AdvancED Game Design with Flash [Paperback]

Rex van der Spuy (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1430227397 | ISBN-13: 978-1430227397 | Publication Date: September 1, 2010 | Edition: 1

Games have always been a popular pastime on the net, and estimates say that one in three internet users play online – the majority in quick, free-to-play Flash games. There has been a bit of a revolution recently in Flash games, as a few companies (such as Mochi Media) have created simple kits for ad-funding and monetizing games. This has led to a revived interest in creating Flash games, as they can now be for real profit, as well as fun. This book takes readers to the next level in game design, and teaches them all they need to know to create addictive Flash games.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Rex van der Spuy is a freelance multimedia designer specializing in Flash game design, interface design and ActionScript programming, as well as standards-based XHTML+CSS+DOM website design. He is also the author of Foundation Game Design with Flash.

He migrated to the multimedia industry from an earlier career in film and television, having graduated with a BFA in Film/Video from York University in 1993 and spending a number of years working as an independent producer and freelance cameraman. He has designed Flash games and done interactive interface programming for clients such as Agency Interactive (Dallas,) Scottish Power (Edinburgh,) DC Interact (London,) Draught Associates (London) and the Bank of Montreal (Canada.) He also builds game engines and interactive interfaces for museum installations for PixelProject (Cape Town.) In addition, he taught advanced courses in Flash Game Design and Shockwave 3D Game Design for the Canadian School of India (Bangalore, India) and produced two online textbooks on Flash Game Design and ActionScript programming (available for free download from his website, www.kaleidoscope-multimedia.com.)

Rex is a also a proponent of standards-based, W3C compliant accessible XHTML coding. He has produced hand-coded websites for Meon Villa, Conran Events, Apax.com, the British-German Association (UK) and the Europan 8 architecture competition – all meeting strict W3C guidelines and level-1 accessibility requirements.

In his spare time, Rex has done a considerable amount of technical and fiction writing and maintains a semi-professional musical career as a performer on the sitar. Rex currently divides his time equally between Canada, India and South Africa works on consulting and software development projects for clients in India, North America and the UK.

Product Details

• Paperback: 808 pages
• Publisher: Apress; 1 edition (September 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1430227397
• ISBN-13: 978-1430227397
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.6 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #263,539 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #46 in Books > Computers & Technology > Graphic Design > Web Design > Flash

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding, and Advanced, September 14, 2010

By 

Russell Burt - See all my reviews

This review is from: AdvancED Game Design with Flash (Paperback)

If all programming books were written this way, there would be a lot more competent programmers in the world. Not only is this book chock full of useful information about ActionScript and game programming, but the author continues in the vein of his first book (Foundation Game Design with Flash) by taking his time to explain thought processes and reasons for doing--or not doing--certain things. I am impressed by Rex Van der Spuy's attention to the smallest detail. He explains code by first examining a problem, describing its general solution, then delineating the specific implementation of that solution in code, line by line. Brilliantly done, and smoothly executed.

This is not, however, a book for beginners. No, this is definitely advanced; hence, the title. If you are not comfortable with class structures, design patterns and OOP concepts, or are unsure about how to write AS3 in general, I suggest you look elsewhere. Friends of Ed has some excellent titles that cater to all knowledge levels. Van der Spuy even refers to other titles/authors in his book; a non-self-serving aspect which I appreciate.

This is not light reading, either. Don't skim through expecting to find a quick solution to your specific problem. Start at the beginning, including the introduction because he explains how you should set up your work environment. Then go at your own pace through each chapter. The chapter sequence is logical and cumulative, the example files/code work correctly, there is plenty of side-note information, and the spelling and grammar are near perfect. I only found one error (p. 49 -- "drawn using with the drawing API"), which is amazing considering how many books get published with typos galore. (Note to editors: do a better job. Note to publishers: LET your editors do a better job.)

Topics I found to be particularly useful include: Verlet vs Euler integration, simple methods to reduce CPU load, physics modeling, blitting, pixel-perfect collisions, and pathfinding. Don't be misled into thinking that's all there is though. All 700+ pages are filled with important techniques that will keep your brain busy for months, if not longer.

The few areas I thought were weak included his explanation of Flash's Sound and SoundChannel classes, his tendency at times to over-explain things, and only a scant reference to memory leaks, which Flash is known for. These are minor complaints, though; the book is ultimately an outstanding addition to any developer's library.

If you are an intermediate to advanced programmer, it should be on your shelf.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great insight into Flash game development, October 1, 2010

By 

Brent Arnold "iBrent" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: AdvancED Game Design with Flash (Paperback)

This is my first ver der Spuy book, and I must say I'm looking forward to more titles by him. His writing style is easy to follow, and very thorough. I've been developing in Flash for six years now, and Rex is spot on with his recommendations and code optimizations.

As mentioned in other reviews, this is definitely an advanced book. I'd say if you've worked with AS3 before, you can pick up on the material. Lots of code and examples, and you'll find yourself returning to the book often for reference.

Whether you develop games for a living, or just dabble in it, every Flash/Flex developer should have this book on their reference shelf.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book!, December 23, 2011

By 

ArcadeHype - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: AdvancED Game Design with Flash (Paperback)

I only have good things to say about this book. The author does an excellent job explaining his methodologies and the amount of topics he covers is unprecedented. All the code he provides is excellent and works flawlessly and he doesn't miss a single detail when he explains and breaks down his code step by step. I devoured this book in 2 weeks and now im actually starting to build my own tile based platform game. Anyone serious who wants to get into game design with Flash should definitely pick up this book hands down! If your a beginner with flash i would not recommend this book but if you have at least an AS2 programming background, like i did, then your good to go :]