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Essential Flash Games Book Released!
Essential Flash Games Book Launched! So, the book is finally out. It contains 12 chapters and 13 games to create (some very small, some quite large). We developed our own moderate OOP framework that all of the games use as an outline. Each game can be compiled in both the…
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Our book has already been pirated over 25,000 times in 2 days. Yea for the internet. (Update: Steve’s a noob)
So our book is out, which is cool. You can even “buy” it now. However, one look at the the “download” sites shows me how fruitless it is to write anything these days. Here is an image from one of those “download” aggregation sites: This was not any “secret”…
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Mochi Game Developer fund Chronicles #1: Signing Up!
The Mochi Game Developer Fund (A $10,000,000 fund to help game developers implement Mochi services and make games that will conquer the world) went live this week. We are going to start Chronicling our experiences with this new opportunity for indie game developers. The story might be short-lived (if we…
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Poll: How Long Should The Flash Gaming Summit Be Next Year?
I have to tell you, after going to FGS (Flash Gaming Summit) on Monday, the rest of the week has been a complete drag. I can’t “get over” meeting all the great, serious Flash Game Developers out there, and finding out how much we had in common. I know the…
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Steve Woita: An Original Atari 2600 Game Developer Tackles Flash Games, Speaks-Up About Flash And CGE 2010
“ I feel like I’ve got more ideas for new types of games to build now then I did back then because there are so many great games to get inspired from now” – Steve Woita, March 9, 2010 If you know 8bitrocket.com then you know we love Flash games.…
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Classic Gaming Expo Returns in 2010!
I’ve been “off” retro games for the past few months. I gave them up for lent (actually, I gave them up after some ex-classic gaming a-hole personality decided that the well received interview I did with him was not good enough for him). I still like making and playing “retro…
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Flash Indie Game Interweb Mash-up: March 9, 2010: Flash Gaming Summit Edition
Flash Indie Game Interweb Mash-up: March 9, 2010: Flash Gaming Summit Edition The 2010 Flash Gaming Summit was a great day all around (with a few strange exceptions). Today’s mash-up will be based on things we saw and people we met during this long day Who we met: Untold Entertainment…
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Flash Gaming Summit Report #1: The Longest Day
(edit: I was so tired I smiised that the title for this story was “Flah Gaming Summit:” for the past 7 hours. Duh!) We just returned from our day in at the UCSF Mission Bay conference Center attending The Flash Gaming Summit 2010. I left my house at 4:00 A.M.…
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Yes Steve Job, SWF *IS* An open standard: Click Team’s Products Now Export Games in .SWf Format
Click Team, the company that has it’s roots in STOS, AMOS and Klik And Play, has recently released a new product that will export applications made in their popular development tools (Multimedia Fusion and The Games Factory) in a .SWF format. The Games Factory is a basic version of their…
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Flash Gaming Summit: Role Call?
The Flash Gaming Summit is now sold-out. Jeff and I were both going to go this year, but Jeff got called back home, so I have to hoof-it alone. Still, it looks to be a fun day. Most people going are also going to the GDC, but that is not…
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Video: An Adobe Employee (somewhat awkwardly) Discusses Flash/HTML 5/Apple with Mashable
In an interesting video with surprisingly “marble-mouthed” audio (rivaling only our own terrible productions) and very nervous looking participants, an Adobe employee discusses Apple/Flash/HTML 5/Mobile/etc. with Mashable.
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Poll: Which Platform Have You Had The most “Success” Developing On?
Another Thursday Poll over at our Ning Community. Here is the question: Which Platform Have You Had The most “Success” Developing On? Tell us your answer!
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Tutorial: AS3: How to Blit an animation from a tile sheet embedded at compile time
Tutorial: AS3: How to Blit an animation from a tile sheet embedded at compile time Today we are going to look at how to use a tile sheet embedded into an AS3 project at compile time.We will cover the embedding, instantiation, and actual usage of the tile sheet to do…
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Some Troubling Tidbits On Flash And HTML 5…But Maybe Not For Flash Game Developers
Today a couple stories arose that, on the surface seem to point to some troubles for Flash, but maybe not yet for flash game developers. The first comes via PC World: Virgin America Ditches Flash on Its Site. It looks like the Virgin Airline site has decided to remove Flash…
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Still don’t Think Using someone Elses I.P., Even For a “Fan” Project, Is Not A Problem?
So, do you still think that using the intellectual property that belongs to someone else is not a problem? Do you think that if you are creating a “tribute” or “fan project” that you will be left alone? Think again. The guys over at The Silver Lining had been working…
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Flash Indie Game Interweb-Mash-Up: March 1, 2010
Flash Indie Game Interweb-Mash-Up: March 1, 2010 First off, Steve and I will be at the Flash Gaming Summit next Monday, so I hope to put a few faces to names, etc. Ning Community 8bitrocket is now part of the Ning community social platform. We did this to help create…
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Hey You Kids, Off My Lawn #2: More Fun With Possible Flash Game I.P. Issues
We’re not saying these games have barrowed other people’s intellectual property, we are just saying it’s possible. No matter what, we have fun looking at them anyway.
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Poll: How Irritated Are You Tech Pundits Who don’t Understand Flash?
Poll: Poll: How Irritated Are You Tech Pundits Who don’t Understand Flash? Here is a good example of a popular tech pundit who talks about Flash, but doesn’t seem to understand it. Bob Cringely, I guy I have respected and followed for more than decade, has weighed in on the Flash/HTML…
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New 8bitrocket Game Release: Tunnel Panic
New 8bitrocket Game Release: Tunnel Panic Tunnel Panic is the first game from the Essential Flash Games book to be released into the wild in a viral fashion. It’s self sponsored (by the book of all things). The original version of this game is featured in chapter 12 of the…
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Game Storm Video Podcast #1
Game Storm Video Podcast #1 Bonus Content: Steve’s daughter’s stop motion video for her 6th grade earthquake project:
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HTML 5 Canvas For Flash Developers #1: What The #@*! Is The HTML 5 Canvas?
In this set of tutorials, we will explore how the HTML Canvas relates to Flash developers. So, the first question to answer about the HTML 5 Canvas appears to be this: “What The #@*! Is The HTML 5 Canvas?“ The short answer is this: It is an area on a…
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Hey You Kids, Off My Lawn! We Whine About Flash Games And Intellectual Property
Here is the first (and maybe last, who knows) episode of “You kids, Off My Lawn!”, a short podcast/music video in which we complain about (possible) intellectual property issues with flash games. We did this a week ago. I prompted us to create the “World’s Worst Jigsaw Puzzle Collection“. Why? …
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Tell Us About Your Latest Flash Project
After you take the “Flash Development Tool Survey“, why don’t you tell us about your latest project? Yopu can do it all over here: http://8bitrocket.ning.com/forum/topics/what-is-your-newest-game
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Announcing: Ultimate Unscramble: HTML color Words
Have you ever wanted to learn some arcane HTML trivia while playing a mediocre word game? Well, do we have the answer for you! Ultimate Unscramble: HTML Color Words is the next game in our “reuse everything possible” series following the “World’s Worst Jigsaw Puzzles”. This game is based on…
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Survey: What Are Your Preferred Flash Development Tools?
OK, now for our first survey.We’d like to know what your preferred tool set is for Flash development:Head on over to here to take the survey. (Is this a cheap tactic to try to get you to check out our new forums and social interaction features? Yeah, probably).
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8bitrocket.com Now Using The Ning.com Social Networking Platform
We’ve needed to create a bit more depth to this site for a long time, and with our book coming out next month, we thought it might be time to add forums and other “social” aspect back to 8bitrocket.com. We dabbled in with a message board a couple years ago,…
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Ultimate Unscramble #2:Countries And Flags (2010)
The Ultimate Unscramble Series Continues! This time you must unscramble the names of countries. Be sure to use the Flags hints as a guide.
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Balloon Saw (Essential Flash Games book demo) (2010)
Game Demo From Essential Guide To Flash Games Book (2010)
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World’s Worst Jigsaw Puzzle Collection Launches
Today we announce the launch of a set of 20 games that took us less than 40 hours to complete: The World’s Worst Jigsaw Puzzle Collection We have noticed that many developers create very simple jigsaw puzzles and launch them with Mochi ads. While this is a legitimate way to…
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Blaster Mines
Survive each level by blasting all of the mines in the 360 degree scrolling sector. When your shield is depleted, your game is over. Your ship will follow the mouse and auto fire.
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Tutorial (AS3): Using Fonts Embedded At Compile-Time
Tutorial (AS3): Using Fonts Embedded At Compile-Time I am continuing to explore the use of external assets embedded at compile time in AS3. Today we will look at how to embed and use a font in this manner. The Embed compile-time directive is available to users of the Flex SDK,…
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Flash Inter-Web Mash-Up Feb 15, 2010: The Mail bag.
Flash Inter-Web Mash-Up Feb 15, 2010: The Mail bag. I have received an interesting array of emails over the last 2 weeks, some good, some bad, some CGA with speaker sound… (all of these are the good ones). Ace’s Retro Picks: First let’s take a look at some New Grounds…
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AS3 Tutorial: Controlling the Main Timeline of a SWF Embedded at Compile-Time
AS3 Tutorial: Controlling the Main Timeline of a SWF Embedded at Compile-Time Today I was working a a new piece of the Essential Flash Games framework that allows sponsor swf files to be embedded at compile time and displayed before a game reaches the title screen. I am using Flash…
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GamesChart’s Barry White Responds (redux)
GamesChart’s Barry White Responds (redux) Last week I did a some coverage of GamesChart and it sparked a little controversy. It seems that one of the principals behind the new venture is none other than Barry White from the now defunct GameJacket. You can’t forget Barry as he has the…
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I Just Want To Say This: I Love Flash!
I’ve been spending the last year or so looking and/or forced to develop in other technologies thatare not Flash. I’ve seen Python, Google App Engine, Silverlight, HTML 5, PHP, Drupal, Joomla, C#, Coco, Android Java, and even Unity. While all of these technologies have their, there is one thing they…
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Matt Barton Interviews The Creator Of the Choose Your Own Adventure Series
Matt Barton, author of Dungeons And Desktops and co-author of Vintage Games has posted a very cool interview with one of my heroes, R.A. Montgomery, the creator of the classic 80’s “Choose Your Own Adventure” book series.
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New 8 Bit Weapon Sony Loop Library
New 8 Bit Weapon Sony Loop Library We make a lot of loop-based music here at 8bitrocket. One of our favorite tools is Acid by Sonic Foundry (and now Sony). Sony always has new sets of loop libraries to fill the need for unique and new game music construction. For…
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Ill Advised CIO Magazine Article Asks: “Is it Time for the Web to Abandon Flash?”
Ill Advised CIO Magazine Article Asks: “Is it Time for the Web to Abandon Flash?” Bad information can be annoying, but bad information in the hands of decision makers can be downright dangerous. An article that was posted today by CIO magazine is just such a thing. The article is…
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Updated! GamesChart (Game Jacket Guys Get Back Into The System?) – Barry White Responds
Updated! – Barry White Responds. GamesChart (Game Jacket Guys Get Back Into The System?) Barry White left a message below with some very detailed information on GamesChart. “I do just want to point out that we are in very early Developer Beta, so there”s lots of things that haven”t been…
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Essential Flash Games Book: Flak Cannon Plus Game Play
Here is a short video of the “Plus” version of “Flak Cannon” from the “Essential Guide To Flah Games Book”. I have taken the game beyond the scope of the book. A free tutorial will be available later this year that describes how to take the game described in…
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