Mobile Game Development with Flash CS6 and ActionScript 3.0

Discover how to create a trace statement in action script 3.0, place it on a frame, test code in the output window, and check syntax with a test movie.

Learn to create a text field with action script 3.0, display it on the stage using addChild, and work with a dynamic text box, including naming and testing.

Create action script 3.0 file, convert a rectangle to a movie clip symbol with linkage, instantiate it, set x and y, add it to the stage, and rotate as needed.

Use a for loop to create five copies of a library symbol, arrange them in a row with 50-pixel spacing, and resize them for proportional scaling.

Learn how to comment ActionScript 3.0 code using // for single-line and block comments with /* */ to leave notes and safely test code without deleting it.

Learn to create an event listener in ActionScript 3.0 by wiring a library button to a click event and execute a trace statement.

Draw simple graphics in action script 3.0 using graphics.lineStyle to set line width and color. Use moveTo and lineTo with coordinates to render and test the line.

Draw curves with control points and anchors, then create shapes like rectangles, rounded rectangles, circles, and ellipses using graphics commands such as beginFill, drawRect, draw round rectangle, drawEllipse, and endFill.

Program objects from the library with code by creating a movie clip symbol, adding it to the stage, and animating its x position via an enter frame listener.

Explore hit detection in Flash CS6 using ActionScript 3.0 by testing hit test point and hit test object between a rectangle and an oval, with mouse movement and enter_frame events.

Discover how a Flash game uses multiple ActionScript files with a main fla file, where the main file holds little code and imports classes to run the game.

Explore how XML documents power data in Flash apps, learn to load XML with a private function, and preview content like icons and transparency settings.

Explains the differences between public and private statements in ActionScript, detailing visibility within a class, across classes, and the internal default.

Explore how the accelerometer (gyroscope) detects tilts and turns in mobile devices and learn to simulate its controls in Flash using a basic ball-tilt test.

Set up a new Flash CS6 document and assets, choose Android AIR project for testing, and build a simple gradient background and interactive marble to test accelerometer interactions.

Code a trace to read accelerometer data, set a refresh interval, and listen for accelerometer updates to display the X, Y, and Z readings for testing before applying to marbles.

Map the accelerometer to a marble by updating the marble's x and y with event.acceleration multiplied by 10, then test in the simulator.

Implement boundary logic in action script to keep the marble on screen by clamping x and y within zero and the stage width and height.

Explore how taps and touches control mobile apps and games, using a crosshair example to show tapping, dragging, and color changes, and compare touch gestures with mouse events for performance.

Set up a Flash CS6 document, build sky and hills with linear gradients, organize assets as symbols and layers, and create a crosshair as a movie clip.

Explore how mouse events optimize memory use in simple mobile games by handling single taps with click events, while multi-touch enables advanced interactions for richer gameplay.

Learn to code a touch-driven crosshair in Flash CS6 by enabling multi-touch input, handling touch begin events, and moving the crosshair to the touch coordinates on the stage.

Learn to implement drag functionality in flash cs6 with actionscript 3.0 by making the crosshair follow touch, change color on press, and handle touch move via an event listener.

Implement drag functionality by updating cross hairs with touch move and touch begin events using stage coordinates, change color on touch, and revert with stop to frame 1 after release.

Explore testing touch input in mobile game development with Flash CS6 and ActionScript 3.0, including single taps, two-finger taps, and simulating touch area size, height, and pressure.

Set up interactive assets and gesture-driven controls in Flash CS6 by enabling the touch layer, applying rotate and swipe gestures, and building an orb symbol to reference in ActionScript 3.0.

Master a rotation gesture with four lines of code, using multiday touch input mode gestures and a transform gesture rotate event to rotate the blue orb.

Learn how to implement a pinch-to-zoom gesture in Flash CS6 using ActionScript 3.0, enabling proportional scale of an on-screen orb and interactive zooming.

Add constraints in the action script to bound the blue orb on the screen, using scale x limits (0.5 to 3) and conditional statements that manage zoom behavior.

Apply if/else constraints in ActionScript 3.0 to cap the blue orb scale x and y, keeping values between 0.5 and 2.99 while maintaining proportional y scaling.

Set up a swipeable document in Flash CS6 using a template with image holder and background symbols, four numbered swipes, color-swapped vector graphics, and programming for swiping between options.

Explore implementing a swipe gesture in a Flash CS6 ActionScript 3.0 project by wiring stage gestures to navigate four gallery items using a template file and a structured swipe function.

Implement swipe navigation by handling event.offsetX with conditional if statements to slide left or right based on the current gallery item, and define slide left and slide right functions.

Define a slide counter and implement swipe left and swipe right to move the gallery by 48 pixels, updating the counter, removing the listener at end, and resetting to zero.

Write a final function to move the gallery right and test swipe gestures using ActionScript 3.0 in Flash CS6, then troubleshoot errors and multi-touch input setup.

This lecture shows how to assemble a simple Flash/ActionScript 3 mobile game, using accelerometer-based controls, coins and bombs, and a testable play again loop.

Set up a new Flash document at 60 fps and 480 by 320, import the fish tank background into the library, and place it on the stage while preserving resolution.

Import the fish PSD layers, create a looping movie clip symbol named fishy, and swap bitmaps across keyframes to animate smoothly, giving it the instance name fish for ActionScript.

Import the explosion sequence into the library, organize an explosion sequence folder, and swap bitmap frames from 0 0 0 1 to 0 0 0 34 to animate a centered explosion movie clip.

Insert a keyframe at frame 51, apply a classic tween to convert the explosion to a symbol, fade with alpha, stop the animation, and assign the linkage name boom.

Animate bubbles from the fish's mouth by importing a bubble asset, converting it to a movie clip, and creating keyframes and a tween to stagger multiple bubbles in the timeline.

Animate bubbles in Flash CS6 by resizing and keyframing them, starting the second bubble at frame 6, using classic tweens, labeling layers, and duplicating frames for bubbles, keeping size consistent.

Code the final bubbles: stop the animation, remove the bubble with removeChild(this), then name the symbol's linkage bubbles for integration with the game.

Create a sparkle starburst effect in Flash by importing an image, turning it into a movie clip symbol, duplicating into eight copies, placing them at the center, and tweening outward.

Animate a starburst by applying alpha from 100 to 0 across frames in Flash CS6, then use a removeChild action to free memory and finalize the starburst's library linkage.

Import and organize assets in the library by adding a bomb and coin as movie clips, set their action script linkage names, and import their sounds as mp3 files.

Import and organize the start button assets in Flash CS6, convert them into a movie clip, nest symbols, and assign instance names to prepare for ActionScript 3.0 programming.

Draw a rounded rectangle with gray stroke and blue fill at partial transparency, convert it to a movie clip named game over, and organize text and icons on separate layers.

Learn to distinguish static and dynamic text in Flash, embed fonts to ensure a consistent look across devices, and set up dynamic fields with alignment, coin graphics, and glow effects.

Add the final two text fields, game over and play again, in Arial white, adjust sizes, set the dynamic text to 27, and ensure the instance name is set.

Group the background, fish, game over screen, and play button into the main game movie clip, organize layers, and set library linkage; add a dynamic lives field and coins indicator.

Set up the main movie clip by arranging the coin and text fields, assigning instance names for lives, game over, and start button, and prep for ActionScript calls.

Organize your game assets and scripts by creating a dedicated com/fishtank folder, then create and save an ActionScript file ready to import into the main FLA file.

Open the main FLA file, go to frame 1 and actions, import the com.fishtank package, and create a fishTankGame as a new FishTank to load assets from the FLSA.

Explore importing classes and defining the package in a Flash CS6 ActionScript project, while outlining a fishtank game objective to collect coins, avoid bombs, and tilt with the accelerometer.

Open your action script file and define a class with private variables for main mc, lives, coins, bubble timer, coin appear timer, bomb appear timer, accelerometer, and animation timer.

Define a constant named sensitivity set to 0.1, contrast constants with variables, declare private boolean gameOver, and set up sound variables for correct mp3 and bomb sounds.

Define and explain key game variables for a Flash/ActionScript 3.0 project, including lives, coins caught, bubble/coin/bomb timers, accelerometer input, player direction, speed, acceleration, game over screen trigger, and sound effects.

Create a public fish_tank function, instantiate the main movie clip, attach the fish tank, load bomb and coin sounds, stop and hide the fish, and set start button to begin.

Implement accelerometer detection and timer-based events to spawn bubbles at random 3–8 second intervals, drive the fish animation, and ensure smooth gameplay with timer complete handling.

Configure coin and bomb timers with random bitmap spawning and timer complete events. Enable keep awake idle mode, bitmap caching, and keep the game over screen invisible at startup.

Define private functions to manage bomb and coin timers. Wire them to timer events, and set random delays to spawn bombs and coins in a Flash CS6 game.

Create a coin in a function, cast it as a bitmap, and add it to the stage at a random x between 25 and 445, using a timer to animate.

Develop and manage a coin timer that fires 50 times per second to animate coins, detect hits with the fish, award points, spawn starbursts, and clean up on game over.

Trigger a starburst and update the coin counter when a coin hits the fish, align the starburst with the coin, play a sound, and remove the coin and timer instantly.

A quick syntax check fixes the missing left parenthesis and reveals compiler errors. Implement an else branch to cleanup coins at the screen edge and continue with next code section.

Implement a remove function to delete the coin from the screen, detach its event listener, null the timer, and remove the coin from the stage to enable garbage collection.

Create bomb function mirrors coin function: cache library bomb bitmap, add bomb to stage, set random x position, and use timer to control drop rate.

Define the on timer function for the bomb as a timer event, moving the bomb four pixels per tick and restarting when not game over; bombs drop faster than coins.

Test bomb hits on the fish, trigger an explosion boom at the bomb position, add the boom to the stage, and play the bomb sound while decrementing lives.

Define an on timer event that triggers game over when lives reach zero, then remove objects to clean up memory and prevent leaks during the fish hit sequence.

Explore creating the remove function for bombs in a Flash CS6 game, detailing private versus public functions, timer handling, and removing bombs from the stage.

Implement a bubbles function that spawns bubbles from the fish’s left or right side using a switch, assigns positions, and starts a randomized three to eight second delay to appear.

Set up acceleration for the fish to add physics with accelerometer controls, moving left or right with speed and acceleration. A timer-driven switch updates position, enforces bounds, and loops continuously.

Create a mouse-triggered start game function to reset coins to 0, set lives to 5, hide the game over screen, and start fish and timers.

Explore implementing an accelerometer function in a flash cs6 game, handling event.accelerationX with a private function, applying sensitivity thresholds to move the fish and flip its direction.

define the game over function to stop all timers, remove event listeners, reveal the game over screen, hide the fish, and show the coins earned on the game over display.

Define private functions move right and move left and a random number function R and D that uses Math.floor and Math.random to support the fish timer and embed code correctly.

Organize assets and action script files for debugging, test the movie to read compiler errors with line references, and fix issues like case sensitivity and typos before saving.

Debug this mobile game by fixing stage display and bomb movement in ActionScript 3.0, correcting a plus-equals error, saving, and re-testing until bombs fall correctly.

Export the view as landscape fullscreen for Android testing. Align the stage origin by moving all symbols in the main movie clip to the top-left of the background.

Export your game to Android by configuring Android settings, output file, and app details, then set landscape fullscreen and use GPO rendering for bitmap images.

Create and save a self-signed Android certificate (P12) for publishing, configure deployment options, export the package file, and prepare for distribution on Android devices and the Google Android Market.

Publish your Android game to Google Play by following policies, testing for core app quality, setting content rating and pricing, paying the $25 registration fee, and using the developer console.

Export your game to iOS by configuring iOS-specific settings, including target device (iPhone or iPad), 640x960 resolution, orientation, fullscreen, and certificate considerations.

Enroll in the Apple developer program with a $99 fee to obtain an Apple developer certificate. Sign and publish iOS apps to the App Store after Apple's review, unlike Android.

Learn the basics of mobile game development with Flash CS6 and ActionScript 3.0 through a simple template game featuring accelerometer, coins, bombs, and options for touch controls and onscreen buttons.

Chad trav shares a decade of flash animation experience from macromedia flash five to flash CS6 and ActionScript 3.0, plus video tutorials on flash and anime studio.