May 20, 2012
Posted on May 20, 2012 in Hints and Tips | 10 comments
Interested in game design? This weekend, we feature a set of four interactive lectures: games that are about game design, by Pixelate.
Play the Games
Bub and Bob, two little 8-bit guys, will talk you through the basic concepts of video games. The games themselves are more like interactive tutorials, with smaller games interspersed throughout to help make certain points, and great bit tunes throughout.
Episode 1
Click to play.
The first episode deals with rules, interactivity, representation, and simulation in games.
Episode 2
Click to play.
The second episode is about motivating the player to stay in the game, and making sure they have fun.
Episode 3
Click to play.
The third episode looks at one of my favourite topics: learning in video games.
Episode 4
Click to play.
Finally, the fourth episode is about identification.
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May 20, 2012
Posted on May 20, 2012 in Hints and Tips | 10 comments
Interested in game design? This weekend, we feature a set of four interactive lectures: games that are about game design, by Pixelate.
Play the Games
Bub and Bob, two little 8-bit guys, will talk you through the basic concepts of video games. The games themselves are more like interactive tutorials, with smaller games interspersed throughout to help make certain points, and great bit tunes throughout.
Episode 1
Click to play.
The first episode deals with rules, interactivity, representation, and simulation in games.
Episode 2
Click to play.
The second episode is about motivating the player to stay in the game, and making sure they have fun.
Episode 3
Click to play.
The third episode looks at one of my favourite topics: learning in video games.
Episode 4
Click to play.
Finally, the fourth episode is about identification.
View full post on Activetuts+
May 17, 2012
Posted on May 17, 2012 in Hints and Tips | 10 comments
New versions of the Adobe AIR SDK are often released between Flash Professional release cycles, using this tutorial, you’ll be able to always use the latest Adobe AIR version in your IDE. This will allow you to enable Stage3D development within Flash Professional for both AIR and SWF projects.
Flash Professional CS5.5 Guide
(Flash Pro CS6 users, please skip to the next section.)
Step 1: Download the Latest SDK
Step 2: Backup Your Current SDK Folder
- Go to the Adobe Flash CS5.5 installation folder (should be “C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Flash CS5.5″ on 32 bit Windows, “C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe Flash CS5.5″ on 64 bit Windows, and “Applications/Adobe Flash CS5.5″ on OS X).
- Rename the
AIR2.6 folder to AIR2.6_OLD.
- Create a new folder and name it
AIR2.6.
Step 3: Create the New SDK Folder
- Copy the contents of the
AIR 3.2 SDK folder (that you’ve created on your desktop) to the AIR2.6 folder.
- Browse to the
AIR2.6/frameworks/libs/air/ folder in the Adobe Flash CS5.5 folder and copy the airglobal.swc file.
- Paste the SWC file into
Adobe Flash CS5.5/Common/Configuration/ActionScript 3.0/AIR2.6/, overwriting the existing airglobal.swc file.
Step 4: Final Configuration Settings
Go to Adobe Flash CS5.5/Common/Configuration/Players/ and open the following files using a text editor (you may need administrative privileges to edit these files in the application folder in Windows):
AdobeAIR2_6.xmlAiriPhone.xmlAndroid.xml
Change the version attribute of the player element from 11 to 15 in each file. Don’t forget to save them after you’re done editing.
Flash Professional CS6 Guide
After years of not providing users with a more user-friendly way of upgrading the Adobe AIR SDK in Flash, Adobe finally added one to Flash Professional CS6.
(Please note: since AIR 3.2 is already installed in Flash Professional CS6, we’ll be using the AIR 3.3 Beta SDK in this section.)
Step 1: Download the Latest Adobe AIR SDK
Step 2: Link the New SDK Folder to the Flash IDE
Go to the help menu and choose the ‘Manage AIR SDK’ option
You’ll notice a list of your currently installed Adobe SDK folders, the default one in CS6 is Adobe AIR 3.2
Click the + button to add a new folder.
Choose the new Adobe AIR SDK folder you created (in our example it was C:\AdobeAIR).
You’ll notice that now we have the new SDK listed as well in our list.
Step 3: Publish
Now, in your Publish Settings you’ll notice you have new options in additional to the old ones
Conclusion
That’s it! From now on, content you target for AIR using your Flash Professional IDE will be exported using the latest Adobe AIR SDK. Thanks for reading!
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May 9, 2012
Posted on May 9, 2012 in Hints and Tips | 10 comments
In this Premium tutorial, you’ll learn to use a physics engine to power a Bloons-style Flash game, in which a squirrel throws acorns at a grid of balloons to try to pop as many as possible.
Premium Preview
Let’s take a look at the result we will be working towards:
One of the most popular Flash games ever is Bloons, in which you play a monkey throwing darts to pop balloons. It’s spawned numerous sequels, even branching out into other genres like tower defense. This tutorial will show you how to create your own balloon popping game, using the QuickBox2D engine.
Read the Full Tutorial
Premium members can access the full tutorial right away!
If you’re not yet a Premium member, you can still read the first few steps for free.
Tuts+ Premium Membership
We run a Premium membership system which periodically gives members access to extra tutorials, like this one, from across the whole Tuts+ network. If you’re a Premium member, you can log in and read the tutorial. If you’re not a member, you can of course join today!
Also, don’t forget to follow @envatoactive on twitter, circle us on Google+, like us on Facebook, and grab the Activetuts+ RSS Feed to stay up to date with the latest tutorials and articles.
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May 2, 2012
Posted on May 2, 2012 in Hints and Tips | 10 comments
In this short tutorial I will introduce you to ASAudio, and AS3 library that greatly reduces the amount of code needed to create and manipulate sound object in your ActionScript projects.
Step 1: Examining ASAudio
ASAudio is an ActionScript 3 library that greatly reduces the amount of code needed to create and manipulate (volume changes, pan) audio files’ within your ActionScript Projects. Traditionally you would need to do the following to load in, play, and change the volume of a Sound within ActionScript:
var urlRequest:URLRequest = new URLRequest("path/to/track.mp3");
var sound:Sound = new Sound(urlRequest);
var soundChannel:SoundChannel = sound.play();
var soundTrans:SoundTransform = soundChannel.soundTransform;
soundTrans.volume = .5;
soundChannel.soundTransform = soundTrans;
With ASAudio all you need to do is the following
var track:Track = new Track("path/to/track.mp3");
track.start();
track.volume = .5;
Step 2: Getting the Library
Head over to the project’s Google Code page and download the latest version of ASAudio.
Once you have downloaded it, extract it and copy the the “com” folder that is inside the “src” folder to the folder where you will be creating your ActionScript project.
Step 3: New ActionScript Project
Start a new ActionScript project, and save it in your project folder as “asAudio.fla”. Under the “PROPERTIES” panel, set the stage color to white and give it a width and height of 500x150px.
Now create a new ActionScript File and save this as “Main.as”. Set this as your Document Class.
Step 5: Imports and Constructor Function
Add the following to the “Main.as” you created in the step above.
package {
import flash.display.Sprite;
import com.neriksworkshop.lib.ASaudio.*;
import flash.media.Sound;
import flash.events.MouseEvent;
import flash.events.Event;
public class Main extends Sprite {
public function Main() {
trace("Working");
}
}
}
Here we import the classes we will need throughout this tutorial, and setup our Main() constructor.
Step 6: Track
The Track is the fundamental class of ASAudio. Everything you do with the library depends on the Track. In this step we will create a new Track, and play it. Enter the following code above the Main() within “Main.as”.
var track:Track = new Track("BoozeandBlues.mp3");
And the following within the Main() constructor.
public function Main() {
track.start();
}
To create a Track you pass in a path to the mp3. We then call the start() method of the Track within Main().
If you test now you should hear the mp3 play.
Step 7: Setting up the Interface
In this step we will setup the interface for the project so we can control our Track‘s.
From the Component Window drag 4 buttons and a slider onto the Stage. You can get to the Components Window by choosing Window > Components or by pressing CTRL+F7.
Give the buttons the following properties, one by one.
- X: 21.00 , Y:61.00, Label:”Play TracK”, Instance Name:”playTrackBtn”
- X: 175.00, Y:61.00, Label:”Play Group”, Instance Name”playGroupBtn”
- X: 333.00, Y:61.00, Label:”Play Playlist”, Instance Name”playListBtn”
- X: 21.00, Y:100.00, Label:”Stop Track”, Instance Name”stopTrackBtn”
Here is a screenshot of the first Button’s setup.
Give the slider the following properties.
- X: 21.00, Y:29.00, Instance Name:”trackSlider”
- maximum: 1
- miniumum: 0.1
- snapInterval: 0.1
- tickInterval: 0.1
- value: 1
- liveDragging: “Make sure it is checked”
Here we set some initial values for the slider. I won’t go over them as you can refer to my Quick Tip that covers the sliders functionality.
Step 8: Controlling the Track
In this step we will code the start, stop, and volume functionality for the track we created in the previous step. Add the following to “Main.as”.
public function Main() {
addListeners();
}
private function addListeners():void{
trackSlider.enabled = false;
playTrackBtn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK,playTrack);
stopTrackBtn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK,stopTrack);
trackSlider.addEventListener(Event.CHANGE,adjustTrackVolume);
}
Here we call the addListeners() function within our Main() constructor. Inside addListeners we set the disable the trackSlider and add Listeners to 3 of our buttons.
Step 9: playTrack()
The playTrack() function will tell the track to start playing. Add the following beneath the addListeners() function you created in the step above.
private function playTrack(e:MouseEvent):void{
trackSlider.enabled = true;
track.start();
track.volume = 1.0;
}
Here we enable the trackSlider play the Track using the start() method and set the volume of the track using the volume property.
Step 10: stopTrack()
The stopTrack() function will be used to stop the Track. Add the following beneath the playTrack() function you added in the step above.
private function stopTrack(e:MouseEvent):void{
track.stop();
}
Here we simply call the stop() method on the Track.
Step 11: adjustTrackVolume()
The adjustTrackVolume() function will be used to adjust the volume of the Track. Add the following beneath the stopTrack() function you created in the step above.
private function adjustTrackVolume(e:Event):void{
track.volume = e.target.value;
}
Here we set the volume of the track equal the the sliders value property. Because we set the maximum to 1 and the minimum to 0.1 it will always be a number between 0.1 and 1.0 incremented by 10ths. i.e 0.1, 0.4, and so on.
If you test the movie now you should be able to play, stop, and adjust the volume of the Track.
Step 12: Groups
You may have been wondering what the “Play Group” button was for? Well, along with offering basic the basic Track ASAudio has a notion of “Groups” which allows you to stack sounds together and play them together all at once. Add the following within the addListeners() function you created in the step above.
private function addListeners():void{
trackSlider.enabled = false;
playTrackBtn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK,playTrack);
stopTrackBtn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK,stopTrack);
trackSlider.addEventListener(Event.CHANGE,adjustTrackVolume);
playGroupBtn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK,playGroup);
}
Here we add a Listener to our playGroupBtn that will call the playGroup() function. We will code this next.
Step 13: playGroup()
Add the following beneath the adjustTrackVolume() function you creafted in the step above.
private function playGroup(e:Event):void{
var group:Group = new Group( [new Track("piano.mp3"), new Track("drumbeat.mp3")] );
group.start();
}
Here we create a new Group by passing in an Array of tracks. We then call the start() method which tells the Group to start playing.
If you test now you should hear the “piano.mp3″ and “drumbeat.mp3″ playing simutaneously.
Step 14: Playlist
Along with offering the Group, ASAudio has a notion of a PlayList. The PlayList is like a playlist on an MP3 player. You “queue” up songs and when one finishes it continues to the next. Add the following within the addListeners function.
private function playPlayList(e:Event):void{
var playList:Playlist = new Playlist( [new Track("piano.mp3"), new Track("drumbeat.mp3")] );
playList.loop = false;
playList.start();
}
Like the Group we create a new PlayList by passing in an Array of Tracks. We set the PlayList to not loop and call the start() method.
You can now test and see the PlayList in action.
Conclusion
You have learned about ASAudio and seen how it can greatly reduce the amount of code needed to create Audio within your ActionScript Projects. This library has more to offer including fade, pause, and mute methods… I suggest you take a look through the documentation to see what all is available. I hope you found this useful and thanks for reading!
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