Month: April 2010

Flash Builder Debugger Can’t Connect? Now It Can!

| srivello

$#^& Debugger!!!

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had a Flex project that stopped being debuggable. The App could be published from Flash Builder 4 as ‘Run’ or as ‘Debug’ as always, but in the latter there would be no connection made. This delays the project build and you have to work around the missing ‘trace()’ functionality.

Next Steps

  • This solution in the link (See ‘Member Resources’ below) worked great. It works for my MAC too! And I blog about it hoping only that someone finds the solution more readily now.

Member Resources

[private_Free member]Enjoy this members-only content!

[/private_Free member]

Crowdsourcing Web Development

| srivello

As part of an experiment and as part of research for a writing assignment, I am crowdsourcing a new web development project. “Crowdsourcing” is the act of outsourcing tasks, traditionally performed by an employee or contractor to a large group of people or community (a crowd), through an open call.

The nature of the work is not an area of strength, so it will be interesting to see how the process goes. I have listed this project on April 20th, 2010 only on Elance.com. I will update again following the completion of the project.

Here is the posting.

RMC Vacation-Based Training

| srivello

Training In The Tropics: August, 2010:
Cartagena, Colombia


Apartments
Colonial Center
Islas Rosario

A Truly Original Blend of Technical Training, Inspiration, & Relaxation @ Cartagena, Colombia.

This trip is designed for independent Flash Platform professionals looking for education, inspiration, travel, and rejuvenation.

WORKSHOP TOPICS: (4 – 8 Hours Each) – Led By Samuel Asher Rivello and attendees too.

  • Adobe Flash Frameworks: PushButton Engine (PBE) for Games – Part I & II
  • Adobe Flex 4 Frameworks: Robotlegs – Part I & II
  • The Flash Text Engine – In Depth
  • Attendee Topics… (TBD)

DETAILS:

  • This is not a conference or a ‘camp’. It is an informal engagement where attendees each present and collaborate.
  • The group size is 5-10 hand-selected attendees. A broad cross section of talents and personalities is key.
  • The time is balanced between presenting & attending, between work & leisure. Productive fun!

INCLUDED:

  • 3 Days of In-Depth Collaborative Workshops
  • 2 Days of Activities – Relaxation & Local Colonial Spanish Culture
  • 5 Nights Accommodations in luxury private apartments (Double Occupancy) with Gym, Pool, & Beach
  • 5 Days Internet (3.5G USB or Broadband Wifi) Breakfast & Lunch, Coffee, Softdrinks, & Snacks
  • Not included: International Flight, Dinners, Alcoholic Beverages

ITINERARY: Wednesday Night (Arrival) August 4th, 2010 to Monday Night (Departure) August 9th, 2010

  • DAY 0: Arrival to Cartagena, Colombia (CTG). Ground transportation to accommodations.
  • DAY 1: Workshops A
  • DAY 2: Activities: Tour – Spanish Colonial El Centro
  • DAY 3: Workshops B
  • DAY 4: Activites: Islas De Rosario – Tropical Beaches
  • DAY 5: Workshops C
  • –
  • Attendees may arrive early or stay longer to enjoy
  • 3 Days Breakfast & Lunch, Coffee, Softdrinks, & Snacks

PRICING & NEXT STEPS: Wednesday Night (Arrival) August 4th, 2010 to Monday Night (Departure) August 9th, 2010

  • This is a past event and is no longer available. Stay tuned for future events.
  • Estimated: 600 USD$. Final pricing pending based on number of attendees.
  • Contact Samuel Asher Rivello for More Information (info [at] RivelloMultimediaConsulting [.] com

Developing Adobe Flash Games: Physics-based Games

| srivello

DURATION: 60 Minutes (Overview) or 4 Hours (Comprehensive)

DESCRIPTION: Flash game developers will engage users with a departure from hackneyed gameplay mechanics. Users are attracted to unique experience they can’t find elsewhere. Physics-based gaming can give your game development repertoire a huge boost, enabling sandbox-style game mechanics and emergent gameplay.

AGENDA: We will see the types of physics games you can create with Adobe Flash technology and examine the ROI of adding physics to your existing games as well as creating all new physics-based game experiences. After an overview of the Physics libraries available, we will review the basics and go in depth with two examples; a quick demo, and a complete game. Attendees may experiment and republish the project (source provided) via Adobe Flash CS5 Professional or Adobe Flash Builder 4.

While the examples shown will be specific to Adobe Flash CS5 for deployment to the browser, this session is equally relevant for application developers of other technologies including Adobe Flex 4 for the browser and Adobe AIR desktop deployment.

AUDIENCE: Intermediate to advanced Adobe Flash CS4 and Adobe Flex 4 developers with equivalent ActionScript 3.0 knowledge.

LAPTOP REQUIRED: Optional

TAKE-AWAY: Attendees will have another tool in their belt for creating great physics game projects. All source code and documentation will be available to attendees.

SECTIONS:

  • Section 1: Background of and Benefits of Physics-based Games
  • Section 2: Background of and Benefits of the Box2D Library (via AS3Box2D & QuickBox2D)
  • Section 3: Box2D Applied
    • Creating a New Box2D Physics Project from Scratch
    • Creating a New Box2D Physics Project via the Box2D Physics Template Project
    • In Depth Tips and Tricks for Physics Games

DATE:

  • Not yet confirmed for any event.
  • Leave a comment to request I speak at your event.

Adobe Flash Frameworks: PushButton Engine's Platformer Starter Kit (PSK)

| srivello

DURATION: 60 Minutes (Overview) or 4 Hours (Comprehensive)

DESCRIPTION: The PushButton Engine (PBE) is an Open Source, Flash game engine and framework that’s designed for a new generation of games. PushButton Engine makes it easy to bring together great existing libraries and components for building Flash games. Spend less time on code, more time on building fun games. PBE represents the most significant and ambitious effort to standardize Flash game development into a modular reusable code-system.

AGENDA: We will overview the goals and benefits of using PBE. Most of the session will be the applied use of the ‘Platform Starter Kit’ (PSK) for PBE. This add-on let’s you start IMMEDIATELY with a great level editor, graphics, physics, and controls for a platform game (such as a Super Mario Brothers style game).

While the examples shown will be specific to Adobe Flex 4 for deployment to the browser, this session is equally relevant for application developers of other technologies including Adobe Flash CS5 for the browser and Adobe AIR desktop deployment.

AUDIENCE: Intermediate to advanced Adobe Flash CS4 and Adobe Flex 4 developers with equivalent ActionScript 3.0 knowledge.

LAPTOP REQUIRED: Optional

TAKE-AWAY: Attendees will have another tool in their belt for creating fast, powerful, and extensible Flash Platform game projects. All source code and documentation will be available to attendees.

SECTIONS:

  • Section 1: Background of and Benefits of the PushButton Engine (PBE)
  • Section 2: Background of and Benefits of the Platformer Starter Kit (PSK)
  • Section 3: PSK Applied
    • Creating a New PSK Game from Scratch
    • Customizing a PSK Game
      • Adding New Graphics/Animation
      • Creating New Levels
      • Creating New Puzzles
      • Extending PSK to do your bidding…

DATE:

  • Not yet confirmed for any event.
  • Leave a comment to request I speak at your event.

Adobe Flash Frameworks: PushButton Engine (PBE) for Games

| srivello

DURATION: 60 Minutes (Overview) or 4 Hours (Comprehensive)

DESCRIPTION: The PushButton Engine (PBE) is an Open Source, Flash game engine and framework that’s designed for a new generation of games. PushButton Engine makes it easy to bring together great existing libraries and components for building Flash games. Spend less time on code, more time on building fun games. PBE represents the most significant and ambitioius effort to standardize Flash game development into a modular reusable code-system.

AGENDA: In this session well review the benefits of using an established game development framework for Flash. PBE uses ‘modules’ (in a PBE sense, not in the ‘Flex’ sense) to organize code instead of the typical approach of class inheritance. We’ll unlock the secrets of this unique approach and see how to apply the system to solve common game development problems.

While the examples shown will be specific to Adobe Flex 4 for deployment to the browser, this session is equally relevant for application developers of other technologies including Adobe Flash CS5 for the browser and Adobe AIR desktop deployment.

AUDIENCE: Intermediate to advanced Adobe Flash CS4 and Adobe Flex 4 developers with equivalent ActionScript 3.0 knowledge.

LAPTOP REQUIRED: Optional

TAKE-AWAY: Attendees will have another tool in their belt for creating fast, powerful, and extensible Flash Platform game projects. All source code and documentation will be available to attendees.

SECTIONS:

  • Section 1: Background of and Benefits of Frameworks
  • Section 2: Background of and Benefits of the PushButton Engine (PBE)
  • Section 3: PBE Applied
    • Creating a New PBE Project from Scratch
    • Creating a New PBE Project using the PBE Template Project
    • Overview of the 3rd Party PBE Utilities and add-ons

DATE:

  • Not yet confirmed for any event.
  • Leave a comment to request I speak at your event.

Adobe Flex 4 Frameworks: Robotlegs – Part II (Advanced)

| srivello

DURATION: 60 Minutes (Overview) or 4 Hours (Comprehensive)

DESCRIPTION: Frameworks are groups of design patterns prepared to work together in concert. Benefits include creating a team-friendly, stable, and extensible work environment and code-base. Robotlegs is a light framework for creating AS3-based (Flex and Non-Flex) applications. A popular implementation is the Model-View-Controller design-pattern. This separates the application code into three distinct areas; data, user interface, and the application logic. It is approachable and powerful with minimal tedium and repetition in development.

AGENDA: This course is a sequel to the Adobe Flex 4 Frameworks: Robotlegs – Part I (Introduction) course (also available). In this advanced course we will look at the 3rd party utilities that have been created by the community and see how and when to apply them. We will also look over the most popular advanced techniques to solve common problems in mid to large scale projects.

While the examples shown will be specific to Adobe Flex 4 for deployment to the browser, this session is equally relevant for application developers of other technologies including Adobe Flash CS5 for the browser and Adobe AIR desktop deployment.

AUDIENCE: Intermediate to advanced Adobe Flash CS5 and Adobe Flex 4 developers with equivalent ActionScript 3.0 knowledge.

LAPTOP REQUIRED: Optional

TAKE-AWAY: Attendees will have another tool in their belt for organizing readable, efficient, maintainable projects. All source code and documentation will be available to attendees.

SECTIONS:

  • Section 1: Accelerated Review of Robotlegs Fundamentals
    • What?
    • Why?
    • How?
  • Section 2: Robotlegs Advanced Techniques
    • Ideal Dataflow (UI->Model & Model -> UI)
    • Binding: If, When, & How
    • Unit Testing
    • Advanced Refactoring (2+ UI’s for a Mediator, & More…)
  • Section 3: Robotlegs Advanced Utilities
    • Modules – Elegant, multi-SWF applications
    • AS3-Signals – More powerful event system
    • More…

    • DATE

    • Not yet confirmed for any event.
    • Leave a comment to request I speak at your event.

Its Final. Adobe Flash Cannot Publish To Apple iPhone, Ever!

| srivello

The language from Apple’s agreement states “Applications may only use Documented APIs in the manner prescribed by Apple and must not use or call any private APIs”. This stipulation is a move by Apple to render the new Adobe Flash CS5 feature of port Flash files as iPhone/iPad apps totally useless.

Read more below…

Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

Who Can Publish to iPhone?

Who CANNOT Publish to iPhone?

  • Adobe Flash using its iPhone Exporter (a to-be-released Flash CS5 Feature)
  • Other 3rd Party Publishing Technologies (not sure what others exist…)

What do you think? Is this fair?

Adobe Flash and Flex Development in Brasil

| srivello

I am coming to the end of 90 days in Brasil. I started at FlashCampBrasil in the smaller beach city of Maceio, Alagoas state in the north and will be exiting the country from Sao Paulo (SP) in the south. SP is massive and the hub of most business in the country, including Flash and Flex development.

I have worked with and met business leaders from major companies, major players, and have learned much.

I’ll be writing more thoughts soon;

  • Traveling in Brasil
  • Working in Brasil
  • Challenges of young tech companies in Brasil
  • Future of Flash and Flex in Brasil (Outsourcing, Crowdsourcing, Nearshoring)