Actionscript 3 Preloader Problem

Hi Guys

Got a tough one here!

I've created a pre loader for a game which has been written in AS3.
However, the preloader doesn't show up until the entire game has been loaded (which kinda defeats the object of a preloader!) :confused:

The problem is, I have a lot of linked assets in the library which I create instances of during runtime.

I've tried switching off "Export on first frame" for every linked asset and set the document's settings to "Export classes in frame 2" but the whole thing goes bananas and I just get a boat load of compile errors (<--- anyone know why this happens?!!)

I've tried putting the assets on a blank frame in the timeline. This works for movieclips, but then I'm stuck when it comes to sound and music (which are large and need to be embedded into the library due to music copyright issues - I can't distribute the mp3s as they're royalty free music files!). This method could work if I could figure out how to sort out the sounds/music.

I really don't want to create a separate pre-loader or have any external assets/files because I intend to distribute this game all over the web and it would be better to have just one protected SWF file.

I'm really stuck and don't know what to do.

Does anyone have any ideas?? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks! :)

Click on the Flashscript classes link in my footer. The package contains a simple preloader script and also a component. You can create a 100frames movieclip, which is located in the library and which will play during preloading the movie.

I don't know the problem with your preloader unless there is too much to load for the preloader, which defeats its sense.

Hi F-zero i have the same problem and have searched the web for weeks trying to find a solution.what a lot of people dont understand is doing the addchild preloader is (a) not practicle for games and (b) too bleedin slow.
what me u and god knows how many people want to find out is because the sound files are bigger than anything else in the library we need these to be inside frame 2 or above so it keeps frame 1s size to a minimum so the preloader displays early and before any body sais it, we dont want to load sounds from the url so if any one can shed some light on this problem im sure many cs3/as3 coders would be greatfull.

What about an external preloader?

You can use the Loader and LoaderInfo Class to make one if you can't get the inbuilt preloader to run before the whole movie is loaded.

Simply make a loader swf, and load the main swf file using the above mentioned classes.

I don't have any examples of this, but I am trying it at the moment (newly learnt AS3)

The preloader script in the Flashscript classes can do that also (under imagepreloader). Alternatively there is a Loaderclass script, which can attach a 100frames animation.

Click on the corresponding link:
http://flashscript.biz/flashas3/biz/index.html

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by cancerinform

The preloader script in the Flashscript classes can do that also (under imagepreloader). Alternatively there is a Loaderclass script, which can attach a 100frames animation.

Click on the corresponding link:
http://flashscript.biz/flashas3/biz/index.html

---

Your components are very well made :) Is there a way to do something every x% the loader reaches in actionscript?

Thanks. You could use a 100frames animation and add what you want to add in every frame. I don't know instantly how to do it by script.

The way it was explained to me was that a .swf doesn't play it's first frame until the entire .swf file has been loaded into the browser, which makes sense since your code might tell it to go to a particular frame but if that frame didn't exist yet there would be problems.

For a preloader to work you're going to have to have your .swf load something- it can't do anything before "it" is in the browser.

shokushu who ever told you that was wrong m8.

Hi guys, thanks for all the responses so far!

I can't believe this problem exists - I mean this is ridiculous!
I learn AS3 so that my life will be easier (and believe me it HAS been so far coming from a game coding POV), we're encouraged by Adobe to make full use of the new language and yet we're stuck in the dark ages when it comes to creating the most fundamental element of any flash file which is a working preloader.
And whats worse is that Adobe have no help whatsoever regarding this particular issue on their website.

I'm estimating my final SWF file size to be between 4 - 8 Mb. I can't have people looking at a blank screen, thinking it doesn't work. :confused:

Surely there must be some hack to "interrupt" the application before it initialises and somehow force it to load the preloader first??

My preloader (1st frame) doesn't contain any classes which have been created on the fly, so I'm not using any addChild commands. Besides a bunch of initialisation commands/variables and a hardcoded XML sheet, the only thing there is the preloader functions. The classes don't come into play until frame 2 and above.

I think if I don't find the solution by the time I finish the game then I might as well go ahead and make a separate swf loader. Its the next best thing I guess.

But seriously, if anyone has any ideas on how to solve this, I would really appreciate the help! (and I'm sure theres a lot of other frustrated souls who would appreciate this knowledge too!) :)

Still no awnser to this problem,there must be someone on these forums that knows the awnser ?

Is there no flash 9 written game on the web with a preloader all in one swf ?

This is the million pound question.

Ok, I'm not sure about this one but maybe it's not enough to declare your classes on frame 3 or above. Just for testing, try setting the export code to frame 3... If remember in AS 2.0 you had to export most of the actions from frame 1 or 2 in order to show the preloader in time, I'm not sure if this will work in any ways but it's worth a try.

you can read about it here.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Bash_321

you can read about it here.

---

This is only when the root of the movie originates from a class extending a Sprite. A movie with frames has a timeline and the root originates from the MovieClip class. here is a typical preloader in frame 1 for that:

http://www.flashscript.biz/flashas3/...preloader.html

For Sprite derived movies without timeline you need to create a parent movie and load it like this class is for:

http://flashscript.biz/flashas3/biz/index.html

Preloader - imageloader.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by cancerinform

This is only when the root of the movie originates from a class extending a Sprite. A movie with frames has a timeline and the root originates from the MovieClip class. here is a typical preloader in frame 1 for that:

http://www.flashscript.biz/flashas3/...preloader.html

For Sprite derived movies without timeline you need to create a parent movie and load it like this class is for:

http://flashscript.biz/flashas3/biz/index.html

Preloader - imageloader.

---

yes, you are right.
But for your first method to work you need to export your assets not to frame one,
otherwise this will make the preloader show up only when they are loaded,
and as f-zero says he cannot do that because he gets compile errors.

and the second method requires an external container swf, and this is not very suitable for distributing a game all over the web.

the link i posted earlier is a litlle more complex, but removes both problems. :doughnut:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Bash_321

you can read about it here.

---

Thanks Bash_321. I actually found that link not so long ago whilst searching around for a solution to this problem. The guy who runs that blog seems to have solved the AS3 preloader problem but I can't seem to make a head or tail of what he's done. Unless I'm mistaken, it appears to be some kind of hack which interrupts the application before it initializes itself.

Can anyone explain it? Perhaps even post a tiny quick working example?

As mentioned before, I'd appreciate any help on this!

Thanks! :)

I'm a little bit insulted that pepsicoder had the nerve to tell me I'm wrong without knowing anything about how to actually do this and then when someone does turn up something it's a hack to get around what I explained.

I'm certainly not infallible but if you're going to say someone is wrong about something at least explain why.

^ Just chill, don't take everything that hard. Flaming won't help any of us, people have different opinions, try to ignore the ones you don't like and carry on.

PS: thanks Joachim for changing the name of the forum to AS 3.0
Really cool, keep up the good work everyone. ;)

Saying something like "they couldn't have just dropped the export to frame capability from AS2" would have been a lot more useful than "that's wrong."

If someone explains why I'm wrong instead of just saying that I am then I need to know more about how things work to decide that they are the ones who are wrong. Without that explanation it's a mystery as to whether or not they know better than I do and I'm completely in the dark about whether I should accept or reject what they said.

Guys, I think we need to focus here. This thread is getting a little heated for no reason, and we're not getting anywhere.

This problem needs to be addressed - not just for myself, but for the other coders out there who go through the effort of learning AS3 and are then put off due to problems like this one.

I'm so used to AS3's power and flexibility now that I simply cannot go back to the old ways. I'm sure I speak for a lot of people out there.

Everybody has been helpful so far and some good stuff has been posted. But we're still nowhere near solving this issue. I know I ranted about Adobe earlier but out of honesty don't believe that a company as well respected as Adobe would release a development environment, encourage you to use the new language, and then cripple the most fundamental element of a flash movie, which is a pre loader that actually shows the progress before everything has loaded.

As mentioned before my game is for web delivery to multiple sites, so separate assets and a separate pre loader is not ideal (considering the fact that some sites only allow you to upload 1 single swf).

There's got to be a simple solution out there for this - I just know it.

Ok, the article on the BIT-101 Blog describes the situation for Flex, where the movie has no timeline. Basically what it describes is to introduce frames, which usually are not allowed in Sprite-based objects. If you use Flash you don't have that problem, because you can create movies with frames. The main problem is export in frame1, which can be unchecked, although in AS2 it gave problems with components sometimes.

Don't get me wrong, I can see that the way I learned it was a simplification and pretty much just incorrect. It's just unfortunate that I had to get that info from the links posted instead of the person telling me I was wrong.

-but, to help move this back to the topic:

Quote:

---

I've tried switching off "Export on first frame" for every linked asset and set the document's settings to "Export classes in frame 2" but the whole thing goes bananas and I just get a boat load of compile errors (<--- anyone know why this happens?!!)

---

The link explaining it in Flex doesn't help because that's in flex. We need to figure out why those errors are there.

So basically,

Quote:

---

If you use Flash you don't have that problem,

---

except that he does have a problem.

Can somebody put together something in Flash that preloads like this for us so we can at least see if there's an obvious difference between it and what he's doing?

If we don't see the fla or a sample fla demonstrating the errors we can discuss for weeks without any further progress. The solution for Flex is not necessarily Flex specific. It is specific for Sprites. It, however, shows what you need: a timeline with two frames.

Alright, can you link us your .fla f-zero?

Are you testing the preloader within Flash (Test Movie:CTRL+Enter) with an MP3 file on the local drive?

Something like:

Code:

---

var sound:Sound = new Sound();
var request:URLRequest = new URLRequest("my_song.mp3");
...
sound.load(request);

---

Because if you do, the preloader will not work properly, no matter if you try to simulate the download with the "Simulate Download" function of the debugger. The preloader will only appear (briefly) when the MP3 has totally been loaded, leaving you puzzled and wondering what you did wrong.

If you try to test the same code -- and I'm assuming the preloader itself is working properly -- with an MP3 from the internet it should work as expected.

Hi Guys

Thanks for all the replies and all the offers for help.
I think you're right. I need to post an FLA so people can see whats
going on.

But just before I do, theres one more thing I want to try.
I was looking at cancerinform's tutorials regarding the AS3 preloaders.
A friend of mine was looking at these and said it might be a possible
solution to my problem (hes a computer science type guy). I want to
give this a go and see what happens.
I've tried to follow the preloader tutorial but had little success and I'm
not sure how to go about using the classes (I tried them before but had
little success).

Cancerinform, can you please help me here? Perhaps a quick explanation on how to use the classes or perhaps if you could post a small FLA which uses them, would be awesome! Thanks.

I've been following this thread with interest, as I've been struggling with the same thing - getting a preloader working with a game I've written in AS3, (with sounds), which keeps everything in one .swf file, with no need to load any external files. The question was asked above, has anyone actually managed this - well after quite a lot of struggling - yes, I think I have. It uses the method of putting the preloader onto frame one with some actionscript (which I found around here somewhere, forgive me as I can't remember who it was written by - perhaps it was cancerinform). The actionscript compares the bytesLoaded with the bytesTotal for the stage. You then drag everything from the library onto frame two, and then on frame three, you get rid of it all and have your main program script, which creates objects from the library dynamically. I will try and get a .fla posted tomorrow to show an example.

Uh... You can do it the same way it was done in AS2.0...

Frame 1:

Code:

---

var p:Number = root.loaderInfo.bytesLoaded / root.loaderInfo.bytesTotal * 100;
trace (p);
this.percent.text = p.toString();;
if (p > 99) {
        gotoAndStop(4);
}

---

Frame 2:

Code:

---

gotoAndPlay (1);

---

Place all your exported assets on frame 3, dont export them on frame 1.

The use of the biz classes is very simple. Put them in the same folder as the fla file you are using. Here is an example for the preloader component:

http://flashscript.biz/test/test/pre...ader_comp.html

Here you can download the example:

http://flashscript.biz/test/test/pre...ad_example.zip

For it to function you need to download the biz classes as well and place the classes into the folder. Then test movie.

http://flashscript.biz/flashas3/biz/index.html

All classes are documented with an example.

EDITED (7.30 pm): I have added an mp3 file, since that seems to cause problems for some and it is all fine. Check the link for the movie.

Here is a link to the .fla which shows an example of my preloader. As I mentioned, it's self contained, and seems to work fine with sounds as well. Note that I created a separate movie clip to contain the sounds (with one sound on each layer), and dragged this movie clip, as well as all other linked assets, onto the stage in frame 2. All linked assets have the 'export in frame 1' box unchecked. Any questions, just ask.

http://www.andromedus.com/misc/rics%20preloader.zip

OK guys.

I've knocked up a quick fla demonstrating the problem I'm having.
I can't post the actual game I'm working on because its far too big.

This test FLA contains one single embedded asset which is linked as a class. Its added to the stage as an instance using actionscript (which is how I do pretty much everything).

I know theres a way to get round this by manually placing sounds and images on an unused frame and unchecking "export on 1st frame" but if you saw the size of my game you would realise thats almost impossible. I need to get round this problem without placing things on stage manually, but if the worst comes to the worst then I may have to employ that method.

Theres a preloader in this FLA but if you simulate a download and set the speed to something low, you will see that nothing happens until the whole thing has loaded.

OK guys, check out the FLA and if you can help me out with this problem then I'll be very grateful! Thanks! :)

PS: Cancerinform - I tried using your preloader class but it gave me the same result. I may have done it wrong though - I'm not sure.

I see the problem. This is very similar to the problem in former flash versions with components. The only thing you can do is load into an empty movie. I made an example and also change the preloader script. This is the only way you can do it if you do not place every item on the timeline.

http://flashscript.biz/test/test/pre...er_parent.html

http://flashscript.biz/test/test/pre...reloaderfk.zip

Thanks for that! I've managed to get a pre-loader working which loads an external swf file, but I've still had no luck with the integrated single-file version. I even tried importing the main swf into the library of the preloader and it didn't work. Theres got to be a solution for this out there somewhere. I just know it.

But anyway, for now I'm having to place things on stage manually for all my small games and for my main project I'm just gonna have to use an external preloader and manually email a zip file to the webmaster of any flash games site who normally only allow you to upload a single swf.

Heres me, hoping there is someone out there reading this, who can help solve this issue!

Original poster,

I was having the same problem as you. When attempting to preload all frames after the first using loaderInfo and unchecking "export in first frame", I would get compiler errors, specifically:

Code:

---

ReferenceError: Error #1065: Variable TeamClip is not defined.
        at AboutContent/TeamDown()

---

If this is the problem you are having, the solution is simple but tedious. As some above posters mentioned, you need to copy all the library items that are having the aforementioned errors to the frame where you use them. Since most of my library items are being instantiated via ActionScript, this is not done automatically.

My project is two frames: one for the preloader, and one for the main content. I created a second layer for my scene called "preloaded items" and pasted all the items (mainly movieclips) from my library onto this layer in frame 2. Then I made it invisible. Voila, no more errors.

You can see the result here: http://cuir.hopto.org/riverpulse/riverpulse.html

I've done it the way entechie suggested and the way I've always done it in AS2 but to be honest, it's ugly and I agree that Adobe should have given us a more elegant way in AS3 ... ha well, the rest of AS3 is pretty cool at least.

I've made a little preloader in AS3 that works.

It shows a 'spinning circles' animation with the % loaded underneath.

Problem is it's a standalone preloader and uses the loader function to load in the main SWF.

The main SWF file contains links to websites, which work fine if I don't use the preloader, but just don't do anything if I do use the preloader, any ideas guys ?

I think the problem maybe in my "completed" handler below:


function completed(e:Event):void
{
ring.visible=false;
textbox.visible=false;
addChild(loader);
}

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by pete0766

I've made a little preloader in AS3 that works.

It shows a 'spinning circles' animation with the % loaded underneath.

Problem is it's a standalone preloader and uses the loader function to load in the main SWF.

The main SWF file contains links to websites, which work fine if I don't use the preloader, but just don't do anything if I do use the preloader, any ideas guys ?

I think the problem maybe in my "completed" handler below:


function completed(e:Event):void
{
ring.visible=false;
textbox.visible=false;
addChild(loader);
}

---

Ignore that that, I was being a plank, I was loading the swf from a subdomain of the domain it was in, cross domain error!