Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Summary
The basic ideas we have described in this chapter will get you started on the path to making
games in AS3. You could, in effect, continue evolving these game concepts into dozens of
different games and never read another page of this topic. However, throughout these simple
projects, we pointed out some glaring issues have been raised that need to be resolved if you
want your games to be successful. Here are just a few of them:
There is no simple way to start and restart the games or change levels.
Adding text to scoreboard is a cumbersome process.
Handling sounds is simple but inefficient, because you need to create them each time
you use them.
The use of
MovieClip
s makes developing games without the Flash IDE a bit of
challenge. Many organizations use a combination of the Flash IDE and other IDEs to be
successful.
The performance of the games is poor, and they stutter and slow down as they continue
to run.
Bounding box collision detection does not work very well for intricate shapes.
The rest of this topic is dedicated to creating a game framework that solves all of these problems
(and more), while showing you how to take the lessons learned here and make a multitude of
different types of games.
So, there you have it, you've created your first games using a game frame work in AS3. We
covered a lot of ground so far, and this was just Chapter 1! You have learned the basic parts of a
game framework (state loop, game timer, event model), as well as a little bit about the philosophy
behind using one (second game theory). As you can see, we will move fast, but stay with us,
because it will be worth the effort.
Let's be honest though; while this chapter's code contains the core concepts, it is not optimized in
any way whatsoever. Therefore, in the following chapters, we will create an advanced game
framework and then a succession of games that improve on this design, while supplying real-
world game examples that are 100 percent ready for you to compile, run, and modify. Now, if you
are ready, let's start writing a game framework that will get you on the path to building more
games!
