E-zine article for college - Flash for computer games, what you need to know

Online Flash games, for the most part, are superb ways we use to either kill time or relax with and on average it will keep our attention for a good five to ten minutes at a time. They are mostly designed to be easy to ‘pickup and play’. This means that the controls will be relatively simple, as will understanding the objective of the game. We as consumers will only usually play Flash games for a relatively short time, so being easy to understand is one vital ingredient for a great game, another would be the game mechanics behind this. Excellent game mechanics for an online Flash game will mean that the game is made to be simple in terms of controls, and the objective of the game will try to interest the user, or even ‘addict’ them to keep them trying to reach it if they fail. Another thing that users will expect from a Flash game online is for it to load relatively quickly, you wouldn’t want to wait ages for something that you may only play for a short while.

Since its birth in 1996, Flash games have grown in popularity and have revolutionised online gaming. From 1996 to 2004 Flash games, whilst still in their infancy, had trouble running on lower spec machines. But since, Flash has had improvements made to the program and Flash Player, online games have never run so smoothly.

Today, there are millions of Flash gaming sites, with many more Flash games available for free, just to pick up and play. Many of these Flash gaming sites even allow you to create your own account on them, and save your scores on their games (for a good example, see http://www.addictinggames.com/). ‘Article base’ explains how these Flash games began to impact peoples everyday lives (1), ‘Amazingly these addicted game lovers were ready to cut down time from their work just to play these Macromedia Flash games!’ Flash games have been constantly evolving in terms of game types, playability and functionality since the beginning. On top of this, since Adobe took over Macromedia (and taking on Flash), Flash has become more powerful, easier and more available to use. Anyone with an internet connection can download Flash Player for free; every new computer already has this on its operating system an 99% of all internet using computer have used Adobe Flash Player (2).

So we know that the game mechanics and playability of Flash games make them so popular, but surely there are other factors? Yes, indefinitely. Another major factor that weighs in to the equation would the Flash Player itself. This and how Flash relates to it. Flash was made to display ‘rich media’ types. It can display relatively detailed graphics with ease, as well as audio and video elements. Flash games can even be made using vector images, eliminating the threat of pixilation completely. Most online Flash games will only take up part of the screen; this means it does not have to load as many large files from a development point of view. Also from a development point of view, by using ActionScript 3.0 within Flash, elements can be loaded in from an external source only if and when they are needed (If you are unfamiliar with the term ActionScript, it is basically the coding language used to create Flash programs.). When developers use this method when creating their games, it can make the game run even faster than normal because the game is only loading in elements when they are needed during game play.

Generally, the best place to find Flash games is on specialised Flash gaming sites, this is because many different games are uploaded to these sites from different companies, even games that people have managed to make in their spare time, as a non profit type project. In fact, sites such as www.newgrounds.com even allow you to submit your own content for free, for others to play with online. Sites like these are very helpful as they allow smaller game designers to upload their games free of charge, on to a site that usually has a sufficient amount of traffic to support the game and submit feedback.  

In addition to this, if you are interested in Flash gaming, it is always good to check out some Flash gaming sites that are based upon a community type structure. This means they allow you to create your own account (usually this is free) and submit feedback on the games you play. Similarly, as I discussed earlier, some also allow you to upload your own games, should you want to. Usually these types of sites will also have forums, allowing you to find out more about Flash gaming.

Throughout this article, I have generally talked about points relating to smaller online Flash games; however there are some huge hits on the internet that are much larger games, and allow you to create your own account and even save the game. To see a good example of a larger online Flash game, try ‘Farmville.’ By connecting with the popular social media site ‘Facebook’, ‘Farmville’ has also become incredibly popular. The game allows you to create an account with your Facebok identification, then save your progress as you play through the game. This shows that when using Flash for gaming purposes, there are no limits. More experienced programmers will even make 3D Flash games, these will still work on any computer with a Flash player.

The technical side of online Flash gaming in terms of how they are distributed involves some know-how about actually using Flash itself. Generally game files once exported are ‘.swf’ files. These are basically what are used to run the game with Flash player. As mentioned earlier, it is always good to keep file size to a minimum because it will cut down loading time if it is being used online. ‘.swf’ files will use all of the elements used when creating the game in Flash still saved inside itself, with a much smaller file size than the actual Flash project or ‘.fla’ file.

Today in the Flash gaming world, it is mostly online based. This is why I have been explaining points related to this. The reason that it is based more online is because there are no disks you have to buy, and nothing you have to save when downloading the game (there are Flash games which do allow you to save, they will automatically save a file on your computer.). Flash gaming has not always been mostly based online. Since its birth in 1996, the online world of Flash gaming had only just begun to grow. There are countless amounts of Flash games available to us with a click of a button, from many Flash gaming specific sites.

References:

(1)    http://jamiehanson.articlesbase.com/internet-articles/history-of-flash-games-and-how-it-has-evolved-747482.html - articles base.

(2)    http://www.adobe.com/products/player_census/flashplayer/ - Adobe.

Block Out alpha testing 2 - Update 4

On from the last alpha testing of Block Out, I have added some new features.

The major feature is the second level, which has an obstacle that you have to avoid. If you hit the obstacle, you are set to your start position of the level. It also includes the same idea of using a lever to unlock the exit as the last level did, to keep consistency.

Another feature of this version (0.2) is that I have added another collectible. Just before posting this version online, I realised that you could actually cheat to get more collectibles than should be possible. Once getting a collectible, you could go back to the main menu, and using the 'continue' button I have added, you could start back at the same level you left off, and just get the collectible again, adding to the amount you have.

To overcome this bug, I had to use variables. I am not too familiar with variables in Action Script 3.0, but I gave it a go. Along with the number variable I used for the amount of collectibles you get, I used a Boolean variable to determine whether or not you have already got that collectible.

To further show my progress, my game is online here - http://alexmold.x10.mx/blockout_new.swf

To stay up to date with everything I post about my game, like the official Facebook page here - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Block-Out/144784318953426

Block Out alpha testing - Update 3

I have uploaded a little alpha test of my game here - http://alexmold.x10.mx/blockout_new.swf

Unfortunately as it is on the web, it may horribly re size itself depending on what screen you have. The actual game is only 640x480. The reason it is that size is so it will fit on the popular flash gaming site - www.newgrounds.com - without a problem, also this keeps the file size low which cuts down on download time.

I have also posted this on the Block Out Facebook page, so anyone can test it. Bear in mind it is a first alpha test with only one level, so there are bound to be some bugs. Over the course of the next week I hope to have finished all of the levels in the game, probably around 3 or 4, depending on what I do with them.

Also, I will be posting more playable demos as I put in more features in the game. This is so people can tell me what they think of the game, as well as report any bugs or issues that need to be sorted out.

So just a quick update on the game, feel free to play and don't hesitate to give me feedback.

Block Boss to Block Out - Update 2

I have changed my idea to accommodate a horror type theme. Block Out will have the same functions that I created for Block Boss, but it will have some differences. One major difference is that when you are moving the player, you will only be able to see part of the level, like a torch following the character you control to light the way.

I will be posting an alpha test for the game tomorrow, and also I have linked Block Out with my social networks. You can see the official Block Out Facebook page here - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Block-Out/144784318953426?sk=wall - I will be posting regular updates on here as well as this blog. I decided to create a Facebook page for my game, as I feel it would be easier to connect with anyone who wishes to test the game, so I can gain as much feedback as possible. Furthermore, I am able to post polls, people can vote on what features they would like to see from the game.

As I begin testing, I will be asking if anyone would like to be a consistent tester for my game. What I mean by this is that they will play every playable demo I bring out, and give me feedback in the way of writing. I can then change the game accordingly, and add it to my project file.

Speaking of the project file, I was notified today that our class will have to make documents describing the code in our games, I thought of going one step further and making a sort of 'code library'. A short book containing all of the code used in my game, showing my understanding of how to put it into practice.


I will be posting more updates soon.

Block Boss - Update 1

Okay so I have got some very basic functionality of the game working. If you would like to try it, do so here - http://alexmold.x10.mx/alpha.swf

I have also posted a video update on my channel, I will be posting more updates as I progress through the project. You can view it here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bulVANIEYk&feature=channel_video_title

My first project has been posted

As mentioned earlier, I said I would try to sort out some hosting to share my first project that I created upon returning to college for my second year, it was just a week long project to get the ball rolling.

Anyway, you can see it here - http://alexmold.x10.mx/menu.swf