Cooking With Flash: Basic Flash Project Setup
Prerequisites:
- none.
Begin
So you want to start creating games with Adobe Flash? Here’s the very first step.
You’ll need two pieces of software: Adobe Flash, and a program to in which to write your code. (Code is a list of instructions you give to the computer to make it bend to your steely will.) You can write your code inside the Flash program, but Flash is always playing catch-up with the great features available in other programs that make coding easier. And i like easy.
1. Download the Software
You can download a number of programs to help you code. The one we recommend (and use here at Untold Entertainment to create all our games) is called FlashDevelop. It’s free, but if you like it, consider tossing a few clams to the creators.
note: other popular programs that professionals use to create their code include FDT, Flash Builder (formerly known as Flex Builder), and even a fancy text editor like Notepad++. (i’m told that if you use a Mac, you’re iShitOutOfLuck on this front, but perhaps the commenters can recommend something?)
Once you’re finished downloading the two pieces of software you need, install them into the default directories, and we’ll get started setting up a project.
What is Flash?
The term “Flash” is confusing. You may have heard that some online video “is Flash”, that some games you play in the browser “are Flash”, that some websites “use Flash”, and more recently that Flash runs or doesn’t run on this device or that device. The word “Flash” is used interchangeably for both the authoring tool, the content that you create with it, and the plugin that displays that content to the end user.
The Adobe Flash software is also called an authoring tool, like a paintbrush or a table saw. With it, you produce Flash content (games, video players, websites, etc), which a person usually views in a web browser using a plugin called the Flash Player. Most often, when someone says you need to “download Flash”, he means you need to download the Flash Player plugin so that you can view Flash content that was created with the Flash tool. What you’re downloading in the link above is the tool, which is sometimes called the Flash IDE (Integrated Development Environment). i prefer “tool”, because it’s only one syllable, and “eye dee yee” is not kind to the ear.
The term “Flash” has multiple uses.
2. Create and Save a New Actionscript 3 .fla File
When you open the Flash authoring tool for the first time, you’ll likely see a splash screen. To create a new file, etiher click “Create New Flash File (Actionscript 3.0)”, or go to File > New and choose Flash File (Actionscript 3.0) from the list, and click OK.
Your Flash file opens up and is displayed in all its glory – tons of interesting buttons and panels all over the screen. Don’t be intimidated. We’ll explore them in future lessons.
Click File>Save As in the menus. Flash files have the extension .fla. Change the name of your Flash working file to myFirstGame.fla (or whatever you like), and save it to a folder somewhere on your computer. Remember where you saved it! i recommend against saving it to the desktop – if you want it there, first create a folder on the desktop called MyFirstGame, and save your .fla file in there.
Look at all this great STUFF to mess around with! (note: Flash supports all kinds of different layouts – you may see something different on your screen depending on the version and layout you’re using)
3. Create a New FlashDevelop Project
- Open FlashDevelop.
- In the menus, go to Project > New Project.
- Choose a name for your project in the Name field. (You can call it MyFirstGame. Seems logical.)
- Use the Browse button to point to the MyFirstGame folder you created, where saved your .fla file in the last step.
- Click OK.
- If you get a message saying “The directory is not empty …”, click OK to confirm.
- If FlashDevelop asks you the Author name, type your own name or a suitable pseudonym, like “Cap’n CrackyPants”. All of the code you write will be signed with this name.
- Click OK.
Creating a new project in FlashDevelop
Señor Taco-Taker is like the Mexican Hamburglar
When you’re finished, check out the Project Panel, at the right side of the screen. (If you can’t see it, click View > Project Manager in the menus.) You’ll see your Project name, MyFirstGame. Then you’ll see the .fla file you created in Flash, called myFirstGame.fla. All of the code files you write to make your game will be listed here, along with any other files you place in the MyFirstGame folder.
FlashDevelop Project panel
Behind the scenes, FlashDevelop creates an .as3proj file in the folder, which is a metadata file that keeps track of what goes into the folder. Once you create your Project file, you never have to save it like you would most other files – you can just open and close different Project files, and they’ll list the stuff that’s in the folder with them.
4. Link FlashDevelop to Flash
The last thing to do is to make FlashDevelop aware of the Flash authoring tool so that the two can play nicely together.
- In the menus, click Tools>Program Settings or press F10.
- Click ASCompletion in the sidebar list.
- Click in the field labeled “Path to Flash IDE”, and navigate to wherever you installed the Flash tool on your computer. On my Windows system, it’s here:
C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Flash CS4
- Click the Close button.
FlashDevelop Settings
Finish
That’s it – you’re done! Now you’re ready to create Flash content using the one-two punch combo of Flash and FlashDevelop.
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Indeed good sir, I have been using the Mac for a while now and I am yet to find a quality free general purpose quality editor like Notepad++ on the Mac. Many say TextMate is great, but I personally disagree, I can’t stand it, why would someone pay for it?
The work-flow you mentioned is one way of doing things, but I am surprised you didn’t mention the completely free way of doing game dev in Flash. Many use the work-flow you described but there are a huge, huge number of people who just use Flash Develop. You can also use IntelliJ to do coding for free as well on both platforms, not to mention Eclipse :-P Also lets not forget (for non-commercial use) students/unemployed/facility can get free version of Flash Builder that they can use to get there feet wet with Flash game dev. https://freeriatools.adobe.com/ Although not the most ideal way, but you can always compile directly against the mxmlc compiler, don’t want people thinking that using the Flash IDE is the only way.
Of course you are probably trying to mention the easiest/quickest way for people to get started (it has visuals), but so many other “free” options for people to get started with that are worth mentioning :-)
Thanks, Joseph! A big part of the magic of Flash for me when i started was being able to draw a picture right in the program, and then to see it instantly appear on the screen. Then i started animating, and i was hooked. There’s still a LOT of value for me in Flash, and i think the fact that Flash takes care of the image stuff for you makes it far easier for a beginner to learn.
One of the biggest barriers to learning programming and game development for visual people is that wer require visuals. i can’t work with a command line – i need a GUI. i can’t stick to theory for too long – i need concrete examples, pictures, output. i need to see something happening. It’s not that i’m not smart enough – it’s just that i lose interest very quickly when there’s nothing tickling that side of my brain. Pictures help me learn.
So for the kind of teaching i’m going to do here, i’m going to stick to using Flash. But thanks so much for mentioning the other, more pocketbook-friendly methods.
No problem, all very good points :-) I couldn’t draw a stick figure to save my life! So for me it’s all about all them crazy symbols :-P seeing an actual image on the screen verses something like mySpriteSheet:Bitmap = new… Blah, blah, lol, will always be easier for some one to understand who is just starting out. We don’t want to scare people away with this sort, want to show them the beauty of it all :-P Look forward to the upcoming posts!
Nice tutorial, unfortunatly I am in the step after that, but before really making games :(
Btw TexWrangler is like Notepad++ for Mac, except the Professional Quality ones require you to pay, TexWrangler is the free version.
http://www.barebones.com/products/TextWrangler/
Chris – stay tuned. We’ve got you covered.
Thanks for the Mac software recommendations.
It is worth mentioning that you can create pure AS3 games with FlashDevelop and the open source flex SDK to compile. You also have the option of working with mxml using the SDK. This method is free, and preferable for those who do not like the GUI or time line.
I can see from the previous comments why people are saying the canvas and SVG functions in HTML5 can replace the Flash tool. It seems many people aren’t interested in the drawing and animation features of the Flash tool.
Are there specific reasons these aspects of the Flash tool are passed by? I used to illustrate in Adobe Illustrator but have moved over to the Flash tool for drawing because I prefer the it’s drawing and colouring tools. I was under the impression that I’m not alone in this.
Ryan, I can’t wait to read more!
Mark,
I suppose there are plenty of reasons why many are moving away from the Flash tool altogether when it comes to Flash game dev. Some would say doing it directly in code gives you more control, allows for things to be more organized, compiles faster, and many were programmers to begin with (coming from C++, java, etc) so are more comfortable with seeing code then visuals.
Personally I come from that camp, and find it much easier to visualize my game through code then actual visuals… I also find the Flash IDE to be rather clumsy and the timeline confusing and unorganized, but that just me (I am a coder not art person). With the birth of the Flex framework more “developers” have been drawn to the Flash world, hence the reasons you are seeing so many developer oriented tools popping up.
Yep – any instruction i give here is going to be from the perspective of a visual learner. If you’d like to learn a little more about the timeline and the art tools in Flash, stick with me (though it’s probably stuff you already know). i’ll get to programming after i cover the basics of using the IDE.
Ha, maybe I will actually learn something and stop hating on the Flash IDE :-P Also quick correction to my last post… I meant, “with the birth of Action Script 3.0″ not Flex :-) Either way… Educate me Ryan, show me the error of my ways :-D
Still using Flash Ryan? I’ve hardly used it at all since I found Unity.
Brennon – you’re right. You must be a far superior person.
lol
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