While it may seem possible to put everything on one layer while using a single scene without any objects in the library, it is generally not a good idea. Layers allow the developer / animator to easily monitor what is visible on the scene. Provide your layers with unique names that can easily be identified and your brain will thank you. You never know if there will be a time that you wish to come back and change a part of that layer.

The topmost layer in your environment should be your Actions layer, and all of your code should go there. You can also create folders that contain groupings of specific layers, but this may not be necessary unless your environment contains dozens of layers, which is not out of the ordinary at all.

Labels can be placed on specific frames, which can then be used by ActionScript to jump around your project. Rather than using gotoAndStop(20) to get to frame 20, try placing a label on the frame and jumping to the label instead. This will save you time in the event that you wish to add more frames to the project, as you will not have to go back into your ActionScript and change that hard-coded number.

Layers are an important component of keeping your Flash project clean and organized. Don’t think that putting everything on the same layer is taking the easy way out, as you may still run into trouble during the course of your project and end up learning this important lesson the hard way.

Related posts:

1. Font Types and File Size in Flash
2. Introducing Planet Yook
3. Working with Adobe Flash CS4 Professional

I will keep the website constantly updated with the latest version of the .swf file, and once I feel that the game is worth launching, I’ll build a template and some content-related pages to go alongside. Currently, all that I have done is created a pre-loader, while my fiance has designed the logo and is helping to create most of the objects that will go with the game.

This is going to be a long term project, as my ActionScript 3.0 knowledge is limited, and it’s important that I do everything right the first time. As a result, I’ve spent more time actually researching and planning this game than coding it. So why do I bother announcing a game that doesn’t have anything but a fancy loading bar?

If you haven’t noticed, many of the recent articles that I’ve been posting have been about Flash / ActionScript, and I figured that if I could just let the bird out of the cage, I would be able to openly share my progress on this title while receiving feedback along the way. I can’t even begin to schedule a tentative release date at this time, but be sure to check out www.PlanetYook.com every so often if you’re interested in the latest build. I’m not going to be posting an article every step of the way, but I will keep you updated with milestones that have been reached. The next time I write an article on Planet Yook will most likely be after registration and login are complete, for example.

Comment, subscribe, and come back soon!

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1. Working with Adobe Flash CS4 Professional
2. I Promised, and I delivered. Arena 2.0
3. It’s Time for an Update on Fortress RPG | Arena’s Successor

Let’s say you decided that you wanted to create a text field with the words “Hello, World” using the Calibri font face, which is Microsoft Word’s default font type since Vista’s release. Flash will take precautions when publishing your .swf file, as not all computers have this font available. Each unique letter that is used will be bundled into your file, and a dramatic increase in file size will result.

Creating another text field using a combination of these same letters will not do any extra damage unless you decided to use another font type that isn’t a standard device font. Flash includes three generic device fonts for you to use that will not affect the file size in such a dramatic way: (1) _sans is similar to either Arial or Helvetica, (2) _serif is much like Times New Roman, and (3) _typewriter would be your fixed-width Courier.

There is also another option you have to avoid this daunting effect on file size. Let’s say you wanted to use Calibri without taking up 100 kilobytes of space. When you have your text object selected, go to the Anti-Alias option in the character section of the properties panel. If you choose to select “Use Device Fonts”, you can still use your font of choice without all the extra bundled letters into your published file. Here’s the catch; if the person viewing your Flash file does not happen to have that font on their computer, Flash will attempt to find a similar font that does match, and use that instead.

It is a good idea to give your text fields an extra buffer in size just in case that happens. Instead of making the text object’s width match the width of the text in the field, maybe add a few more characters worth of space to prevent your text box from hiding characters from people who may not have that font installed. For the majority of font types, it will not be an issue, but there is always the off chance that someone will view your .swf without that font, and Flash will incorporate another font that causes the field to grow. You wouldn’t want the text to grow beyond the length of your box. Get the picture?

Related posts:

1. How to Use Layers to Organize a Flash Project
2. Working with Adobe Flash CS4 Professional
3. Introducing Planet Yook

More specifically, I wanted to be able to create an array of stars, which were Movie Clip objects in my library panel. Sure, I suppose I could have manually dragged these stars onto the stage, assigned each of them their own unique instance name, and then used ActionScript to manage them during run-time. The problem in doing it that way is that it is both inefficient and time consuming. Additionally, I would be limited to the amount of stars that I had previously created. What if I wanted another star?

I searched Google for quite some time on this topic before finally giving up and going back to re-working things myself. A rather conservative three hours later, I finally got things to work exactly how I wanted. Here’s how it’s done:

First of all, make sure you’re project is created with ActionScript 3.0; this is important. If you are still programming in AS 2.0, I highly recommend making the shift, as there are a lot of neat things you can do with this new event-driven language.

Once you’ve made your Movie Clip, go to your library panel. By default, the linkage field should be blank. What this means is that there is no class associated with it; objects must be associated with a class in order to be dynamically created through code. That is a general rule for object-oriented programming. In order for you to be able to treat a Movie Clip as an object, you must first create a class for it. Your panel should look something like this:

Notice how the linkage field for the objects are all blank. Right click the Movie Clip of your choice and choose properties. In my case I want to be able to create a class for my star object. In the properties window you’ll notice a check box titled “Export for ActionScript”, which is left blank by default. Check this box, and then give your object a class name. In my case, I kept the class name as the same name as my object.

After you fill out the properties window like in the image above, you will notice that your library panel now has a linkage value next to your Movie Clip. You can now finally create instances of these Movie Clip objects during run-time via ActionScript. Make sure your library panel looks like the image below; if it doesn’t, you must have done something wrong in the process. Try checking your properties again for that Movie Clip and make sure it matches the settings in my example.

Making new objects through ActionScript is simple; here’s a little code snippet on how I created my first dynamic star:

var stars = new Array();
stars[0] = new star();
addChild(stars[0]);

This is obviously not a very practical use of an array, as there is only a single star. You will most likely want to create a loop to initialize several new objects at once, but my goal was to figure out how to create such an array; I will put this knowledge to use when necessary.

One last thing. When you want to remove your Movie Clip from the stage, make sure to call the function removeChild(object_name). If you don’t, you will forever have that Movie Clip on the stage.

I hope that helped.

Related posts:

1. How to Use Layers to Organize a Flash Project
2. Introducing Planet Yook
3. Font Types and File Size in Flash

This new tool allows for you to mark points on an object that can act as joints. The most common example used to describe how this tool can be utilized would be a stick figure, where you would define points on the knees, elbows, hands, neck, and any other places that could be freely bended. From there, you can define two unique positions for the object and create a tween, where Flash will take over and animate the object for you, saving animators a lot of time.

I’ve worked a lot these past couple of weeks learning how to use this new software, as it’s been quite awhile since I last laid a finger on anything Adobe. I’m proud to announce that development on a new game of mine is underway, and I’ve even went so far as to purchase a domain name for it, too.

I will reveal some more information about the game in the near future, so stick around.

Related posts:

1. Font Types and File Size in Flash
2. Introducing Planet Yook
3. How to Use Layers to Organize a Flash Project