Forums → Programming Forum → A Step-by-Step Guide to Becoming a Flash Game Developer

So you want to be a flash game developer, eh? Itâs something thatâs easy to get into, but hard to get good at. Iâm going to guide you through the process that a total newbie must get into in order to get into the business.

Step 1: Get Flash
The first obvious step in becoming a flash game developer is to actually get the program. There are two ways to get flash, expensively or cheaply.

If you want to get it expensively, you can just go to Adobeâs Site and buy it for a couple hundred dollars.

If you want it for only a fraction of the price, youâll have to meet a few requirements. You either have to be a student, a teacher, a parent of a student, part of a non-profit organization, or anybody that has to do with education. If you are any of these things, you can get an academic discount! Just go to any of the following discount online academic stores:

* Academic Superstore
* CampusTech
* Gradware
* CCV Software

You can either get Flash for a few bucks ($248.95 compared to $699.99 from Adobe), or even a suite of programs for even less than Flash costs on Adobe itself ($398.95 â" $598.95). Itâs a pretty sweet deal, ainât it?

Step 2: Get used to the Program (Optional)

This step is optional, but still very highly recommended. I suggest looking at some online tutorials or even buying some video lessons. A combination of both is what got me to be comfortable with Flash. Iâll just give you a brief description of some panels youâll need to learn in order to be efficient with Flash.

The Toolbar

Toolbar This is the toolbar. This is your utility belt. Youâre going to need this in your journeys as a game developer very much. I also suggest learning some of the hot keys.

The Properties Panel

Properties Panel This is the properties panel. Depending on what version of flash you have, itâll either be horizontal on the bottom or vertical on the sidebar. This is a pretty important panel, as it gives you all of the information you need about a selected object.

Other Panels that Youâll Need to Be Familiar With

The Actions Panel â" This is where you will type in all of your code. If youâre going to be a game developer, youâll want to make this as large as possible

The Compiler Errors Panel â" This is useful if you mess up with your code. Itâll pop up whenever a problem occurs with your code and the game wonât work.

The Output Panel â" This panel is similar to the compiler errors. This is where Flash will output warnings. Your trace statements will also appear here.
A Good Layout of Panels for a Game Developer

A Screenshot of a Good Layout for Flash

Online Tutorials to Get Used to Flash
* W3 Schools
* Entheos Web Flash Tutorials
* Kirupa
* Flash Designer Zone Flash Tutorials

Step 3: Learn Some ActionScript

Finally! Itâs time for you to learn some code. But, which version of ActionScript should you learn first? In my opinion, ActionScript 2.0 is probably the best to gain knowledge of first, as it isnât as strict as ActionScript 3.0. Then, later, once youâve gotten the hang of it, you can learn AS3. But, itâs all up to you. There are many tutorials online (including on my site). Here are som