Book review of:

Real-World Flash Games Development

How to Follow Best Practices AND Keep Your Sanity

by Chris Griffith

First of all happy new year, and I hope you all had a great time over the Christmas holidays. I spent my time snowboarding in the Alps, and when I returned this book had arrived from Amazon!

I’ve only had a couple of days with the book so far, and while I’ve flicked through the entire book I’ve only properly read the first few chapters, so this is more of an overview than an in depth review, and I’ll post a full review when I’ve finished the book!

This is the first book I’ve come across from Chris Griffith, and I hope it won’t be his last. Apparently he’s a senior game developer for Blackdot and has worked on titles for some major brands including LEGO, Microsoft, Pepsi and Starbucks to name just a few. The book is aimed at intermediate/advanced developers so if you’re brand new to building Flash games you should start off with something for beginners first (although hopefully you’re following my tutorials here at Flash Games Classroom and are well on the way!)

If you already have a good grasp of Actionscript however, and maybe some games experience, then there is a lot in this book to sink your teeth into. The book focusses on techniques for streamlining the development process, and as the title suggests gives “real world” techniques for building sleek and robust games.

The book covers Actionscript 3 and Flash CS4 (with the odd sidenote for anyone moving from AS2) and is broken into 18 chapters ranging in topic from detailed planning (chapter 3) to robust collision detection (chapter 11 – titled “don’t hit me!”) through to a platform game engine (chapter 15) and tips on bug fixing, optimization, security and protection (chapters 17 and 18). There’s also a useful appendix for using webcams and microphones in your games.

Well written, with cleanly laid out and easy to understand chapters

So far I’ve read the introductory chapters, and dived into the colision detection chapter which goes into a lot of depth on various collision detection techniques, when to use them and how to apply them. I’ve also dipped into both the maths chapter and the section towards the back of the book on security and optimization. If you’re an experienced games developer like myself you’ll find you can skim through sections, just focussing on the techniques which are new to you, or different approaches to what you normally use. For those who are less experienced, you’ll find that the explanations are detailed and well written.

I’ve found Chris’s writing to be just the right level – he goes into enough detail without labouring the point. The book is well written, and does live up to the title of offering “real world “ techniques – I’ve already found ideas and techniques which I’m beginning to use in my day to day coding.

If you’re developing Flash games commercially at any level then this book really should be in your library. If you’re just learning then you’ll want to get the basics down first, but I would still recommend buying a copy of this before too long as it will teach you some solid practices which will serve you well in the long run.

As I’ve already mentioned, I’ll be posting a full review when I’ve gone through the entire book, but so far I’m very impressed and very glad I ordered it. Well done to Chris for turning out an excellent volume for his first book, let’s hope other authors follow in his footsteps and we see more quality titles like this in the future!

The book is available on Amazon for $32.97 (£24.99 in the UK!) and is well worth the price in my opinion.  There’s an Amazon link over on the right if you want to use it (meaning I’ll get a small commission) or just head over to Amazon and search for the title if you prefer.

Finally, here’s a run-down of the chapter headings to give you an idea of exactly what’s included (and the Amazon listing has a full contents listing too!)

1. Computer science isn’t for everyone
2. The best tool for the job
3. A plan is worth a thousand aspirin
4. FTW!
5. Managing your assets/Working with graphics
6. Make it move: Actionscript animation
7. Turn it up to 11: Working with audio
8. Put the video back into “View Game”
9. XML and dynamic content
10. Four letter words: M-A-T-H
11. Don’t hit me!
12. I always wanted to be an architect
13. We’ve all been there
14. MixUp – A simple engine
15. Bringing it all together: A platformer
16. Don’t play by yourself: Multiplayer development
17. Squash ‘em all iuf you’ve got ‘em: The bug hunt
18. On your guard

All of the examples in the book are available at Chris Griffith’s blog.  Here’s an example of a simple top down car from chapter 10 (Maths!) which uses really simple phyics to get a car moving around the screen.  Use the arrow (cursor) keys to steer and accellerate.

Share |