Macromedia Flash Professional 8 Game Development

Customer Reviews

• Window into Flash game creation  Jul 12, 2006 (22 of 23 found this helpful)

  With Flash 8 Game Development by Glen Rhodes I expected to get a step by step process on how to develop games in Flash in the form of Actionscript examples and tutorials. I didn't expect much in terms of the other processes of game design, but was pleasantly surprised when Glen related the importance of all game components. While the book doesn't go into as much detail with other processes as it does the code (and as it is a game development book it shouldn't), it describes the importance of each part, and gives several extra items beyond what I expected. There is a section on sound, optimization, game physics, portable games and 3D simulation as well as a section by Chris Hildenbrand about game graphics. And you make some fun games as well as explore more complicated versions which are included on the CD that comes with the book.
  
  You should have at least an intermediate understanding of scripting. The basics of Actionscript are not described here - if you need an introduction to Actionscript read another book first. If you are confident with your ability to pick up Actionscript you will do fine, especially given the Actionscript for games primer at the end of the book.
  
  This book gives a lot of helpful information on how Flash works and how to make games with this software. If you're interested in Flash 8 in particular, it details the creation of a tile-based side-scrolling game using the new bitmap class. I learned several methods of number manipulation and Actionscript methodology that will help me save time and processing power on future games. I learned ways of creating games that I hadn't thought of before, and he broke the physics down very simply and made it easy to understand. The tutorials and examples were thorough and easy to follow, with explanations of what each part of the code was doing.
  
  The only qualms I had were a few typos in the code (which are easily fixed), the order of presentation of some topics (I would have liked to read about the physics first before some early examples), a few spots where "why the math works" was not completely explained (but can be found through experimentation) and the process of planning the code/outlining functionality wasn't as prevalent as I would have liked.
  
  Overall though, this book has been extremely helpful in understanding how to implement different types of games. I was making my own version of the popular "Breakout" by Atari in no time. If you are interested in making games with Flash, this book is loaded with ideas and information on how to go about creating them.

• Indispensable for game developers  Aug 4, 2006 (6 of 6 found this helpful)

  Glen Rhodes' Macromedia Flash Professional 8 Game Development is for those who have the basics down and want to learn to produce professional-quality games. The latest enhancements to Flash are taught to programmers and web developers who want to get up and running quickly. From producing fast 3D effects to the hidden powers of Flash Pro 8, this book provides methods for understanding advanced techniques and getting up to speed: indispensable for game developers.
  

• Superb tutorial-style guide  Jul 4, 2006 (11 of 14 found this helpful)

  Don't believe the negative reviews of those who don't understand what a second, or revised edition is.
  
  This book is a superb, tutorial-style introduction to programming games with Flash 8 that quickly gives the reader a basis for learning Actionscript. Within one hour, I had my first game tutorial running and was analyzing the actionscript driving it.
  
  Nice work Glen, thanks!

• Excellent Introduction  Jun 21, 2006 (6 of 7 found this helpful)

  For programmers who are new to flash, this book is a "must have". It is an excellent introduction to, and explanation for, Flash 8 Game programming. The book includes a companion CD containing all of the images and Flash files (games) referenced.
  
  As a note, another reader commented that this book contains much of the content from Macromedia Flash MX 2004 Game Development. I must admit, I have not read that book, but if you already have it, you may reconsider buying this one. It is good for learning how to use some of the new features in Flash 8, though.
  
  (Playing with.. I mean learning, the games in the examples is fun too!)

• In-Depth game Development!  May 17, 2007 (3 of 3 found this helpful)

  I've bought this book with the purpose of starting to make flash games. Well, i couldn't have chosen a better way! The book is very easy to read and understand and the the examples are incredible. It explores the appropriate tools to create games like the BitmapData while giving other tools an explanation too. 5 stars!