Hi I'm pretty new to flash but me and my friend are good programmers, and i have a crazy good artist and a sound FX/ musician guy. Do I need to have anyone else? We all can make webpages and such.
Also, is Flash Professional worth getting? or is it just as good to get a free ActionScript IDE?
One last question, is Flash MX2004 just as good for programming flash games, or should i upgrade? Why?
From what you describe, you seem to have a good team to make a game. Someone to make graphics, someone to program, and someone to do sound - that's a team right there. Flash Professional in my opinion isn't a necessary addition to make flash games. Flash MX 2004 is a a good program, but it is a little out dated. The big thing to think about here is that with the latest 2 versions of Flash you have the chance to code in Actionscript 3.0. MX 2004 can only code Actionscript 1.0 and 2.0 - while still a good language, Actionscript 2.0 is not as well structured as Actionscript 3.0, so if you plan on doing several games I would recommend upgrading to the latest Flash - but if you'd rather not spend the money then Flash MX 2004 will work just fine.
Right now the working title is "SAS:ROGUE" I'm going pretty ambitious with this one since my artist is now also going to be a programmer. We are going to add a map editor and something pretty cool (if it works) but you will just have to see that part.
Thanks for the help lonlon, i was thinking about tweening and animations, will it be harder in mx2004? We have never worked in AS, my friend is a python and c++ guy and i am a java guy.
As far as doing the design goes there really isn't much difference between MX 2004 and the latest versions except for small things like filter effects (drop shadows, glow, etc.) And even then if you want you could do some art in Photoshop or Illustrator and import it in. The real decision between the Flash versions to consider is what version of Actionscript to use, if you have to learn AS from scratch I would recommend AS3 - if you've programmed previously it should come pretty easily to you.
I have heard a lot on AS3, a lot of people don't like it, is there a BIG difference between AS2 and AS3 cause it seems like AS2 is more popular. I'm guessing since i have never use AS, AS3 would be better because it is more versatile but will it make a difference if i use AS2 or AS3.
AS3 has a few more options, and it's faster. The reason AS2 is still so popular is that AS2 has been around for quite some time, and a lot of people are/were used to it. Combined with the fact that AS3 has quite some changes, it's not that strange to see why it's still quite popular. But yeah... if you want to start, start with AS3. If you had no experience with computers, you wouldn't buy one with Win 3.11 would you?
Yea, PixelSmash summed it up pretty well. I personally like AS3 better now that I have given the time to learn it. It definitely takes more work to compile than AS2 did, but because AS3 demands more structured coding, it will guarantee better code. Some people like to stay with AS2 mostly because it's 'easier' - but when you look at things in the long run AS3 will be more widely used and have more support in following years than AS2 will.
