Using swc's for your assets is great because it it also makes compiling a lot
quicker.
With organisation i would suggest a few more categories.
- assets
- component (eg. spaceship) logic
- component factories.
- main
- main factories
- main logic
these separate swcs/swfs make your compiling time even quicker.
The factories are basically used to instantiate everything your main game will
require.
Bjorn
--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, Axonn <theax...@...> wrote:
>
>
> Hi Doobie!
>
> You said:
> >You might want to organize things differently. Assuming that Game.as is
> >your main class that you compile for the game, you may not want to
> >compile this with Flash if you're trying to use Flex Builder.
>
> >The way I organize is to break down my stuff into 2 categories - the
> >main game, and the objects/assets used by the game.
>
> Since yesterday, I guess I found a bit of balance! I found a thread on the
> FlashDevelop forum which goes something like this (I'm just telling you the
> main idea): You have Game.swc. You then do this:
>
> public class Game_New extends Game
> {
> public function Game_New()
> {
> super();
> trace('And here, I can add my component-related code for Game.swc');
> }
> }
>
> So as you can see, this way we can modularize code PER-COMPONENT. This is
> the perfect way for me: I can code stuff for each component without actually
> going into Flash. I can modularize my component-related code for each SWC
> and I also can have the main compiled class contain the "main" logic.
>
> You said:
> >There is no way you'll build a game
> >even in the Flash IDE without grouping your art into some form of
> >Movieclip or Sprite.
>
> I've been doing computer programming for 11 years now (C#, C++, VB6, PHP),
> so I know what you're saying and I agree completely. I even did ActionScript
> quite a lot, but that was 5 years ago and it was AS 1.0, so it's like...
> another lifetime *laugh*. But no, I wasn't even remotely thinking to work in
> such a disorganized way! My designer has about 5 years of Flash behind so
> she knows her shit ::- D. But even so, of course I already am establishing
> the hierarchical structure of the assets with her. There's no way a good
> project would live without lots of good and planned order!!! For example if
> you have "planet", "space ship", "man" and "helmet", there would be no way
> in hell I want them lying on the stage for me to stich up together. That
> would be a huge waste of time indeed ::- D.
>
>
> Axonn.
>
>
> -----------------------------------
> The objects and assets I use are usually pretty simple. I like these as
> SWCs because I can give them a little logic, and maybe a animated
> timeline if need be. Typically if you keep these simple, you'll rarely
> have to touch the code, and just have to update with any art changes.
>
> The main game class, however (what I'm assuming you're calling Game.as),
> is something that you'll update constantly throughout the lifecycle of
> your game. So this is easier to leave as just some code, and don't
> compile into a SWC, just let Flex compile with each build of the game.
>
> You can organize stuff however you like though - you could completely
> ignore what I said, there's no right way to do it. The above just
> happens to be what works for me.
>
> You also talked about your artist not liking having to dig into
> movieclips and symbols in the library. Honestly, they should really
> learn some organization. Movieclips are the basic building blocks for
> interactivity in the Flash IDE. There is no way you'll build a game
> even in the Flash IDE without grouping your art into some form of
> Movieclip or Sprite.
>
> If your artist can only draw on the main stage, it'll end up being your
> job to figure out how to organize things into the movieclips as you need
> them and just do the production work yourself. The downside of this, is
> having to do this production work everytime the art gets updated. I've
> been through this it's not fun. It's easier to do a bit of pre-planning
> surrounding your game and get a dialog going with your artist on how to
> best organize the assets. If you both stick to the plan, they can work
> in Flash independently and just give you an updated SWC every so often
> while you work in Flex Builder, updating the logic surrounding the game.
>
> But like I said - people prefer different stuff - I'm sure once you get
> a little experience with this workflow, you'll have your own opinions.
> ben
>
> Axonn wrote:
> >
> >
> > Hi Doobie and thanks for your answer!
> >
> > I just managed to get my first SWC into Flex ::- D. *rejoices*. However, I
> > can't do anything with it ::- (... I have this "Game.swc". In CS3, I set
> > "Game.as" to its class. Game.as is in the same folder as Game.swc. After
> > importing it in Flex, I modified "Game.as". I added a trace. But nothing
> > shows when I run it with Flex ::- ( ... please don't tell me I need to
> > recompile the SWC if I modify the AS. As far as I understood so far that's
> > the whole thing when using SWCs, you can code without Flash... so why
> > don't
> > my modifications take place?
> >
> > Axonn.
> >
> > doobiekeebler wrote:
> > >
> > > Hey, so I've been making some games in Flex Builder myself. Basically I
> > > got fed up with the Actionscript editor in Flash a few years ago, and
> > > then switched to Flash Develop. Flash Develop is a really great (and
> > > free) tool.
> > >
> > > However, I ditched that once I got Flex Builder, because as much as I
> > > loved Flash Develop, Flex worked a lot better for me. I still use Flash
> > > Develop if I have to compile in the Flash IDE.
> > >
> > > Anyway, the others are right, Flex and Flash are all Flash. The reason
> > > to use the Flex framework is to get some great UI components, and a
> > > great framework to develop a rich internet application in.
> > >
> > > I use Flex all the time, though that said, I stay clear of it for games
> > > since typically the framework is overkill in the "application"
> > > department for what I need.
> > >
> > > Flex Builder, though, is VERY handy for making games. Specifically your
> > > example with the rectangles - there are two ways to do this.
> > > The first is like what you said and to make a SWF. You can simply embed
> > > the SWF using the embed metatag. I'm going to completely butcher it,
> > > but it's something like this:
> > >
> > > [Embed( file='myswf.swf', symbol='myrectangle')]
> > > public var myrectangle:Class
> > >
> > > You can do this with pngs, gifs, jpgs, or swfs. Its simply just another
> > > graphical resource to use. It's a little wacky though because you have
> > > to assign type it as a class first, and then you can say:
> > >
> > > var x:myrectange = new myrectangle();
> > >
> > > Typically I tend not to do this. My method of choice is to compile a
> > SWC.
> > > If you embed a SWF in the above fashion, you will lose any and all code
> > > associated with it. That means if you have any frame labels, any,
> > > stops, any gotoAndPlay's in there, it's lost.
> > >
> > > If you use a SWC you can use it just for graphics, or you can make your
> > > graphics smarter with some code. Just go to the file properties and add
> > > the SWC into the library.
> > >
> > > In this fashion, you now have code completion, and dont have to worry
> > > about embedding as the library is linked to the project.
> > >
> > > All you have to do is make sure that your rectangle has AS3 export
> > > linkage assigned in the symbol properties in the Flash IDE, and then
> > > just export the SWC. Once in Flex Builder, you don't import anything
> > > (as its all in the local namepsace), and just do new myrectangle();
> > >
> > > Hope that helps. SWCs are great stuff.
> > > ben
> > >
> > >
> > > Axonn wrote:
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> Hm, I think I didn't ask the right question, because somebody told me
> > >> that it
> > >> *is* possible.
> > >>
> > >> What I want is this:
> > >>
> > >> - Create a FLA file in Flash.
> > >> - Draw 2 rectangles.
> > >> - Create an AS file in Flex 3.
> > >> - Attach it to the Flash.
> > >> - Export as SWF.
> > >> - Continue development in Flex 3. When hit "debug", my
> > Flash-created SWF
> > >> starts but the debug code is attached to Flex 3, because I am in Flex
> > >> 3. But
> > >> you know Flex 3 creates that default SWF. I don't want that. I want to
> > >> use
> > >> the Flash SWF, which *DOES* have my AS class from Flex in it.
> > >> - DO modifications to the AS but DON'T START FLASH AGAIN until I
> > need to
> > >> modify graphics and such.
> > >>
> > >> Axonn.
> > >>
> > >> That is correct. Flex can only debug code in flex itself.
> > >>
> > >> I did see a book at barnes and noble last week that dealt with games in
> > >> Flex (but I forgot the name of it).
> > >>
> > >> --
> > >> View this message in context:
> > >>
> > http://www.nabble.com/I-want-to-use-Flex-Builder-3-to-develop-Flash-Games-tp22752546p22766233.html
> >
> > <http://www.nabble.com/I-want-to-use-Flex-Builder-3-to-develop-Flash-Games-tp22752546p22766233.html>
> >
> >
> > >>
> > <http://www.nabble.com/I-want-to-use-Flex-Builder-3-to-develop-Flash-Games-tp22752546p22766233.html
> >
> > <http://www.nabble.com/I-want-to-use-Flex-Builder-3-to-develop-Flash-Games-tp22752546p22766233.html>>
> > >> Sent from the FlexCoders mailing list archive at Nabble.com.
> > >>
> > >>
> > >
> > >
> >
> > --
> > View this message in context:
> > http://www.nabble.com/I-want-to-use-Flex-Builder-3-to-develop-Flash-Games-tp22752546p22771991.html
> >
> > <http://www.nabble.com/I-want-to-use-Flex-Builder-3-to-develop-Flash-Games-tp22752546p22771991.html>
> > Sent from the FlexCoders mailing list archive at Nabble.com.
> >
> >
>
>
>
> --
> View this message in context:
> http://www.nabble.com/I-want-to-use-Flex-Builder-3-to-develop-Flash-Games-tp22752546p22795476.html
> Sent from the FlexCoders mailing list archive at Nabble.com.
>
