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First Steps of Flash Game Design

Jan 3, 2003

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This sample chapter, to orient you for your trip into game design, discusses the most common Flash game genres, their terminology, and Flash's capabilities as a game-development environment.

This chapter is from the book 

Macromedia Flash MX Game Design Demystified

Learn More Buy

So you want to make flash games? Well, this is a great starting place. If you're completely new to game design, the whole idea can seem overwhelming. You may have a great idea for a game, but building an actual game from it is another whole story—setting up for multiple players, 3D motion, and so on. Don't worry—we've all felt that way. And we're here, after all, to demystify the process.

We'll proceed one step at a time. Before you jump in and start making games, I'll introduce you to some general game-world concepts and terminology.

In this chapter, to orient you for your trip into game design, we will discuss the most common Flash game genres, their terminology, and Flash's capabilities as a game-development environment.

Inspirational Kick-Start

Flash is an incredible authoring tool. With it you can create rich Web pages, advanced applications, and, of course, games. As a Flash game developer, you can create amusements as simple as tic-tac-toe or as complicated as a real-time multiplayer game. Imagine what it would be like to think of an amazing game idea (which you may have already done) and then sit down at your computer and actually build it. With Flash, this process can be very easy, and you don't need a degree in computer science to do it! You will learn how to tap into the logic you already possess (common sense) and apply that with ActionScript (the programming language used in Flash).

Pictured here are some of the games that you'll know—literally inside and out—when you're done reading this book.

What kinds of games are possible in Flash? Take a look at some of the games that are dissected and explained in detail in the third section of this book. (The source files for these games are provided on the accompanying CD-ROM.) All of the information and techniques needed to make games like these are covered in this book. Soon you will be making your own!

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