Customer Reviews

Foundation Game Design with Flash (Foundations)

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I wish all computer books were written this well! This is not only the best book (by far) on this subject, but it is also the most clear, comprehensive, and engaging programming book I've read on any subject! The author is expert at building concepts at just the right pace to make the subject easy to digest, but he never skips over explaining the why, as well as the how of each concept. Chap 6 on controlling the player and overhead multi-axis scrolling (think Gauntlet, or Zelda) is well worth the book's price alone. Chap 7 "Bumping into things" gives three different methods for collision detection explaining the benefits and drawbacks of each. This is typical of the author's approach of showing you different ways to accomplish what you wish, and suggesting which method to use in different circumstances, but leaving the use of each tool up to you. He even goes so far as to first demonstrate an inferior, but common way of controlling a player's movement, so the correct method (which immediately follows) will make more sense, leading you to understand why the better method works so well. Chap 9 on platform game physics (think Mario) is superb, and like Chap 6 is worth the book's price alone. Side scrolling platform games are at best glossed over in other books. The whole time I read this book I felt like the author was reading my mind, anticipating my questions, and giving me a little more depth where it was needed. When you finish this book, there will be little (if anything) you can't do in 2D game programming in Flash. Lively, engaging, and actually fun to read, highly recommended!

Adobe Flash has been around for over 10 years now (wow, has it been that long?) and until recently has been mainly focused on creating online games. Now that in recent versions of Flash have evolved abit, it is being used not only for game design, but also for online video, and RIA applications.

Though for the most part Flash is best suited to create online animated games because it is very efficient for download size, is fast, has a very robust programming language (AS 3.0) and has many tools for quick and easy animation using the timeline.

This book is one of the few books focusing primarily on game design with Flash as opposed to other books focusing on specific topics such as animation or coding or component creation, etc. The author assumes no previous knowledge with Flash or programming but it would be helpful in speeding up your learning curve if you had a little experience in either programming or Flash.

The author starts at the very begginning of the book in explaining the basics of Flash and the components involved as well as the interface with the timeline. The author goes into how to program with ActionScript and how it differs from other languages. Then more basic topics are discussed such as how to create symbols (buttons and movieclips) and a basic template for the first game is discussed.

More ActionScript basic topics are discussed such as variables, using objects and methods, and how to code events. Then the next chapter (chapter 4) one of the more important topics are dicussed which focus on movie clips. Movie clips are the foundation of creating Flash games (let alone almost everything else). Anything in a movie clip (image, video, sound, animation, object) can be controlled via ActionScript which is why its so powerful.

The author gives a great explanation to these important topics and helps the reader understand what will be involved in creating Flash games.

The author then discusses other fun and important topics in game design such as how to use AS to control the player characters in the different keyboard and mouse events. Understanding how to control your characters movement in your game is very important.

I really enjoy the way the author explains the topics discussed because he describes everthing in a relaxed, easy to read format without too much technical jargon (unless needed, of course). It doesnt sound like a technical book, but sounds like a book that someone really enjoys what they are doing and that comes across from the book.

A really fun chapter (chapter 7) is the discussion of how to program collisions with your game character and teh environment you create for it. The author talks about the AS objects hitTestPoint, Collision, etc.

The rest of the book focuses on more somewhat advanced techniques such as object oriented game design, game physics, and advanced charcter control.

Its a very in-depth book and will take you awhile to go through it all but it is done very well and a highly recommeded if you want to really understand flash game design and development.

A great buy!

I've struggled through a number of AS books, but even the highest-rated best sellers left me feeling discouraged,frustrated and well, stupid. Not necessarily because of the books themselves-I have a learning disability, and have always struggled with this type of learning. I think the difference is that this author remains empathetic with the reader all the way through. ("Like he was reading my mind" as another reviewer said.) He doesn't "speed ahead" after covering the basics. I would definitely recommend this book for anyone who has given up on Action Script programming.

I bought this book recently, and I must say, it's a wonderful book, and I really think I made a bargain.

It is well written to remain simple and easy to understand, with a detailed step by step explanation, so that even if you know nothing about flash, you still find it very easy to learn.

Another awesome thing I liked about this book, it's full of advices regarding programming habits, like naming conventions, and ordering the code.. after completing this book, your code will look like a pro's code.

Learning to make games, is one of the most fun ways to learn flash, so even if you're not interested in making games, and you just want to learn flash, this book is the one for you.. the author talks to the reader directly, and reads his thoughts and worries.

The guy who wrote this book is a genius, not only in Flash, but in the way he wrote the book.

Want to start learning flash? Don't look elsewhere!

I have worked my way through several other books on ActionScript and game design and I wish I had found this one first. Rex van der Spuy clearly explains things about ActionScript that have puzzled me greatly for a long time -- things other authors glossed over. This is a Flash centered, game centered book. Instead of trying to be half Flash, half Flex like other books, this one glories in Flash as a game design tool and teaches by using all of Flash's many capabilities.

This book is very daring in scope. It starts out from "no programming experience" and takes you all the way up to the edge of design patterns, showing you how to make cool games at every level along the way.

I am a kind of medium/intermediate ActionScript programmer myself, and I found the early chapters delightfully relaxing (and learned a lot of new stuff too), the middle chapters absorbing and the final chapters challenging. Whatever level you're at this book has something for you.

Rex, how about writing another book taking us a little further along the path. I'd like to know more about how to put together a structure for a bigger, more complex game, more about composition and game design, more about event dispatching and game design. How about it?

Barbara Parkman

This is the best book for flash game design out there. I have tried every single other one, and I can say out of experience that by far this is the most complete of them all. It is highly organized and detailed. I highly recommend this book!

Note: If you liked this book I also highly recommend "AdvancED Game Design with Flash" which is basically a continuation of this book. Also an awesome book.

The cover states that this book is for "programming with Adobe Flash CS3 and CS4 ...".

I'm trying to use the book with Adobe Flash CS3 (which is what is installed in my school's labs). I'm encountering many CS4-specific instructions that, I'm afraid, will confuse CS3 newbie students.

<<<To complicate matters, the online FLA resources do not seem to open in Flash CS3.>>>

-->Updated 12/18/2009 The author provides CS3 source files at [...]

Since this book written for beginners, these concerns might be major ones for some folks.

I realize that both CS3 and CS4 use ActionScript 3.0. However, I bought the book because its cover states that this book is for both CS3 and CS4--in addition to ActionScript 3.0. The CS3-CS4 interface differences are significant enough that CS3 users may not be able to complete many of the book's tasks.

Simple, chapter-specific CS3 "cheat sheets" (online would be okay) could solve these problems (hint!). Otherwise, CS3 users might want to beware.

That said, I agree with other reviewers' comments. This seems to be one of the best-written books for beginning Flash game programmers. Just know that the book does not fully support Flash CS3, as the cover indicates.

I found this book absolutely life saving. Technical books are very rarely written in such an accessible language.

Just know that this book is for absolute BEGINNERS. That is to say - it is designed for people with NO previous experience with Action script whatsoever. And that is the best thing about it! There are just way too many books out there that claim to teach AC3.0 from 0 but require so much more. For this reason alone - this book a rare find.

It gives exactly that - very good understanding of how Action Script works and how to put things together in a workable game system, explaining every tiny step one by one.

Having said that, I warn you not expect advanced game stuff (i.e.profiling of gamers and massive multiplayer game technology) even at the end of the book. Look for this knowldege when you are done with this book.
This book will give you the confidence of being in control, knowing what is happening, and to never be frustrated with the complexity of the code ever again.

Must-have even for non-game users who want to learn Action Script.

This is my first review of any book much less a programming book. I purchased this book to learn how to make games for educational use. I have dabbled with Flash since Flash 2004 MX, but have never really gotten into the programming of it until now. If you want an easy to read, easy to understand, and a way to learn quickly, then this book is for you. Making games and applications for children is fun and challenging and I would not have been able to start off so quickly if it were not for this book. So take it from a dabbler and weekend warrior, this book is worth it.

I had a problem switching from ActionScript 2 syntax to ActionScript 3, and after trying multiple tutorials to get stuck into it, I still found myself asking "But why did I do that?" "What does that thing mean?" and other such questions. This book has helped me understand the external AS3 model far better than any other resource I have tried to learn from. The author does a really good job of explaining things before and after you create content.

Although the introduction chapters are aimed at beginners, I found these chapters informative for someone who is used to timeline scripting (the first chapter specifically says to forget internal scripts). Event listeners were also something I was not used to and had problems with using other tutorials, especially with AS3 requiring the functions being set to respond to the events. This book explains the things that many other expert teachers may consider to be obvious (and not bother explaining), and it is especially welcome.

Before this book I had the opinion that learning AS3 OOP was going to be difficult due to my learning experiences and what I had heard from others. Now I feel that what I was previously learning was pretty weak and that other people had their own problems adjusting to the less relaxed AS3 syntax. I would recommend this book for those unfamiliar with ActionScript and want to learn the very basics, those who want to learn AS3 coming from AS2, or those who want to create games and software interfaces.