You can start game programming in a flash

Here’s how to create five different cool games - no experience necessary!

Ever think you could come up with a better computer game? Then this book is for you! No boring programming theory here, just the stuff you need to know to actually make something happen, and all in plain English. Build a brain-teasing math game, go classic with Pong, create monsters and mayhem, and much more.

Discover how to
* Build and control basic movie clips
* Make text appear and change
* Generate random numbers
* Add sound effects
* Create cars and space vehicles that move realistically
* Blow up stuff onscreen

You can start game programming in a flash Here’s how to create five different cool games - no experience necessary! Ever think you could come up with a better computer game? Then this book is for you! No boring programming theory here, just the stuff you need to know to actually make something happen, and all in plain English. Build a brain-teasing math game, go classic with Pong, create monsters and mayhem, and much more. Discover how to * Build and control basic movie clips * Make text appear and change * Generate random numbers * Add sound effects * Create cars and space vehicles that move realistically * Blow up stuff onscreen

You can start game programming in a flash

Here’s how to create five different cool games - no experience necessary!

Ever think you could come up with a better computer game? Then this book is for you! No boring programming theory here, just the stuff you need to know to actually make something happen, and all in plain English. Build a brain-teasing math game, go classic with Pong, create monsters and mayhem, and much more.

Discover how to
* Build and control basic movie clips
* Make text appear and change
* Generate random numbers
* Add sound effects
* Create cars and space vehicles that move realistically
* Blow up stuff onscreen

* Shows how to create five games-a top-down shooter, a sports game, a board game, a pong game, and an adventure game-using Flash MX 2004 and ActionScript
* Explains basic game development concepts to would-be designers, including the math and physics behind video games, object-oriented programming techniques, and XML data in gaming
* The video gaming industry earned more than the movie industry in 2003, and game-programming instruction is now a mainstay at leading technical universities and computer science departments

What you don’t know can hurt you...

I have no complaints about the book itself; I didn’t get far enough into it to comment either way, but it does appear to be very well written and complete.

A friend ordered this book about the same time I did, and we were both shocked to find out that we needed Flash MX 2004. I suppose we should have assumed that, but nowhere was it mentioned in any of the descriptions or reviews on this or any other site. I ended up returning the book because I can’t afford the program right now.

So if you don’t already have Flash MX 2004, check the price before deciding to buy this book.

Dated

If you’re interested in buying this book you should be aware that it is a bit dated. Flash is currently working with Action Script 3.0 At the time this book was published 3.0 hadn’t been released. So it may be teaching you some "bad" practice techniques. If you’re looking to create "up to date" flash games this isn’t for you. The book is talking in 2.0 Actionscript. If you have no idea what flash is about and are looking for some dumbed down answers, i’d say go for it. The title doesn’t lie.

Author may know games, but not programming


I have not read this book cover to cover, but I picked it up to clarify some points on variable scope and execution order. What I found (under the index heading "variable sharing," not "scope") is that the Author has no idea how scope works. "Sometimes you need _root, sometimes you don’t" was the extent of his advice.

If you are already a programmer, skip this book. Get one of the "Todd Yard" books instead.

Beginner Flash Gaming for Dummies

I thought this book was very well done. The writer was very thorough with his directions. His explainations were great. I have tried to learn actionscripting for games in the past, bought a lot of books. But, this one has been the most helpful.

Great for Beginners. Highly recommended

I bought about 4 books about getting started in flash and gaming, and this one was far and away the best. Great examples, step by step walkthroughs. I actually still use some of the examples as referece in creating new games.

Highly recommended for beginners.

A solid foundation

Upon buying this book, I had dreamed of being able to write powerful flash games. Although I felt that there was more to be desired form the areas involving actionscript, overall I felt that that it delivered exactly what it promised; a strong introduction to flash game "programming."

Beginning Flash Game Programming For Dummies

It is perfect for beginner like me, just as title described. I enjoy reading this book and learn the concept of flash programming. The examples are straightforward and self-content. I am planning to write my first flash game with this book.

Picked it up in a FLASH!

I’m a graphic designer by trade. I recently took on a school based apprentice who is doing a certificate in Multimedia. She had to cover certain "Flash" units, so I thought it beneficial to at least know a little bit about the program.

The book was easy to follow, clearly explained and well presented. It provided the ground work to getting around the interface as well as basic programming. I enjoyed working through the tutorials and hope to finish my very own BASIC flash game very soon.

Excellent work!

This is a very well written book as it doesn’t just drag you by the hand through a bunch of unexplained concepts but rather, gives you a solid useable understanding of how things work. Very good work.

I really enjoyed this Flash primer

I liked this book and was happy to find out that it took a programmer’s perspective to Flash and how simple ActionScript is (if you are familiar with C++). My only fault with the book is that they kind of rushed the last chapter it seems and I wished it explained more and was twice as big of a book :) Also, it was kind of a shock to see trigonometry and physics in a "Dummies" book but at least it was only one chapter of it really. Now I feel more confident and will reread another Flash book I bought a while ago but only got through half of it (it seemed so boring..took an artist’s view...opposed to this book’s programmer’s view). And I already bought from here a book just on ActionScript to go further than this book did but I really enjoyed this Flash primer :)

Great place to start Flash game programming...

I have studied programming for years, and I decided that I would
learn to work with ActionScript so I could make games in Flash.
Well after some research, I found that this book had the best
ratings for a Flash MX (std edition) developer. So I picked up
a copy and I was amazed. This book took me from placing movie clips
to programming Asteroids, Pong, etc. in only a few days of reading!
Most programming books are huge and feature a lot of theory and math,
but this book is different. The author lays everything out nice and
slow, and often repeats important concepts so you remember them. There
is some math in the book, but if you want to be a game programmer, you
will need to know some basics anyways. Overall this book is a great
starting point, and will leave you with the ability to program games
like most any flash games you find on the net. If you are new to game
programming, or Flash game programming, I highly recommend this as your
first stop in learning.

Excellent book

I highly recommend this book. I was impressed with the clarity of writing and the depth of ideas. I previously bought other books about Flash and Actionscript, but none of them come close to the quality of this book. You won’t regret buying this book!

A few things would make this book perfect

I’ve programmed for years, but actionscript was different enough for me not to be able to pick it up easily. This book helped immensely in learning basic concepts like the timelines, layers, movieclips, etc. I’m close to completing one game as I write this, as a matter of fact, so the book did it’s job.

There are two things that need improving, however. First, the code for pong needs improvement. I noticed, when following the author’s suggestions that the ball would sometimes bounce into imaginary walls. Specifically, near the top of the screen the ball would bounce within a tiny confined location in an up and down motion, even though there is no bottom wall at the point where it starts going back up. So I downloaded the author’s code. Sure enough, he had the same problem in his code as well. I’m sure I could look through the code and figure out the bug, but this should have been caught by the author.

Second, since multi-player gaming is soooo hot right now, I feel that at least two chapters should have been devoted to this. I’ve searched and found out that you’re supposed to use the XMLSocket object. However, the intricacies, like making sure that what one user sees on his screen is the same thing another user sees, network latency, etc, are subjects that would have been much appreciated.

The good thing with this book, however, is that for single player games the author whets your appetite enough so that whatever he doesn’t show you you can at least google and find a solution.

THIS BOOK ROXORS TO THE MAXORS

I COULDN’T BELIEVE THE AMOUNT OF WORK IT MUST’VE TAKEN TO MAKE THIS BOOK WHAT IT IS, THIS BY FAR IS THE BESTEST BOOK ON BEGINNING FLASH GAME DESIGNING XP.

Clear and easy for beggining Action Scripters

I’ve tried a lot of action script books but this is the best one by far for begginners. The author takes the reader step by step through rudimentary instructions and code one step at a time explaining what each part does. In the next lessons, the author just tells the reader in short hand to start by doing what they did in the last chapter, and then builds on the knowledge.
Most books jump too far ahead and assume the reader can "figure out" the intermediate steps. This book is truly made for a beggining programmer, but doesn’t waste time on unneeded style and humor. Just enough hand holding to keep you going. A great companion book in this same vein is Game Development with Actionscript by Lewis Moronta.

Your Adventure Begins Here

I am a non-programmer computer user (video editor, Photoshop artist) who came to
Flash intrigued but overwhelmed with the prospect of using something called "ActionScript." After several years using Flash for authoring personal web projects, I grew hungrier. Hungry to somehow make basic 2-D games inspired from plonking away on my Apple II all those years ago (Wizardry, Lode Runner, Zork, etc.) Lo and behold, when I spied Andy Harris’ "Beginning Flash Game Programming for Dummies" on the bookshelf at Border’s, I found the book I had been waiting for. There are dozens of Flash books out there now, it’s easy to get lost in a maze of choosing the right one. What makes this book stand out from the rest is that it makes the F in Flash stand for Fun and not for Frustrating. Harris’ prose is funny, fascinating and easy to follow, which for this programming newbie is a must. But don’t be fooled by the "easy to read" dynamic. Harris also makes sure you get another big F in Flash, that of Fundamentals, which helps you start "thinking" like a programmer, even if you’re just a fan of games so far. Already, the choose-your-own adventure game example (in Chapter 3) has rocked my world. Okay, so I’m a little excited. What can I say? After hours combing thru Flash MX and now Flash Pro 8, I’ve found the secret guidance counselor I was missing so far in the School of Code. If you’ve got Flash, and you’ve got game, get this 392-page treasure trove right now, please. Thank you.

A diamond in the rough

This book is a really excellent *programming* introduction to Flash; apparently the only one of its kind on the market!

I consider myself a "programmer" type, and had been turned off by most of the other introductory Flash material that I’d encountered, which was mostly designed for graphic designers who wanted to avoid programming. Even the most basic introductory ActionScript books out there begin by assuming you already know how to make a pretty good Flash movie, which is really terrible, because you have to unlearn a lot of so-called "advanced" Flash-animation techniques to get good at Flash programming.

As a programmer, you should be able to read through this book in a day... Then spend another day or two working on the official exercises. You could then easily blow weeks on this book’s ten "starters" (available for free on fordummies.com): unfinished games whose final implementation is left up to your imagination. These are a fantastic resource; finishing the exercises and starters will prepare you to read the other Flash introductory in a new light.