Creating Scrolling Screens for Flash Games
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Game development within Flash MX is coming a long. Once just the bastion of fun parlor games, Flash is now proving that it can hold its own for online entertainment.
In this article, you learn how to build scrolling screens for your players to move through. I'll give you tips on these topics:
- Scrolling graphic design
- Moving objects with keyboard
- Using ActionScript game code
- Creating scrolling screens
Game Design
Many different styles of games are available on the Internet, ranging from parlor games such as jigsaws and card games, to complex multiuser games such as EverQuest. One of my favorite games styles harks back to the days of Mario Bros and other games: platform games.
Platform games earned their name from the obstacles put in front of a game sprite (that is, the player's character): The sprite has to jump on platforms.
As the game style matured, the games broke out of their single-screen environment and began to allow the gameplay to extend beyond the screen (see Figure 1). To accommodate this, the screen needs to scroll.
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Figure
1 The sprite and the scenery can interact with each other through the
HitTest method.
The scrolling screen technique is a cornerstone for all Flash games.