Macromedia Flash MX Actionscript for Fun and Games

Introduction. 1. Flash Elements Used to Make Games and Toys. The Flash Interface. Creating Buttons. Creating Text. Importing Media into Flash. Organizing Your Movie. Finishing Your Movie. 2. An Introduction to ActionScript. Lesson 1: What Is ActionScript and Where Does It Go? Lesson 2: Using the Actions Panel. Lesson 3: Your First ActionScript Program. Lesson 4: Controlling Flash Playback. Lesson 5: Creating Buttons to Give the User Control. Lesson 6: Animating with ActionScript. Lesson 7: Letting the User Control Movie Clips. Lesson 8: Using Variables. Lesson 9: Performing Operations. Lesson 10: Conditional Statements. Lesson 11: Loops. Lesson 12: Text and Strings. Lesson 13: Creating Functions. Lesson 14: Arrays. 3. ActionScript Elements Used to Make Games and Toys. Lesson 15: Controlling the Playback of a Movie Clip. Lesson 16: Controlling the Properties of a Movie Clip. Lesson 17: Dragging and Dropping Movie Clips. Lesson 18: Movie Clips and Levels. Lesson 19: Duplicating Movie Clips. Lesson 20: Controlling Multiple Movie Clips. Lesson 21: Detecting Collisions. Lesson 22: Using Movie Clips to Change What Is on the Screen. Lesson 23: Accepting Keyboard Input. Lesson 24: Playing Sounds. 4. The Game-Creation Process. Flash and Games. Parts of a Game. How to Program. Games and Legal Issues. Altering the Games in This Book. Top Pitfalls. 5. ActionScript Design Effects. Expanding Buttons. Color Cycling Rotating Spiral. Randomness and the Old Film Effect. Letter Movement. Cursor Trail. 3D Illusions. 6. Toys and Gadgets. The Magic Crystal Ball. Music Jukebox. Analog Clock. Lava Lamp. The Game of Life. 7. Construction Toys. Drag-and-Drop Make-a-Fox. Click-And-Switch Make-A-Fox. Sketchbook. Music Mixer. Dancing Fox. 8. Hunt and Click Games. Find-A-Fox. Whack-A-Fox. Shoot-A-Fox. Hunt-A-Fox. 9. Catch and Avoid Games. Apple Catch. Apple Letter Catch. River Rafting Game. Racing Game. 10. Aim and Shoot Games. Move and Shoot the Balloons. Aim and Shoot. Balloon Invaders. 11.

Gary Rosenzweig is a game designer, programmer, entrepreneur, and the author of eight other books on Macromedia Director and Flash. He owns and operates CleverMedia, a Shockwave game development company that runs four game sites on the Internet: http://clevermedia.com, http://gamescene.com, http://gamespark.com, and http://flasharcade.com. Since founding CleverMedia in 1996, the company has produced more than 200 games. The games on the four sites that make up the "CleverMedia Network" are all free for Web surfers to play. Many of the games have also been licensed to other Web sites. Rosenzweig started in the multimedia business by obtaining a bachelor's degree in computer science from Drexel University in Philadelphia. His interest in newspapers took him to the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, where he earned a master's degree in journalism and mass communication. Rosenzweig wrote his first book in 1995 on Macromedia Director Lingo and distributed it free on the Internet. In 1996, The Comprehensive Guide to Lingo was published by Ventana, followed the next year by The Director 6 Book. In 1999, Special Edition Using Director 7 was published by Que. That was followed by Special Edition Using Director 8 and then 8.5. After Macromedia Flash 5 ActionScript for Fun & Games, Gary wrote Sams Teach Yourself ActionScript in 24 Hours. Gary has also spoken at many Macromedia user conferences and the Game Developers Conference. Gary reads a lot of classic science fiction books, likes to go to the movies, and enjoys travel. Gary's wife, Debby, owns and runs The Attic Bookstore (http://www.atticbookstore.com/), a used-book store. Gary and Debby live in Denver, Colorado, with their cat, Lucy, and dog, Natasha.