Wow! eBook – Blog

Book Description

The latest version of Flash Professional can directly target iOS, allowing Flash developers to write applications that will run natively on Apple’s iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. What’s more, with Apple loosening its restrictions on third-party technologies, apps written in Flash can now be sold and distributed within the App Store.

Flash iOS Apps Cookbook provides the recipes required to build native iOS apps using your existing knowledge of the Flash platform. Whether you want to create something new or simply convert an existing Flash project, the relevant steps and techniques will be covered, helping you achieve your goal.

Learn how to configure and use Flash Professional for iOS development by writing and deploying a simple app to a device. Implement many iOS-specific features such a multi-touch, the virtual keyboard, camera support, screen orientation and the Retina display. Overcome the limitations of mobile development by mastering hardware acceleration and optimization. Whether you’re an enthusiast or professional developer, the Flash iOS Apps Cookbook is your toolkit to creating high-quality content for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

What you will learn from this book

• Configure and publish native iOS apps from Flash Professional CS5 or CS5.5.
• Start by quickly building and deploying a simple app to your iOS device.
• Target mobile screens and implement usability considerations. Download Now »

Book Description

In response to the success of the first edition of Foundation Game Design with Flash, Rex van der Spuy has revised and updated all the code to meet current programming best practices, and the focus is now on accurate ActionScript 3.0, regardless of the IDE that you use.

We’ve all sneaked the odd five minutes here or there playing the latest Flash game that someone sent around the office, but creating those games is trickier than it looks. The aim of Foundation Game Design with ActionScript 3.0 is to take you, even if you’ve minimal multimedia or programming experience, through a series of step-by-step examples and detailed case studies—to the point where you’ll have the skills to independently design any conceivable 2D game using Flash and ActionScript.

Foundation Game Design with ActionScript 3.0 is a non-technical one-stop shop for all the most important skills and techniques a beginning game designer needs to build games with Flash from scratch. Whether you’re creating quick blasts of viral amusement, or more in-depth action or adventure titles, this is the book for you.

• Focused and friendly introduction to designing games with Flash and ActionScript
• Detailed case studies of Flash games
• Essential techniques for building games, with each chapter gently building on the skills of preceding chapters
• Modern best practices and new content on ActionScript 3.0
• Also covers asset creation in Photoshop and Illustrator Download Now »

Book Description

Physics for Flash Games, Animation, and Simulations teaches ActionScript programmers how to incorporate real physics into their Flash animations, games, user interfaces, and simulations.

• Introduces Flash physics in an accurate, but approachable way, covering what is required to produce physically realistic simulations (as opposed to animations that look roughly right)
• Packed full of practical examples of how physics can be applied to your own games and applications
• Addresses the diverse needs of game developers, animators, artists, and e-learning developers

The book assumes a basic knowledge of ActionScript and Flash. However, no previous knowledge of physics is required—only some very basic math skills. The authors present everything from basic principles to advanced concepts, so you’ll be able to follow the logic and easily adapt the principles to your own applications. The book builds on your physics knowledge, enabling you to create not only visual effects, but also more complex models and simulations.

What you’ll learn

• Basic math and physics you’ll need to incorporate realism into your games, animations and simulations
• How to incorporate a wide range of forces, including environmental forces such as gravity and friction, and forces due to fluids, such as drag and upthrust
• How to build a number of realistic simulations, like submarines and flight simulators Download Now »

Book Description

Starling is an ActionScript 3 2D framework developed on top of the Stage3D APIs (available on desktop in Flash Player 11 and Adobe AIR 3). Starling is mainly designed for game development, but could be used for many other use cases. Starling makes it possible to write fast GPU accelerated applications without having to touch the low-level Stage3D APIs.

Most Flash developers want to be able to leverage GPU acceleration (through Stage3D) without the need to write such higher-level frameworks and dig into the low-level Stage3D APIs. Starling is completely designed after the Flash Player APIs and abstracts the complexity of Stage3D (Molehill) and allows easy and intuitive programming for everyone.

Obviously Starling is for ActionScript 3 developers, especially those involved in 2D game development; of course you will need to have a basic understanding of ActionScript 3. By its design (lightweight, flexible and simple), Starling can be used also be used for other use cases like UI programming. That said, everything is designed to be as intuitive as possible, so any Java™ or .Net™ developer will get the hang of it quickly as well.

About the Author
Thibault Imbert is a Flash Player product manager focused on graphics and rendering. After a few years working for different French agencies as a Flash developer, Thibault became an Adobe Certified Instructor in Paris where he taught ActionScript at an Adobe training center. Download Now »

Book Description

AdvancED ActionScript 3.0 is a fresh look and new approach to utilizing valuable, structural techniques and methods that are commonly used in the field of rich interactive application development. With each method broken down into different strategized explanations, you’ll find the approach most suitable for you. Whether it is an example you can utilize as-is, or one you can start with and develop further, you will have a glossary of definitions and organizational concepts at your fingertips.

Object-oriented programming (OOP) and design patterns are not new to the field, but can often be overlooked in their value. They are, at times, not only overwhelming to learn, but difficult to put into practice. However, they are useful because they create a structure that can be broken down, rebuilt, and reused.

• Provides the building blocks required for the implementation of OOP
• Addresses problems and concerns regarding OOP
• Offers solutions on how to approach and utilize OOP

What you’ll learn

• Understand the benefits of OOP
• How to structure code
• Explore new techniques
• Recognize patterns used by professionals in the field Download Now »

Book Description

Creating standards-compliant animations for the Web just got a lot easier. With this concise guide, you’ll learn how to convert Flash animations into HTML5, using Wallaby—the experimental tool from Adobe. Wallaby makes Flash content available for devices that don’t support Flash runtimes, including the iPhone and iPad.

Developing HTML5 animations is time-consuming with all the coding required. This book shows you how to create compelling content for HTML5 environments with relative ease, whether you know Flash or not. After a quick introduction to simple animation building with Flash, you’ll learn how Wallaby helps you convert those animations into HTML5 code.

• Learn how to create a simple Flash animation, using Flash Professional CS5
• Become familiar with the Flash Library, Stage drawing canvas, and animation Timeline
• Take the right approach to building a complex Flash animation for HTML5
• Get performance tips to optimize animations for desktops and mobile devices
• Use simple JavaScript and CSS code to place the Wallaby animation in a web page
• Add interactivity to your HTML5 animation with jQuery

About the Author
Ian McLean is a Flash Platform enthusiast, speaker and technical writer who has been building enterprise applications for over 10 years. An expert in Flex and AIR Ian is also maintains a strong interest in emerging development tools, processes and practices. Download Now »