yes, you’ll have to learn some new commands, but the amount of time you save in the long run is more than worth it.<\/p>\n

All of the libraries below have everything you need to get started:
\n– Great Tutorials
\n– Great Community
\n– Regular Updates
\n– They Are Free<\/p>\n