Macromedia Flash MX ActionScript for Fun and Games [Paperback]

Gary Rosenzweig (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0789727994 | ISBN-13: 978-0789727992 | Publication Date: July 26, 2002

Anyone with moderate Macromedia Flash experience who is looking to acquire or improve their understanding of ActionScript will find this book a valuable resource. Author Gary Rosenzweig is highly respected in the Macromedia community and pioneered the use of advanced programming techniques in Macromedia Flash. For this edition, he has updated the games from the previous edition and has added several new projects. Each chapter studies and then deconstructs a new type of game or gadget such as hunt and click games, catch and avoid games, or action and adventure games and the CD contains the project source code.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Anyone with moderate Macromedia Flash experience who is looking to acquire or improve their understanding of ActionScript will find this book a valuable resource. Author Gary Rosenzweig is highly respected in the Macromedia community and pioneered the use of advanced programming techniques in Macromedia Flash. For this edition, he has updated the games from the previous edition and has added several new projects. Each chapter studies and then deconstructs a new type of game or gadget such as hunt and click games, catch and avoid games, or action and adventure games and the CD contains the project source code.

About the Author

Gary Rosenzweig is a game designer, programmer, entrepreneur, and the author of eight other books on Macromedia Director and Flash. He owns and operates CleverMedia, a Shockwave game development company that runs four game sites on the Internet: http://clevermedia.com, http://gamescene.com, http://gamespark.com, and http://flasharcade.com.

Since founding CleverMedia in 1996, the company has produced more than 200 games. The games on the four sites that make up the "CleverMedia Network" are all free for Web surfers to play. Many of the games have also been licensed to other Web sites.

Rosenzweig started in the multimedia business by obtaining a bachelor's degree in computer science from Drexel University in Philadelphia. His interest in newspapers took him to the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, where he earned a master's degree in journalism and mass communication.

Rosenzweig wrote his first book in 1995 on Macromedia Director Lingo and distributed it free on the Internet. In 1996, The Comprehensive Guide to Lingo was published by Ventana, followed the next year by The Director 6 Book. In 1999, Special Edition Using Director 7 was published by Que. That was followed by Special Edition Using Director 8 and then 8.5. After Macromedia Flash 5 ActionScript for Fun & Games, Gary wrote Sams Teach Yourself ActionScript in 24 Hours. Gary has also spoken at many Macromedia user conferences and the Game Developers Conference.

Gary reads a lot of classic science fiction books, likes to go to the movies, and enjoys travel. Gary's wife, Debby, owns and runs The Attic Bookstore (http://www.atticbookstore.com/), a used-book store. Gary and Debby live in Denver, Colorado, with their cat, Lucy, and dog, Natasha.

Product Details

• Paperback: 552 pages
• Publisher: Que (July 26, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0789727994
• ISBN-13: 978-0789727992
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #649,046 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Gary Rosenzweig is a programmer, Web site developer, Internet entrepreneur, podcaster and computer book writer. He is the host and publisher of the MacMost video podcast and Web site. He has also programmed more than 200 Web-based and iPhone games. He has written many books on Flash and Shockwave game development.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Book for Beginning ActionScripters, May 14, 2003

By 

E. Dolnack (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Macromedia Flash MX ActionScript for Fun and Games (Paperback)

This is a very useful book in my opinion. What's especially helpful is the author literally breaks-down his code, line-by-line, so that the reader clearly understands what is going on. It's a great method for teaching programming - particularly for the beginning programmer, yet also contains some very nifty stuff that even hardcore veterans of the interactive world can find useful.

The games are cute, yet very cool and adpatable. It shows good faith that the author even offers his games up for use by readers of the book. But to just borrow his code and replace his graphics with your own is to miss the real gem of this book, which is to instruct in the power and ease of Flash MX ActionScript. In just two weeks my working-knowledge of ActionScript has grown considerably.

Many computer-how-to books on the market teach by using generic examples, but there is nothing generic about the working prototypes presented in this book. There is some pretty impressive stuff here with some particularly well done graphics and animation. It feels more like the reader is learning on "real-world" examples rather than tired old stock-in-trade tutorials.

Buy (and read) this wonderful book and I guarantee that your Flash movies will improve considerably and in no time you'll be making some pretty impressive Interactive media. I am a professional animator and webmaster, but I always needed programmers who knew Java, C, or C++ to make the really cool stuff in the past. With the help of this book by Gary Rosenweig, those days are past history!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars This book teaches Flash 5, not Flash MX, October 24, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Macromedia Flash MX ActionScript for Fun and Games (Paperback)

This book is simply a rehash of Rosenzweig's Flash 5 for fun and games book. He teaches NONE of the new MX concepts or tools, he simply developes in MX like he would in 5 (you can do that in MX).

Flash MX, which is the recently released upgrade to Flash 5, gives a game developer scores of new features and functionality and Rosenzweig uses none of it.

If you really want to buy this book, buy the Flash5 version, it's cheaper and exactly the same thing.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Best ActionScript Books Out There!, April 4, 2003

By 

J. Charles (Rochester, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Macromedia Flash MX ActionScript for Fun and Games (Paperback)

Don't let the title fool you... this is a serious action-scripting book, specifically targeted for Flash-based games. You won't find any XML, Cold Fusion Integration, Database integration, etc., but that's not the scope of this book. If you want to learn how to use Flash ActionScript to manipulate movie clips, the Flash timeline, respond to user interaction, and create many different types of cool games that you see a lot on the internet, this book is for you. It is NOT a Flash book... it is an ActionScript book. The author assumes you are already competent with Flash basics. (I should also mention that you WILL learn a lot about Flash organizational skills as you work through the book.)

The STRENGTH of this book is that it uses the entire book to concentrate on one subject, vs. other Flash books that try to be "everything to everyone" without ever going into enough detail on any one subject. This is similar to another excellent Flash book, "Flash Cartooning" by Mark Clarkson, which spends the whole book on simply just learning how to animate in Flash.