Seasoned game & game-engine developer Ben Garney has a new game development engine called Loom.

Ben demonstrates competency in a long series of projects. He worked on the Torque Game Engine with GarageGames at www.garagegames.com (Site No Longer Live), the PushButton Game Engine for Flash with PushButton Labs at www.pushbuttonlabs.com (Site No Longer Live). Support from PushButton (including its website, updates to its source code and forums) abruptly ended in 2012. PBE’s spiritual successor launched in 2012 as Smash Game Framework at www.smash.io (Project apparently dead after no updates since more than ‘a year ago’).

Now he and his team have Loom, The Loom Game Engine at www.theengine.co. The word ‘loom’ is used for a device used for weaving textile projects and Loom is also a popular 80′s computer game, both spiritually aligned with game development. However, I wish it had a more unique name to facilitate online searches.

Pros of Loom (Paraphrased from theengine.co);

• Pragmatic Development - Loom features a lean and fast workflow without strict development rules or required frameworks.
• Freedom Of Choice - Access and edit C++ core source code, access and edit LoomScript core source code, or simply add your own custom LoomScript. LoomScript sits atop C++ and can access any C++ library.
• LoomScript - LoomScript is an easy to use, new language modeled after AS3 with features inspired by C#. LoomScript is based on Lua which is concise, robust, proven, and supported by tools, debuggers, and community.
• Useful Libraries - CSS Styling, UI Markup, Tweening, Dependency injection, JSON/XML and more…
• Loom Architecture - Three parts; Call LoomCLI from your command line to create ‘new’ projects and ‘run’. The LoomSDK is precompiled LoomScript with powerful libraries. The NativeSDK is the raw C++.
• Built For Teams - Three tiers; Artists can create & integrate assets into the latest build without bothering others. Scripters use LoomScript for the bulk of development. Need extra power? Extra features? Coders can access the C++ layer.

When and where it is manageable, I am a huge fan of using  and reusing the same project for multiple platforms. Loom 1.x currently exports to TV (Ouya), Desktop (Mac & Windows), and Mobile (iOS & Android). Future support for other platforms is in discussion on the loom forums.

Checkout the screenshots of Loom’s Workflow;

1. Create a new project via command line.
2. Create your raster assets using your favorite creative programs.
3. Create your LoomScript code using any text editor. While a Loom IDE is a top feature request which is in active discussion, SublimeText is the current free, recommendation.
4. Compile (run) the project via command line.

1. Project	2. Assets
3. LoomScript	4. Compile

Development Philosophy

We believe that fast iteration times across multiple devices simultaneously lead to better, faster, cheaper game development. – Loom Documentation

Loom‘s design goal is to keep you on the fast development path as much as possible, while still preserving access to slower, more difficult, but still essential development paths. This gives a substantial benefit to development teams without blocking them.

The Loom GameFramework

Loom offers a powerful (optional) Loom GameFramework (LGF). A game framework is a system to organize your code specific for game projects.

LGF is made of three general types of classes. There may be many of each type in each game project:

• Manager – Managers are the brains of the operation — each one has a unique task; for instance one focuses on the spatial area of the screen and the objects within it and one on graphics rendering of visible objects. Depending on its role in the game, a manager may or may not relate to entities and components directly.
• Entity – Each visual element in your game is represented by an entity. This could be anything; your player, the enemies, collectible items, etc…. Entities can be non-visual too.
• Component — Each entity contains components. This is where the bulk of your game code lies. Each components handle a specific responsibility. For instance perhaps one component handles rendering the entity in which it resides.

Developers can extend existing managers and create new managers too. LGF ships with managers for our most common needs. Here is a partial list of the managers packaged with the core Loom.GameFramework package:

• TimeManager – Manages all time related functionality in the engine. It provides mechanisms for performing actions every frame, every tick, or at a specific time in the future. A tick happens at a set interval defined by the TICKS_PER_SECOND constant. Using ticks for various tasks that need to happen repeatedly instead of performing those tasks every frame results in much more consistent output. However, for animation related tasks, frame events should be used so the display remains smooth. You can pause/play your game easily here too.
• ConsoleCommandManager – Process and dispatch commands issued via the asset agent.
• PropertyManager – Properties are like public variables; set/get manually or bind automatically.

Entities are essentially empty shells. As a developer you fill them with the core components &custom components needed. Each component has access to any Loom API desired and responds to custom events as well as the following built-in Loom events:

• onFrame – Best used for graphics rendering-routines; this occurs once per frame-rate (e.g. 60 times per second for 60 FPS). Included for AnimatedComponent
• onTick – Ticks are guaranteed to happen at a fixed interval. If the frame-rate slows down due to some number-crunching or heavy rendering, Loom will attempt to ‘catch up’ by calling more ticks. It balances the run-time experience well. Included for TickedComponent.
• onThink – Based on an arbitrary, per-use timer. This is ideal for AI code which can be processed slowly (e.g. every 1–5 seconds). Included for QueuedComponent.

Getting Started

If you have setup a programming environment before (Flash, Java, HTML5), then you should find Loom easy to setup and use.

Here are the links and tips;

1. Download Loom (CLI & SDK Together) – Visit the Loom downloads page.
2. Download examples - See the list of examples or download and view the source-code from the Loom downloads page.
3. Learn to run code with the examples and create new projects – Visit Loom getting started page and the Loom documentation page. Curiously, the class-by-class documentation is not available online, but is indeed downloadable.

Creating My ‘FlyerGame’

To learn Loom, I followed my own ‘Getting Started’ steps above and then created my own complete game. I used assets and game logic from “FlyerGame”, a game that I have recoded many, many times using game frameworks. The HD Video Screencast and source assets are available (See ‘Member Resources’ below).

Optimizations

I have limited experience with Loom, but from reading the Loom forums and reviewing the Loom example code I understand that optimizing a project – especially rendering with a constant frame-rate on a variety of devices takes time.

Conclusion

I like what Loom does well; LoomScript is light and powerful, the workflow is VERY fast. I haven’t tapped into the full strengths of device-specific CSS (e.g. to size a button uniquely on iPad vs iPhone) yet, but it looks really compelling.

Library of Libraries

Loom is based in great part to Cocos2d, a free community-based library for 2D gaming. Some people love and some people hate Cocos2D. A consciousness I see throughout the Loom forums is for ‘Loom’ itself to provide minimal functionality and instead depend on 3rd party libraries to provide developers with needed functionality. Some libraries will be folded into the Loom API and for others developers can mix and match libraries as they like. This ‘borrow vs build’ approach is not new. It is what provides huge functionality within the Javascript gaming world too. However, as a developer having a big bag of separate APIs (separate syntax, separate terminology, inconsistent value ranges…0 to 1 vs 0 to 100 vs 0 to 256) is not intuitive and severely hurts the learning curve. Furthermore such separation makes it hard in my opinion for Loom to compete in an all-too-crowded world of cross platform mobile game development tools.

Maturity

The product is both at “1.0″ and costs money which to me means The Engine Co is positioning it as a finished product. However a look at the feature requests from the community and bug reports/omission from the forums, which include countless bare essentials (e.g. complete code documentation & incomplete method override support) is a sign it is not yet ready to stand against full realized competitive cross-platform mobile engine.

The engine also misses many device-specific features and most every OS-specific integration features (e.g. in-app purchase, social network integration, ad monetizations) which the forum promises are coming soon.

When the docs & wiki are complete and describe features which are implemented bug free the product can be recommended with more confidence. The team is working fast and communicates so frequently, that we may see that level of completeness very soon. A dedicated IDE (currently the #1 feature request) with auto-complete and more will help seal the deal.

The license pricing;

• 1. Starter- Target desktop 0nly – Free!
• 2. Indie – Target mobile too
• 3. Pro – Includes support
• 4. Enterprise – Includes more support

Developer Q&A

Loom is very new and is changing rapidly. I reached out to Loom developers to get a reactions based on Loom CLI v#1.0.506 and Loom SDK v#sprint27.

PROs

• Live Reloading – Greatly accelerates development
• LoomScript – Easy to learn (especially from AS3) and powerful
• Support – Loom dev team is open, responsive, and productive

I find the component-based architecture suggested in the Loom API to be powerful and a distinguishing feature among competitors.

CONs

• Young platform – Has many bugs, missing basic implementations (“lots of loose ends”), and lacks must-have features of competitors
• Lack of documentation, tutorials, & examples.
• Rendering – The “CSS layout is pixel [dependent and] has little practical use”, and overall the “performance is not amazing”.
• No full-featured IDE – Although a 3 code editors already provide partial support.

The lack of IDE is an obstacle for me. And the creator’s conscious choice to use existing 3rd party APIs to solve basic implementation needs is wise (provides functionality) but weakens the platform tremendously as it becomes a ‘bag of APIs’ which hurts the learning curve.

Gotchas & Advice

• Read the docs
• Download, read, and run the examples
• Just “Dive into it!” and remake a basic game from scratch

“Is Loom ready for professional development?”

• No, It is the “early days for the platform so there’s not so much”.
• No, “standard mobile features like reading/writing to camera roll are not exposed yet (as far as I know)”.
• Yes, I think its ready for professional deployment, If you can get over the bugs and [missing] features”.
• No, we’d have to “spend a lot of time working on supplementing the engine, and less on making our games”.
• And as one developer said – I am “not sure. I’d have to make a game with it!”

For me, Loom is absolutely ready for production in a vacuum. However there are many compelling alternatives to use which are more robust.

Next Steps

After ‘Getting Started’ and following my HD Video Tutorials, here are more resources to fuel your Loom savvy.

• VIDEO: Welcome To Loom – Watch the HD Screencast Video Tutorial*
• VIDEO: FlyerGame With Loom – Watch the HD Screencast Video Tutorial*
• SOURCE CODE: FlyerGame With Loom – Download, view, and run the code.
• Find common answers on the Loom forums page
• Post your comments on Loom below on this blog page.

*See ‘Member Resources’ below.

NOTE: Source code is available, but videos are NOT yet available.

Member Resources

Free Talk

Premium Training

This event is deep, premium training. It is a natural follow-up to the Cross Platform Mobile: Free Talk.

I recently covered an Introduction To Adobe Game Developer Tools. With excitement and momentum (created primarily by Stage3D and its Starling Framework) we see proactive, positive marketing by Adobe for gaming and the Flash Platform. The community hopes this will help keep the Flash Platform in the minds of business leaders and developers as a viable technology for new projects.

Adobe recently announced the details for the annual Adobe Max conference. Thankfully, in 2013 we see a focus on gaming.

Adobe Max 2013

Adobe MAX 2013 will be at the L.A. Convention Center & Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE on May 4 – 8, 2013

(From Adobe Marketing:) Adobe MAX is all about creativity and expressiveness. If you create, you won’t want to miss MAX. Designers, developers, strategists, video professionals, photographers, and more all come to MAX to exchange ideas and inspiration. Together with industry pros and visionaries, you’ll learn about the latest technologies, techniques, and strategies for delivering your best creative work. Come to MAX and explore how creativity is changing the word and what part you have to play in that change. And every full conference MAX pass includes a one year membership to Adobe Creative Cloud*

Adobe Max 2013: Gaming Sessions

Here are the game-related sessions we can look forward-to;

Next Steps

• Read my recent Introduction: Adobe Game Developer Tools article
• See the full Adobe Max 2013 list of sessions
• We at RMC are excited to collaborate with you. We are experts in Flash Platform Gaming, and more. Not sure if HTML5, Unity, or Flash is right for your next project? Just ask!

In my years of game development, I never wished for a tool (IDE) to create games without any programming. But I recently found one.

Maybe I never thought it would be possible. Maybe I never thought the games would be good. Maybe because I knew how to code, I didn’t care. The Stencyl Toolset from Stencyl, Inc. is surprising in both its ease of use and its flexibility to create a variety of games.

But can it replace traditional game-programming? Well, let’s take a look.

Pros of Stencyl (Paraphrased from Stencyl.com);

• Game Studio In A Box – Stencyl is a gorgeous, intuitive toolset that accelerates your workflow and then gets out of the way. In addition to the core tools, there is an included image editor called Pencyl and tile creation and editing tools for tile-based games (i.e. PacMan).
• Show and Tell – Use StencylForge the community-based toolbox of sprites and game logic to power your projects and share your knowledge.
• Design In A “Snap” – Drag-n-drop code like Lego-blocks. If you are a coder, I know this sounds SCARY. Check it out.
• Test it Fast – Run quickly using onscreen emulators for rapid code-test-code cycles. TBD on my opinion of the debugging features.
• Play It Everywhere – Publish to iOS, Flash, Windows, Mac & the Chrome Web Store. (Android / HTML5 Coming Soon)
• Make Money – Well, monetizing games is not unique to Stencyl of course, Stencyl has monetization features but there are many Pros of using one code-base for multiple platforms.

When and where it is manageable, I am a huge fan of using  and reusing the same project for multiple platforms. Stencyl 2.1 (current release) exports to Flash (Desktop/Browser) and Mobile (iOS). Future releases will publish to Android and HTML5.

Checkout the screenshots;

1. Create your game assets (backgrounds and sprites) using your favorite drawing programs or download them from StencylForge.
2. Setup your game sprites. These ‘Actors’ as they are called can be animated and controlled by the computer AI or by the user.
3. Setup your game logic. Stencyl’s most controversial feature is the logic system which requires NO PROGRAMMING. There is comprehensive documentation to help. Check it out.
4. Design your levels. You can drag and drop assets into a grid system or free-form layout. Whatever you like!*

* The potential to use Stencyl JUST for level creation on non-Stencyl projects has me very excited. I haven’t tried that yet, nor know if its possible. Post below if you have some ideas.

Create Assets or Use StencylForge	Setup Game Sprites
Setup Game Logic	Design Levels

Stencyl 2.x maintains separate engines for our Flash and iOS exporters. Something that the team admits has been a challenge to maintain. Stencyl 3.0 (release date TBD 2012) will use a single engine and language that exports native apps to Flash, iOS, Android, Windows, Mac, Linux and HTML5.

Getting Started

If you have setup a programming environment before (Flash, Flex, Java, HTML5), then you should find Stencyl VERY easy to setup and use. Its slick and mainstream in its ease of use from initial install through project building. If you have never used multimedia tools, it may be a bit challenging, but know that you are in good hands. Stencyl’s has some user experience (UX) hiccups, but it is, overall, very impressive.

Here are the links and tips;

1. Download The IDE – Stencyl and install it.
2. Go Through the Crash Course – After downloading Stencyl, I strongly recommend going through the Crash Course. If you’re launching Stencyl for the first time, you’ll be automatically asked to go through the Crash Course. If not, click on the Help Center button to find it.
3. Read Stencylpedia- After you’ve made your first game using the Crash Course, we highly recommend reading through the first few chapters of Stencylpedia (up to the end of Chapter 4).Stencylpedia will teach you the fundamentals of game creation through Stencyl, in a way that poring over many example games won’t do.
4. Inspect Free Games – You can learn a lot as a beginner by looking at the included games and free games on StencylForge. Exame the scenes, actors, and behaviors.
5. Watch My HD Screencast Video – Watch me talk you through as I create a complete game from start through finish. (See ‘Member Resources’ below)

Making ‘FlyerGame’

To learn Stencyl, I followed my own ‘Getting Started’ steps above and then created my own complete game. I used assets and game logic from “FlyerGame”, a game that I have recoded many, many times using game frameworks. The HD Video Screencast and source assets are available (See ‘Member Resources’ below).

Optimizations

With my simple tests, Stencyl games appear to run smoothly. It’s likely that performance problems are run-time performance problems (i.e. Flash or iOS) and not necessarily Stencyl performance problems.

Recommendations;

• Limit number of on screen actors – That’s the fundamental optimization. When not possible use ‘recycling’ (VERY IMPORTANT) which is Stencyl’s version of object pooling.
• Limit number of collisions – Stencyl uses Box2D for its physics engine, and the more Stencyl makes use of Box2D, the more calculations it’s performing in a given frame. Since collisions means the physics engine is working, more collisions means potential slowdown.
• Limit use of effects and transparency
• Limit overlapping actors (i.e. actors on top of actors)

Conclusion

I like Stencyl. I applaud what they are trying to do; create a simple tool to allow newbies to create games and veterans to create more games, more easily. I think many veterans will be turned off by Stencyl as a ‘toy’, and many newbies may be too shy to give it a try. I encourage both groups to give it an honest try. Above all I’m excited for the future of gaming.

Tools like [Stencyl] are yet another sign that game development can be both a great hobby to some and lucrative profession to others. – Me.

There are some other game studios I have yet to fully review such as GameSalad and GameMaker. Stay tuned. I may review them in the future.

Wait, No programming?

I make a few mentions here that Stencyl requires no programming. Really, to be more accurate you ARE coding, you ARE programming and quite deliberately. You have to understand all of the common game logic concepts. What are are NOT doing is typing. Instead you use drop-down menus – part of a layout which Stencyl calls the “block-snapping interface”. Very pretty, helpful, & intuitive. For advanced users there is indeed a code view and programming API (both currently AS3-only). Looking at the code is not only optional, it is not encouraged.

I have some strong opinions by code-generation tools (i.e. Adobe’s Dreamweaver), but I think there is indeed a large audience that can be served well by Stencyl’s ease of use. I am impressed with its power and flexibility. While not the creators intention, I also see Stencyl as a great tool for complete game developer beginners to learn all the fundamentals and then perhaps move on to a more traditional programming environment in the near future or distant future if they have the interest. Academically, Stencyl has fascinating potential too providing a language-agnostic approach to gaming for first year students, before they have the programming skills to power their creative ideas.

In short, after testing Stencyl, my opinion of it changed from just a ‘pretty toy’ to a ‘fun and powerful tool’. The roadmap provided on the Stencyl website looks fantastic too, rounding out more publishing options and hinting at a more robust tool too. Give Stencyl 3-4 hours of your attention over a weekend. It may very well change your mind for the better too!

The license pricing;

• 1. Stencyl 2.x – Publish Flash Games – Free!
• 2. Also Publish Desktop Games – $79 per year
• 3. Also Publish iOS Games – $149 per year
• Combo of 1,2,3 – $199 per year

Developer Q&A

Since I am new to Stencyl and Stencyl is so very different then other game development tools, I met with some Stencyl developers (newbies and veterans) to understand the PROs, CONs, and any gotchas that could help newbies learn from their mistakes.

PROs

• No coding needed (unless you want it) 
• Helpful community
• Cross-platform

CONs

• “Newbies must choose between limited ‘Free’ version and expensive ‘Pro’ version” – Game Developer, Urie Wilson 
•  The learning-curve on more complicated parts (lists, global attributes, collision shapes) can be intimidating

Gotchas

•  ”Always save your project. [Stencyl may crash]” – Game developer, Ridhwaan Patel

Misc / Advice

• Stencyl works well with Pencyl (image editor)
• “Start Small. Reconstruct retro projects like Tic-Tac-Toe, Pong, Pac-Man, & Space Invaders. These simple, familiar games offer many challenges to newbies.” – Game Developer, Djamel Berkaoui (aka Satyre)

Next Steps

After ‘Getting Started’ and following my HD Video Tutorials, here are more resources to fuel your Stencyl savvy.

• VIDEO: Welcome To Stencyl – Watch the HD Screencast Video Tutorial*
• VIDEO: Flyer Game With Stencyl – Watch the HD Screencast Video Tutorial*
• Start with the Stencylpedia – Online. Its the instructions manual. Also checkout the blog and the product roadmap.
• Find common answers – The forums are best when you’ve got a specific question to ask.
• Ask a new question – The Chat Room is great for seeking real-time help.

*See ‘Member Resources’ below.

NOTE: All Member Resources are coming soon. Videos and code downloads are NOT yet available.

Member Resources

Developing iOS apps using CocoaTouch and XCode is great. Creating games however is a challenge.The tools are just geared to app development I think.

Developing Java-based Android games seems pretty horrible all around. Java is great (powerful but not easy), but the code-test-code development cycle leaves much to be desired.

Luckily there are 3rd party SDKs that create native iOS and also native Android projects geared for gaming. One of those is the Corona SDK from AnscaMobile.

Benefits of Corona SDKfor iOS/Android Development (In AnscaMobile’s words);

• Build Apps 10x faster – Corona’s framework dramatically increase productivity. Tasks like animating objects in OpenGL or creating user-interface widgets take only one line of code, and changes are instantly viewable in the Corona Simulator. You can rapidly test without lengthy build times.
• Same code, multiple stores – Corona is the only complete solution for developing across platforms, OS versions, and screen sizes. You can write once and build to iOS, Android, Kindle Fire or Nook Color at the touch of a button — Corona will automatically scale your content across devices from phones to tablets.
• Simple, powerful APIs – Make use of advanced features using just a few lines of human-friendly code. For instance, you can implement realistic physics in your game with just five lines! Corona’s ease of use is what allows developers from indies to major studios to create #1 chart-topping apps, games, and eBooks.
• Create engaging experiences – Say goodbye to cookie-cutter apps. Whether you’re creating branded apps, graphically rich games, or interactive eBooks, Corona gives you everything you need to go beyond the ordinary. It’s easy to make your apps behave and look exactly how you want them to.
• Cut costs. Monetize faster – Corona enables you to produce top titles without big studio budgets. And thanks to Corona’s integrated support for in-app purchases, banner ads, and offer-based virtual currency, you can monetize faster and easier than ever before.
• Join developers like you – Corona boasts a very generous and knowledgeable community, a plethora of 3rd party tools, as well as a shared code repository where users can download and share helpful libraries and snippets with one another. We also have 347 Corona SDK studios across 47 countries worldwide

Pro’s and Con’s of Corona (In my words)

I have used Corona SDK for about 5 hours. I’m new.

• Lua is very very fast.
• The code-test-code cycle is the best setup I’ve ever seen. Its so fast, just save your latest lua file and *poof* the project compiles and growl (on Mac) shows an error or not and your project is already running with debug output. (Now if I can just get the LDT IDE to handle debugging. I can, soon!)
• Lua is not OOP. Corona is not component based. Without built-in OOP or built-in component based gaming (like Unity for example), development with Corona leaves much to be desired.
• Its 2D only (good or bad, depending on your preference)
• No great IDE yet.
• Graphics are raster-based - So its a fast, but not easily reusable graphics pipeline.
• Compared to HTML5 it has good multimedia capabilities. Compared to Flash it has horrible multimedia capabilities

Getting Setup

The steps to get started are to download the Corona SDK, choose your favorite text editor (I’m using Lua Development Toolkit), and run Corona’s Simulator on one of the sample projects to prove you’ve got it all setup properly.

We’ll show the provided ‘Bridge’ project which is a physics demo of some circles falling on a monkey-bridge.

Here are the links to get setup and publish a sample project;

1. Download the free, unlimited-use Corona ‘Trial’ From AnscaMobile.
2. Download the free, standalone Lua Development Toolkit (LDT) IDE from Koneki.
3. Run LDT. You use LDT to setup the project and edit the code, but NOT for Corona code completion, NOT to compile and NOT to debug. I’m confident that all of that is possible, but I’m not yet sure how.
4. Right-Click the ‘Script Explorer’ and choose ‘New Lua Project’
5. Name it ‘Bridge’, choose ‘Create Project…’ and point to local url on your machine for ‘CoronaSDK/SampleCode/Physics/Bridge/’ where you installed the SDK.
6. Open ‘CoronaSDK/SampleCode/Physics/Bridge/main.lua’, by clicking it in the ‘Script Explorer’. Don’t edit it. Just look at it.
7. Run the ‘CoronaSDK/CoronaTerminal.app’ (on Mac). It will open terminal and also the Corona Simulator.
8. In the Corona Simulator choose ‘File -> Open…’ and choose ‘CoronaSDK/SampleCode/Physics/Bridge/’. This will run the Bridge project in the Corona Simulator (an onscreen iPad emulator) and show any debugging output in the terminal.
9. Done.
10. Now without closing the Corona Simulator or the Corona Terminal, edit the ‘CoronaSDK/SampleCode/Physics/Bridge/main.lua’ file. Add the line ‘print (“hello”);’  without outer quotes and save the file. Upon save the Corona Simulator and Corona Terminal will automatically re-run the project. Nice!

Hello World Project

Typically a Hello World program illustrates the quickest way to get anything (such as text) onto the screen and publishing (or compiling) without errors.

In this post I have also added a few things. We see classpathing (‘com.rmc….’), a custom super class, and examples of publicity and privacy for class members.

The Project Output

Here is the example running. Corona’s included device emulator (“Simulator”) is in iPad mode. Other modes are available.

Debugging: Corona shows your debugging output too (using Terminal for example on Mac OSX). Simulator & Debug Window

The Project File Structure

Corona has many great demo projects included. Each project sits in its own folder. All files for a project sit within without using subfolders. I read on several blogs that while the Corona simulator allows for subfolders, that iPhone and/or Android does not. There are workarounds.

A development environment that does not allow for folders is ridiculous & irresponsible. – Me.

You’ll see my examples all feature a folder structure. For now, they run in the Simulator and that’s all I care about. I assume full folder support will come at some point in the future. If not, you can remove the subfolders from my demos before you start your final code.

HelloWorldOOP File Structure

Document Class

Lua doesn’t support OOP. Corona doesn’t support OOP. However it is possible to fake it.

I learned a good bit from Ludicroussoftware.com’s post, and JesseWarden’s post. There is more info about scope too.

The document class is the main entry point for your application. By default the builder looks for ‘main.lua’, and runs it. It is a required file and it kicks off the run-time of your project.

The lua file format shown here is my own creation. I use it for the main.lua file and then within any ‘classes’ which I create.

--------------------------------------
-- Imports
--------------------------------------
local TemplateClass = require ("com.rmc.projects.helloworldoop.TemplateClass");
--------------------------------------
-- Metadata
--------------------------------------
--------------------------------------
-- Main Entry Point
--------------------------------------
display.setStatusBar( display.HiddenStatusBar )
--CLEAR OUTPUT
print ("");
print ("");
print ("  -------------------  ");
print ("  -- HelloWorldOOP --  ");
print ("  -------------------  ");
print ("");
--CREATE
local templateClass = TemplateClass:TemplateClass();
print ("    samplePublicVar    : "..templateClass.samplePublicVar);
--TEST MEMBERS
local samplePublicMethod_str = templateClass:samplePublicMethod();
print ("    samplePublicMethod_str           : " .. samplePublicMethod_str);

1. Imports

There are no true ‘imports’ in Lua, nor in Corona. The ‘require’ statement fetches a separate lua file and includes it in the current lua file. In my usage this essentially ‘imports’ the custom ‘class’ of ‘TemplateClass’.

2. Metadata

While not shown here in main.lua, within some classes there are ‘module’ statements (and others?) that help Corona/Lua know how to treat the current file. I call this ‘metadata’.

--------------------------------------
-- Imports
--------------------------------------
--------------------------------------
-- Metadata
--------------------------------------
module (..., package.seeall)
--------------------------------------
-- Class Methods
--------------------------------------
-- PUBLIC STATIC
--[[
	This method is designed to...
--]]
--------------------------------------
-- Class Properties
--------------------------------------
-- PUBLIC STATIC
--[[
	This property is designed to...
--]]
--------------------------------------
-- Class
--------------------------------------
--[[
	This class is designed to...
--]]
function TemplateClass()
	--------------------------------------
	-- Properties
	--------------------------------------
	-- INSTANCE
	--[[
		This is a self-reference required by OOP structure
	--]]
	local me = {}
	-- PUBLIC
	--[[
		This property is designed to...
	--]]
	me.samplePublicVar = "samplePublicVar";
	-- PRIVATE
	--[[
		This property is designed to...
	--]]
	local _samplePrivateVar = "samplePrivateVar";
	--------------------------------------
	-- Constructor
	--------------------------------------
	--[[
		This is the constructor...
	--]]
	function me:constructor()
		--TRACE
		print ("TemplateClass:constructor()");
		--METHODS
		me:initialize();
		--RETURN
		return me;
	end
	--------------------------------------
	-- Methods
	--------------------------------------
	-- PUBLIC
	--[[
		This is the initialize.
	--]]
	function me:initialize()
		--TRACE
		print ("TemplateClass:initialize()");
		--DRAW
	end
	--[[
		This method is designed to...
	--]]
	function me:samplePublicMethod()
		--Test Private -- It Works!
		local _samplePrivateMethod_str = _samplePrivateMethod();
		print ("	_samplePrivateMethod_str   : " .. _samplePrivateMethod_str);
		return "samplePublicMethod";
	end
	-- PRIVATE
	--[[
		This method is designed to...
	--]]
	function _samplePrivateMethod()
		return "_samplePrivateMethod & ".._samplePrivateVar;
	end
	--------------------------------------
	-- Events
	--------------------------------------
	-- PRIVATE
	--[[
		This event handler is designed to...
	--]]
	function _onSampleEvent()
		return "_onSampleEvent";
	end
	-- RETURN INSTANCE VIA CONSTRUCTOR
	return me:constructor();
end

1. Class Definition

In my solution I place the ‘TemplateClass’ class in its own ‘TemplateClass.lua’ file and treat it like a Lua ‘module’. You can see in ‘main.lua’ how I import and create an instance of ‘TemplateClass’.

2. Static vs Instance Members

The instance members in this demo work great. I had static methods and static vars working too, but broke them somehow. I have removed them from this demo. I’m confident is possible.

3. Publicity / Privacy

The instance members in the demo feature full, working publicity and privacy. Nice.

4. Inheritance

I have not included inheritance in this demo, but it is possible. I’m working on a simple game that I will post soon. I have 3 generations of inheritance going on and it works FAIRLY well. For my onscreen objects I extend using ‘display.newGroup()’ as a base. It is a bit ugly how to override methods (See the Ludicroussoftware.com link above), but it works. I’ll post that in the future.

The Output

Copyright (C) 2009-2011  A n s c a ,  I n c .
Version: 2.0.0
Build: 2011.704
The file sandbox for this project is located at the following folder:
(/Users/srivello/Library/Application Support/Corona Simulator/HelloWorldOOP-27E895459A9154336232E091AB34F950)
-------------------
-- HelloWorldOOP --
-------------------
TemplateClass:constructor()
TemplateClass:initialize()
samplePublicVar          : samplePublicVar
_samplePrivateMethod_str : _samplePrivateMethod & samplePrivateVar
samplePublicMethod_str   : samplePublicMethod

1. Output Tool

By default the output comes through your Terminal (on mac). There is setup to get the output to come through Lua Development Tools (or other Eclipse based editor with the Lua Plugin). Once you build once, you leave the terminal and emulator open and just edit and save your code as you like. With each save, the simulator AUTOMATICALLY reruns the app and the terminal shows the output. The ‘build time’ is 100 Milliseconds or so. The speedy iterative development is great.

2. The Output

You can see in the output example above, the first few lines are outputted by Corona itself, then your custom

Conclusion

I created this demo as part of my evaluation of various mobile programming languages (Lua) and development environments (Corona SDK and Lua Development Tools). Coming from a (objectively speaking) really really spoiled development environment of Flash game development, I have the same basic gripes with Corona as I do with HTML5 gaming. The language (lua) is not fit for OOP. It is not intended to do so. Lua and Corona are indeed LIGHTNING FAST both at compile-time and at run-time. That is fantastic and cannot be under-stated.

The Corona SDK community is growing and offering some add-ons;

• Lime – Tilebased gaming
• PubNub – Multiplayer Gaming API
• More community projects…

And now a few tangents…

Do I Need OOP?

No. But for me an implied architecture (implied within the built-in language features) of OOP or component-based development greatly speeds up development for me. I’m able to get more feedback from the IDE and reuse code more effectively. Many developers prefer procedural programming. I’m not sure why. If you have an opinion please post below. We will see TONS more gaming built upon the horrible limitations of JavaScript. If you love JavaScript, that is great. For me its not the right tool for game development.

Some OOP Solutions for Corona;

• My TemplateClass solution shown in this post. It is not a complete solution, but it shows Lua language-features to mimic OOP.
• LCS (Lua Class System) – I tested it. Works!
• Classes.lua – I haven’t tested it yet.
• OWL (Objects With Lua) – Nice name! I haven’t tested it yet. Here’s a blog about it.
• CooL (Corona Object-Oriented Lua)- I haven’t tested it yet.

Upon a quick look, each appears to be valuable. Not sure which is the most full featured yet. In the future I may create a demo of each for comparison’s sake and blog about it.

Do I need a strong IDE?

Yes. I’m dumbfounded by developers who defend using text-edit as their tool of choice. Sure there is an warm-fuzzy feeling about being so ‘raw’. But an honest appraisal of your productivity will trump that if you are a serious contributor to your industry. Spend a few hundred dollars, spend a few thousand dollars on performant hardware and legally-licensed software designed for your productivity. Be a professional.

Game Development Environment Utopia

In my research in gaming technologies (Many, many HTML5 frameworks, Flash Platform, Unity3D, iOS, Android, Cross-platform iOS/Android), I am evolving an idea for the ideal game development setup. This list will probably change over time. The dream is a setup that works for small game projects and can scale up to large team projects.

• Fast Code-Test-Code Cycles – Under 1 second allows for optimal iterative development
• Fast Run-Time Performance – Stable 30 frames per second or greater across target devices
• Great IDE – Project creation, project compilation, project debugging (breakpoints, stack/heap introspection), intellisense on built-in and custom libraries, etc..
• Strong Typed Language – Implicit intent in your design, IDE-feedback/errors/auto-fixes, generics, deep refactoring, etc…
• Scalable Graphics Pipeline – To facilitate multi-screen development. Vector source with run-time conversion to raster seems to be the best setup yet for 2D. Streaming textures is ideal for 3D.
• Implied Architecture – OOP (ex. Java) and/or component based (ex. Unity3D)

Stay Tuned

• I have created a complete game using Corona. A tutorial, HD Screencast Video, and full source code are coming soon.

Questions for the Readers

• Do you a better OOP setup? Fork my code and push a solution. Great!
• Know how to setup LDT to show debug output and breakpoints? Post a comment below!
• Can you setup LDT to show intellisense (auto complete) for the Corona SDK classes? Post a comment below!

Next Steps

• Hello World – Download the full source code*
• Hello World OOP – Download the full source code*
• Hello World OOP – Watch the HD Screencast Video Tutorial*
• Checkout More Tutorials on LearningCorona.com (Fantastic!) and DesignerSandbox.com

*See ‘Member Resources’ below.

Member Resources

THE CHOICES

Software development has gone mobile. We see a large audience using smartphones and tablets, and as developers/marketers/entrepreneurs we want in. When planning such a project there are myriad decisions.

CHOOSE – THE PLATFORM

The choice of target platform (e.g. iOS) and target device (e.g. iPad2) is a primary consideration. Apple’s iOS hits the majority of the market but with time others will mature and may offer more competition. Moreover to hit your market you may be best served to offer your software to more than one platform and more than one device-per-platform. Quite quickly a rather conservative project can target 5-10 unique pieces of hand-held hardware.

CHOOSE – THE DEVICE

Each device offers unique features. The market-penetration, platform, processor-speed, input-capabilities, screen-size, and other factors are all important. Two major form-factor camps are ‘phone’ size and ‘tablet’ size. There is some overlap between these categories such as the Samsung Galaxy 1000.

CHOOSE – THE MONETIZATON

There are many monetization schemes possible. Here are a few of the popular ones;

• Free – To gain experience and reputation.
• Freemium – Offer a free version and market within the experience for a pay-version with more features.
• Ads – Integrate video ads, animated ads, or still ads into the experience.
• Micro-transactions – Offer bite-sized purchase opportunities which enhance the experience.

CHOOSE – THE DEVELOPMENT PATH

When the platform(s) and device(s) have been chosen, the path to develop must be chosen. In general there are two strategies

a) Native App Development – This means you use the 1st-party language (and tools) offered by the platform creators. This means using XCode tool with Cocoa framework coded with the Objective-C language when developing for iOS. Native development generally offers the very best potential performance (i.e. for high-end gaming) and tightest integration to the devices (e.g. detect battery level, etc…) and OS/marketplaces (e.g. iOS in-app-purchase).

b) Non-Native App Development – Many 3rd parties offer code libraries and tools to ‘speed up development’. Some of these are in the native language and some are not. Some of these non-native solutions offer the ability to ‘code once (so to speak) and deploy to multiple platforms’.

c) Mobile Web Development – Instead of a standalone application, an experience can be made available via web-browser and development to fit the size of the target (mobile) device(s). With HTML5 much is possible, but in general this is used for less-expressive less-device-specific experiences. It can also be a very inexpensive way to ‘break into mobile’, as you can use assets/code from your existing website..

CROSS-PLATFORM DEVELOPMENT

While the ability to develop one project for multiple platforms offers many advantages in saved development time and ease in maintenance, it also offers many challenges. Designing a compelling application that takes advantage of the unique features of each device and looks polished on the dizzying array of screen sizes out there can be daunting. For Flash-To-Mobile there are many resources on Adobe’s Mobile Devnet to help you learn the basics.

BACKEND

It is possible for an application to be self contained, including all data/assets with the original install. This is common for games. However many projects require internet connectivity. The data/assets loaded can reside on existing servers outside of your control, or can reside on your own servers. Custom backend solutions using typical backend languages (c++, Java, PHP, Python, etc…) may also be required. All of this depends on your particular project. In general any of the development-paths can contact any of these backend solutions, but some may connect more easily than others.

EXAMPLE…

Let’s assume you have a great new game and want to capture a ‘big audience’ with ‘modest investment’. If the application does not require deep-device-integration a recommended choice is to target both iOS (iPad1/iPad2, iPhone3G/iTouch3G, iPhone4G/iTouch4G) and Android (various devices). If your team has Flash expertise the Flash-To-Mobile publish path may be ideal.

FLASH-TO-MOBILE

With Flash CS6 and more-so Flash Builder 4.6, Flash/Flex developers can publish ONE codebase to MULTIPLE platforms. Using Adobe’s AIR 2.7 (latest public release) you can develop many platforms & Devices.

Compatible Target Platform/Devices: Web-Browser (Mac+Windows+Linux+Non-iOS Mobile Browsers), Desktop (Mac+Windows+Linux), iOS (Ipad1+Ipad2, iPhone+iTouch 3rd Generation, iPhone+iTouch 4rd Generation-Retina), Android (Myriad Devices), Blackberry Tablet OS (Blackberry Tablet).

Supported Flash-To-Mobile Device-Specific Features: Flash-To-Mobile does offer view-persistance, data-persistance, video playback, still-camera capture, still-camera-roll save/load, internet access, in-app web-browsing, accelerometer/gyroscope, Microphone, Geolocation, Multitouch, File-system access. Not all devices offer the same features. In the future ‘Native Extensions’ (see below) offer a solution.

Project Setup: A recommended options is one bulky Flex Library with (most) all code and assets, and then one Flex Project *PER PLATFORM*. You add/edit to the library and publish each of the projects as needed. You can test with an mobile-emulator (fastest) window that appears on your computer, or on the device via USB (best to test hardware features like accelerometer. The ‘flash’ code is converted to ‘native code’ (so to speak) before deployment.

Deployment: Upon completion the platform-specific file is uploaded to the platform-specific marketplace (e.g. iTunes’ App Store for iOS). A Flash-to-Mobile project sits along-side native applications. Ostensibly users have no idea the application was developed with non-native tools. The marketplaces do not delineate this or otherwise make that info available in any way to users. The end-user experience can be indistinguishable from a native app (project type and project polish depending).

NATIVE EXTENSIONS

In light of the ‘Device-Specific’ features listed above, Flash-to-mobile currently leaves us without everything we may want to do (e.g. iOS in-app-purchase). The yet unreleased (release date is ‘early October 2011′) Adobe AIR 3.0 will include ‘Native Extensions’. In short, this allows for *ANY* Flash-to-mobile project to access *ANY* feature on *ANY* supported device (Android / iOS / Blackberry Tablet). Developer will require knowledge of both AS3 (flash) as well as the Native language(s) on the target device(s) to add new features. Or your team can find free and premium extensions which the community could share. This is not just for mobile, this technology will also allow AIR on desktop computers and AIR on TV’s to integrate with those devices too.

LINKS

Native Mobile Development

• Google Android
• Apple iOS
• Blackberry Tablet OS

Marketplaces

• iOS App Store (iTunes)
• Google’s Android Marketplace
• Amazon’s Android Marketplace

Non-Native Mobile Development – Flash-To-Mobile

• Flash-To-Mobile (Using Flash and/or Flex) for iOS/Android/Blackberry Tablet OS… also Desktop/TV/Browser
• Success Bringing Flash Games to iOS
• AIR 2.6 (Available in Full Release) – Commonly in use today.
• AIR 3.0 (Available in Public Beta Now) – Offering Native Extensions and more.
• Example of Best-Seller Flash-To-Mobile Game for iOS
• Example of Best-Seller Flash-To-Mobile App for iOS
• Flash-To-Mobile for iOS – Using SWC files to build large Flash and AIR projects with multiple SWF files

Non-Native Mobile Development – Others

• Corona for iOS/Android
• Corona vs Adobe AIR (Great Article)
• RhoMobile for iOS/Android
• Appcelerator for iOS/Android
• Mosync for iOS/Android
• Phonegap for HTML5 Mobile-Browsers

THE FUTURE

Some of what is coming in the future is listed below.. This may or may not all be included in the very-next tools. Recently Adobe has announced What’s new in Flex 4.6 SDK and Flash Builder 4.6.

I. The Second Coming (Halleluiah) – Flash-To-Mobile Native Extensions

This future feature will ostensibly allow Flash-To-Mobile projects to access *ANY* feature on *ANY* targeted device (e.g. in-app-purchase on iOS).

• Adobe AIR 3.0 Native Extension – Explained!
• Adobe AIR 3.0 Native Extension – Demo Mapview on iOS
• Adobe AIR 3.0 Native Extension – Tutorial 1
• Adobe AIR 3.0 Native Extension – Tutorial 2

Updated Febrary 23, 2012: See Here…

II. The Second Coming (Halleluiah) – Stage3D

Stage3D (Formerly codenamed ‘Molehill’) is a set of API’s available in the future that will ostensibly allow Flash Browser projects (using Flash Player 11) and Flash-To-Mobile projects (using Adobe AIR 3.0) to show high-grade hardware rendered 3D. Finally, the Flash Platform can truly compete as a 3D gaming engine. The same API (despite the name) can also be used for radically improved 2D gaming performance too.

NOTE: These API’s are low-level and challenging to understand. We expect 3rd parties will wrap this functionality with easy-to-use API’s for free/premium use.

• Stage3D – Explained!
• Stage3D – Demo!
• Stage3D – How-To! (For 3D Gaming)
• Stage3D – How-To! (For 2D Gaming)
• Unreal Releases ‘Citadel’ – The first interactive demo of UNREAL engine running in Flash Player.
• BlackSun Game for Stage3D

Update March 10, 2012: See Here…

III. The Second Coming (Halleluiah) – Air 3.2 = Stage3D for Mobile + Many Stage3D Frameworks

So with AIR 3.2  (See Adobe Press Release) we can use Stage3D for mobile. This means GPU-Accelerated graphics on iOS/Android. I think there is a marketable benefit on getting the Flash Player to compete against other 3D gaming solutions (such as Unity3D) and perhaps compete less with emerging 2D gaming solutions (such as HTML5 gaming) so I can sympathize with Adobe’s (better late than never) focus on 3D for Flash. This article “Why Starling (or any other 2D framework on top of Stage3D)?” explains some really good reasoning.

An unknown HTTP error occurred. Please examine shortstop's debug output for further details

Mind-blowing Demo’s of AIR 3.2 on mobile

• Five AIR 3.2 Stage3D Mobile Demos That Will Knock Your Socks Off 
• Spaced Away is the first game in the iOS app store to feature Stage3D by developers Falanxia.

Regardless of why, Stage3D is here, and Starling’s power lies in how it uses the Stage3D – first available in Flash 11 and AIR 3.0. Stage3D is designed for GPU accelerated 3D. While its possible to use the Stage3D API’s directly, it is very difficult. There are 3D frameworks for AS3 , but for many game developers we can exploit its power for 2D gaming. That’s why Starling focuses purely on 2D. So an API like Starling helps developers make great content – quickly.

AS3 frameworks use Stage3D for 3D gaming;

• Flare3D,
• Alternativa3D,
• Away3D,
• Minko

AS3 frameworks use Stage3D for 2D gaming;

• Starling
• ND2D
• M2D
• AtomEngine
• Citrus Engine (Recently Upgraded To Stage3D)

Key Articles I’ve written on the subject

• Intro To the Starling Framework (Read It!)
• Angry Birds Launches on Facebook with Starling

Stage3D Games

Spaced Away

---

Falanxia brings its FWA Award –winning space physics puzzle game to both iPad and your web browser.

Play game Learn more

Angry Birds Facebook

---

Join your friends on Facebook to take out Rovio’s famous pigs with enhanced special effects.

Play game Learn more

Waste Invaders

---

Waste Creative’s tech demo lets you blast aliens at a silky smooth 60 fps, across browsers and iPad, with Stage3D.

Show demo Get the source

Stage3D was introduced in Flash Player 11. It allows for GPU-Accelerated 2D and 3D performance in the Flash Player that is 1000x faster than before. It was not publicly available for AIR mobile projects until AIR 3.2.

There are lot of new significant features like mouseLock, middle click, right click, silent auto-update and Stage3D on mobile.

Super Easy Setup

1. Download the new SDK (“Step 2″)
2. Unzip the new SDK
3. Open Flash Builder. Open Preferences. Search for “Installed Flex SDKs”. Look at the URL for an existing SDK. See the image below.
4. Open Finder (or Windows Explorer) to that ‘sdks’ folder. Drag the new SDK next to the existing sdk(s).
5. Open the same Flash Builder Panel. preferences panel again. Choose ‘add’ and browse to the new SDK. Don’t set it as ‘default’. But for each new project you create, it will be a choice for you to use.

Next Steps

Checkout other related articles.

• Intro To The Starling Framework For AS3 with Stage3D
• Angry Birds’ Screams on Facebook with Flash with Stage3D
• What *IS* Wrong With AIR 3.0 Native Extensions!

Robotlegs (from Robotlegs.org) is  a great architectural framework for AS3. It works for both Flash and Flex projects. I have been a fan since the beginnings of the framework and I even created the official “Robotlegs Framework Diagram“.

One of the drawbacks of using an architectural framework is the time required to setup the project. To help new developers, veteran developers, and myself, I create and update several templates for Robotlegs (RL). Each is a complete publishable “Hello World” type project. When I start any new RL project I begin with one of these Robotlegs Templates (RLT).

It kicks ass, enjoy!

Screenshots

It is a simple app. (Note images may vary slightly depending on template)

Mix-ins

I combine RL with some other fantastic technologies in some templates.

• AS3-Signals – Events replacement
• BabelFX – Language localization
• Union Platform – Multiplayer

Next Steps

• RLT_Web_Flex – The original! (See ‘Member Resources’ below)
• RLT_Web_Flex_AS3Signals – My favorite! (See ‘Member Resources’ below)
• RLT_Web_Flex_AS3Signals_BabelFX – (See ‘Member Resources’ below)
• RLT_AIR_FlexMobile_AS3Signals_BabelFX – (See ‘Member Resources’ below)
• RLT_AIR_FlexMobile_AS3Signals_Multiplayer – (See ‘Member Resources’ below)

Member Resources

Angry Birds for Mobile

Angry Birds  is a strategy puzzle mobile game developed by Finnish computer game developer Rovio Mobile. Inspired primarily by a sketch of stylized wingless birds, the game was first developed for Apple’s iOS in December 2009. The game was immediately very popular. The game is now readily available for most every tablet and smartphone.

The game play in Angry Birds (AB) is simple, physics based fun. It inspired dozens of clones – games which copy the signature control-scheme and style of the original.  It is generally considered to be the most successful mobile game to-date.

Popularity

November 2011, Rovio Entertainment announced its hit mobile game Angry Birds has been downloaded an “astounding” 500 million times since its 2009 debut. Here’s a by-the-numbers look at the milestone’s reported by The Week magazine:

• 23 -Months it took for the game to reach the 500-million-download milestone. It was first released for Apple’s iOS in December 2009.
• 79 – Number of countries in which Angry Birds is the top downloaded game
• $1 billion – Amount Rovio is estimated to be worth by Chief Marketing Officer Peter Vesterbacka
• 10 million  - Number of Angry Birds toys sold worldwide, says Chloe Albanesius at PC World

There is a feature film version of the game in development too.

Angry Birds for Browser

So when porting a popular brand from one platform/language to another typically you look at the developer community and the players communities. There are developers using a wide variety of technologies, and web browsers offer several options for gaming. Since the game is (relatively) simple in 2D graphics and physics – two major choices are HTML5 [1] and Flash[2, 3].

1. In May 2011, a pure HTML5 (or was it?) game. Actually the game reportedly uses Java, not JavaScript. The playable game is branded with the Google chrome logo, and the manner in which it encourages use of Chrome is nothing short of Google advertising. There is also a Google+ social version of the game.

• I assume (and am too lazy to research further) the Google Angry Birds version is some type of sponsored collaboration between Rovio and Google.

2. In Fall, 2011, Adobe’s MAX Conference debuted a version (See Video) of Angry Birds using Flash. Obviously a huge software tooling company and creators of a huge game have many reasons to team up.

• I assume (and am too lazy to research further) the Adobe Angry Birds version is some type of sponsored collaboration between Rovio and Adobe.

As an FYI, As of February 2012, both of these versions are still showing ‘BETA’ in their logo.

Angry Birds on Facebook

3. Now we come to the Facebook version. The tremendous audience of FB matched with the popularity of AB will surely bolster both brands and provide a valuable, social experience for users. On Valentines Day 2012, the Facebook, Flash version of AB launched and uses Flash Player 11′s “Stage3D” feature to render its fast accelerated 2D graphics. The project plays really smoothly and introduces some decent social game play.

Obviously excited, Adobe made the following press release;

Rovio launched Angry Birds for Facebook using Flash Player 11 with support for 3D graphics. The most social version of Angry Birds yet takes advantage of hardware accelerated graphics in Flash Player to bring a silky smooth gaming experience to a wider audience than ever before. More than 130 million people play Angry Birds every day – now with Flash Player, hundreds of millions of Facebook users can do the same. New, enhanced special effects like lighting, smoke and explosions running smoothly at 60 frames per second bring the game to a whole new level and allow players to have a more connected and engaging experience. Angry Birds on Facebook game makes it even more exciting to play with friends, offering amazing new power-ups like Sling Scope, Birdquake, King Sling and Super Seed to extend players’ gratifying arsenals.

Here is a video;

Summary

Angry Birds

As a game player I think Angry Birds is good. Do I play it? Not much. Like many mainstream ideas from the perspective of a die-hard game player, I think its just good, not great. Part of this is evident when you look at the big budget titles that copy the exact gameplay and fail miserably. Angry Birds is a good game that came out at the right time and was very lucky for it. Its popularity brings it more popularity and for that its #1. I cannot argue with its success. It’s phenomenal. Any game developers would be happy to have this game in their portfolio. To now have the game on Facebook, that is great too.

Flash

As a long-term game developer, Flash has defined my career. With new platforms and devices arriving over the past 5 years, there is again much choice for independent game development teams. I compiled a great start-set of learning links and I also offer free HD video training on AS3 and other subjects. Also, here are a few recent articles;

I’ve written about the Starling Framework Used by Angry Birds

• Intro To The Starling Framework for AS3
• Starling Extension -  Dynamic Texture Atlas – Finally Vector Graphics in Starling!

I’ve written about Flash and about Flash Mobile;

• ActionScript 4.0 Revealed
• Considering Flash-To-Mobile Development
• Flash-To-Mobile: Flash Vs Flex?
• Unity3D Now Exports to Flash
• More ‘Flash’ Articles

HTML5

I’m excited for HTML5, for app development and gaming and have written a bunch about it.

• Flyer Game for HTML5 (Same game in 8 different Frameworks) Full Source-Code Included.
• More ‘HTML5′ Articles

Here at Rivello Multimedia Development, we design and program with a variety of popular platforms. Contact us today with your game and app project ideas.