Taterboy, Multimedia and Such

AS3-101: Game Development Part 3 – taterboy
October 2nd, 2011 | Filed under: ActionScript 3, Flash, Flash AS2 to AS3, Flex, Games, Tutorials

This tutorial is the third part in a series on game development with AS3. We will pick up where we left of in the last tutorial which can be found here: ActionScript 3 101 : Game Development part 2

In the previous tutorial we made a MovieClip of a ball move back and forth by pressing the left and right arrow keys on the keyboard. We accomplished this through the use of a variables, functions and events. In this tutorial we will continue to modify our existing code by adding a couple new functions and create something that will begin to resemble an actual game.

The Swap:
The first thing we need to do and swap out the ball artwork with a spaceship graphic. The graphic included with the source is the same dimensions as the ball, which was 72 x 72 pixels. You can use the one in the source code below ( just copy it into your project and delete the ball) or build your own.

Technorati Tags: Action Script 3, animation, AS3, Flash, Flash Action script, game development, games, Howto, Tutorial

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Master Code Hinting in Flash Builder and Flash CS5 – taterboy
September 28th, 2011 | Filed under: ActionScript 3, Flash, Flex, Tips, Video

Ever need a class, but can’t remember if it is in the flash, mx or spark package, even drilling down further, was it in data, net or utils? There are so many classes in so many locations there is no way to remember them all or the properties and methods associated with them.

A quick tip I use often is typing “new”, then tapping the space bar. If code hints are working, the code hint window will appear listing all the possible classes. Typing the first and even second letter of the class name will filter the list, once you select the class you are looking for, that class will automatically be imported at the top of the file, if it’s needed.

This works almost anywhere and on any class, even static. I use it when I don’t feel like typing out long class names like StageDisplayState or TextFieldAutoSize. Type “new [space] stag” then click on the correct class. Boom!, it’s imported and completely typed out for you.

For a quick reference to which properties and methods are available in the class, remove the word “new” from before the class name that was just selected, then type a “.” right after the class name. This produces another code hint menu listing the public properties and methods.

Code hinting will also import classes automatically when a colon is added after a variable name, but just typing “new” and a space, is indeed the fastest.

Just remember to remove the new [Class] you just used to trigger the code hint window, if you forget, the compiler will let you know.

Technorati Tags: Action Script 3, AS3, code hint, Flash, Flex, Howto, import class, video

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AS3-101: Game Development part 2 – taterboy
June 1st, 2011 | Filed under: ActionScript 101, ActionScript 3, Flash, Flash AS2 to AS3, Flex, Games, Tutorials

This tutorial is part 2 of the ActionScript 3 101 : Game Development series. For part 1, go to ActionScript 3 101 : Game Development part 1

In part 2, we will continue animating a ball on stage, but this time we will setup keyboard controls so that a user can control the animation of the ball’s x property.

Before we move into the keyboard event listener, we should structure our code to be more organized and flexible. The top of the actionScript is where I like to put all my variables and things that configure how the game runs. As a general rule, any values that are used more than once or could change should be stored as a variable. Notice the left and right bounds for the ball ( 20 and 455) are used more than once, we should change them to a variable to make our code more flexible. Later in this series, we will move some of these variables from the top of the code to an external xml file, this will make your game very tweak-able without republishing from Flash. The secret to flexible code is lots and lots of variables.

New Variables:

^?View Code ACTIONSCRIPT

var boundsLeft:Number = 20;
var boundsRight:Number = 455;
var maxSpeed:Number = 10;

Technorati Tags: ActionSript 3, animation, AS3, Flash, Flash Action script, flash games, game development, games, Howto, Intro, Tutorial

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MoveThis: Another AS3 Tweening / Animation Engine – taterboy
February 1st, 2011 | Filed under: ActionScript 3, Flash, Flex, Free Components/Classes, Games, Tutorials

UPDATE 1.20, 4/21/11 : new source files below

Animation is the primary reason our clients choose Flash based applications over HTML or any other language. Creating applications that dance is the “Rich” in RIA development.

Great animation or tween engines are plenty, GTween, TweenLite and Tweener are just a few. They provide a simpler way of animating with code. The Flash IDE team has also gone to great lengths to make working with animation in code easier for the designers. Even Flash Builder 4, which one could argue is a programmers tool, has new animation classes that are far more powerful than their predecessors.

Interactive Demos below…

Animation is what makes Flash, Flash:
MoveThis has been around in many different forms as my personal tween engine for the last 8 years. I think it’s finally in a condition that it can be shared. The idea has always been one line of code to make something move, it’s extremely simple to use, yet supports many great features.
Read More »

Technorati Tags: ActionSript 3, animation, animation engine, AS3, class, Flash, Flex, games, tween, tween class, tween egine, tweener

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SoundTrack an AS3 Sound Helper Class – taterboy
January 4th, 2011 | Filed under: ActionScript 3, Audio, Flash, Flex, Free Components/Classes, Games, Tutorials

Working on games and other projects that include many audio streams and sound effects can require a fair amount of code to manage the numerous channels and soundTransforms. This helper class started as a way to provide simple pause, play, stop and resume controls without all the channel mess. Another requirement was to make adjusting the volume and panning easier, maybe even allowing the use of existing tween engines to fade volume which was achieved by using volume as a property, instead of a method or SoundTransform.

Volume and Panning:

^?View Code ACTIONSCRIPT

soundTrack.volume = 0; //(Number 0 - 1)
 
soundTrack.pan = -1; //(Number -1 - 1)

Tween engine sample using GTween:

^?View Code ACTIONSCRIPT

var tween:GTween = new GTween(soundTrack,2,{volume:0});

note: GTween by Grant Skinner can be found here: http://gskinner.com/libraries/gtween/

Once a sound object is created, it can be place into a SoundTrack.

How to use:

^?View Code ACTIONSCRIPT

//create a new sound and soundTrack
var audioFile:Sound = new Sound(new URLRequest("audio.mp3"));
var soundTrack = new SoundTrack(audioFile);

Technorati Tags: ActionSript 3, audio player, fade, Flash, Flex, Loops, panning, sound, volume

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AS3 Loader for Loading Multiple External Files – taterboy
November 3rd, 2010 | Filed under: ActionScript 3, Flash, Flex, Tutorials

LoaderCollection:
Loading multiple files with a single progress loader that displays the total loading percentage of all items being loaded.

Demo Version, not actual component

Before we get into the LoaderCollection, let’s discuss how you load single external files. The LoaderCollection recognizes Flash’s Loader class as well as a custom class called SimpleLoader.
Read More »

Technorati Tags: ActionSript 3, AS3, Flash, Flex, Howto, Loader, Loading, Tutorial

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Hidden Marvels in Flash: Jpegs with Transparency – taterboy
September 11th, 2010 | Filed under: Design, Flash, Flex, Games, Tutorials

Ever need a compressed bitmap file with 24 bit transparency, but with the application being delivered over the web, you also need that file to be small? Gif files only have 8bit – aliased transparency and a 256 color limit. 24bit png files have transparency, but are lossless and are often produce large file sizes. Jpegs are perfect compression-wise but do not include transparency, or do they….

Technorati Tags: Actionscript, animation, bitmap, Design, Flash, Flex, swf, transparency, Tutorial

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Hidden Marvels in Flash: Gapless MP3s – taterboy
September 11th, 2010 | Filed under: Audio, Flash, Flex, Games, Tutorials

Gapless MP3s

Ever try to loop an mp3 file in Flash or Flex? It can be done, but there’s normally an annoying gap every time the audio loops. This gap is just a part of mp3 compression and there’s nothing that can be done about it.

Example:
Take an aiff or wave file, open it in your favorite sound editor and make a loop (remove all gaps at the beginning and end of the file). Now save the file, first as an aif or wave, then as an mp3. Now close the files and reopen them. Notice the mp3 file has a gap at the beginning and end of the waveform, the wave and aiff files do not.

Technorati Tags: Actionscript, Audio, compression, Design, Flash, Flex, gap, mp3, swf

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Product Review: SWF Protector – taterboy
July 18th, 2010 | Filed under: Flash, Flex, Reviews

Get 25% off of SWF Protector by using the coupon code: REFLPRTCT-RTW5

Though we try to encourage openness and sharing here at taterboy.com, there are some swf files that have to be protected. SWF Protector, by DECOMSOFT, is a very simple application for securing your code and assets within an SWF. The procedure could not be easier, just load the swf you want to protect, then click the “Protect” button. SWF Protector uses some kind of protection and obfuscation to secure your SWF files; Advanced Mode gives you control over how much protection and obfuscation is applied to each file.

In testing SWF Protector we used two actionScript 3 games, one built in Flash (a few thousand of lines of code with embedded graphics and sounds), the other built in Flex( light on code and graphics). With the Flex game the process was just as described above, a couple clicks and the swf was protected. In the case of the Flash game, I had to turn off obfuscation in one part of the swf to get a secured version to play all the way through without error. Once each game was protected and verified, the latest decompiler was not match for them. All the code, graphics and game resources were safe and sound. As a test, I ran a decompiler on the unprotected versions of the games and they were both rendered back into source code, cold and exposed.

There are a few swf protection applications out there, some with very advanced features. SWF Protector is the simplest way to protect your SWF files at a fraction of the price.

SWF Protector
Developer: DCOMSOFT
Platform: Windows, Mac, Linux
Price: Business License: $59.95

Get 25% off of SWF Protector by using the coupon code: REFLPRTCT-RTW5

Technorati Tags: Flash, Flex, obfuscation, security, swf encryption, swf protector

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Intro to MVC Part 1: The Controller Class – taterboy
July 13th, 2010 | Filed under: ActionScript 3, Flash, Flex, Games, Tutorials

About a year ago, @devgirl, introduced me to the MVC framework and provided me with a stubbed out demo of everything working together. There were many more class files than I was used to, one for data and variables (Model), one for all the graphic elements and UI controls (View), and one to control all the information between the two (Controller). My brain hurt for a couple weeks as I attempted to absorb what seemed like magic and how to apply it to a new job that was about to start. This process has changed the way I approach every project, even simple tasks with only a few lines of code. On smaller projects I may only leverage one part of the MVC framework and figured this was the best way to introduce it to others without it being so overwhelming. So today, I what to present the Controller class, which is part of the MVC framework.