So whats everyone been up to?

[Ray Beez]

I've been suffering a decline in demand for Flash content. Fun stuff. Trying to figure out what to move on to, HTML5 or Unity, or iOS dev... :-(

[Doush.]

I haven't been doing a heap of flash either. But planning to get back into it.

Not sure what I would suggest. Probably a good idea to get onto the HTML5 band wagon now

[Pazil]

I've been suffering a decline in demand for Flash content. Fun stuff. Trying to figure out what to move on to, HTML5 or Unity, or iOS dev... :-(

Just go Android Java would be a tiny switch from AS3, and the demand for Android apps is going up up up!

[PhobiK]

Wow, it's been soooo long since I last entered the forums, almost a year now!! It's awesome to see you all around, all known faces! There was so much time I spent in here in the past.

As for what I've been up to, Flash is still what I'm doing. I'm making a sequel to a game I released last year called Imbossible. Here's a pic to the new game if you mind taking a look. Still in an early phase and only like 4 levels done right now but it's going on at a good pace. It's a platformer with lots of twists.

Btw, nice stuff Tom & Sietjp!

[tomsamson]

Nice one PhobiK =) Cool you´re still making flash games, i always liked playing and beta testing yours, always charming stuff =)

@Pazil: I think your suggestion is good on the end that it really wouldn´t be a huge change from AS3 to Java as you said, but hm, besides on Android Java is getting less and less popular on many platforms, no?
I´d suggest you think about for which platform(s) you´d like to make stuff and then choose a language or middleware that supports most of those in nice way and see if its something you enjoy using.
But yeah, just pick whatever suits your needs and what you´re enjoying doing, its no use if you kill yourself doing something in a language, middleware etc which you don´t enjoy at all.

@Sietjp: lovely game =)

Regarding all those trying html5 for games: MADNESS! =)
Seriously, i don´t get it =)
The part i get is:
-Flash got a really bad reputation in many areas over the last few years, mostly due to not being available on or running poorly on some platforms, ok and html5 is hyped as the new cross platform savior that would be totally ready to and should replace old proprietary slow bad performing flash, like: now.
Ok, we know the media vibe and trends.

But besides that, as a designer or developer, besides getting paid for a project by a client, i don´t get at all how doing a game in html5 could be appealing at all.

The source code is largely plain open, so things like flash seem super obfuscated and secured source in comparison, basically its no work at all to grab someone´s html source code.
That sorta automatically invalidates many ways to make money with games, no?

Then the performance of html5 for game related stuff is not that great either, it doesn´t work that great and consistent for everything cross platform/ cross browser versions either and one can do a lot less than with flash on many ends.

Then there aren´t that great editing tools for making games in html5 either, are there? I looked at some and hm, still some ways to go there.

I totally get why one would opt more and more for non plugin needing options when doing websites and web apps, but for games i really don´t see much sense in it for the developer of a game.

So yeah, those who make html5 games, could you enlighten me a bit by telling me your reasons for using that for making games? =)


@hooligan re: "tomsamson: Yo, the main man returns Game looks great. What did you build it with? Unity? Or did you do all the OpenGL stuff yourself? Is stimunation still kicking strong?"


Thanks =)
I´m glad you like how it looks =)
Good to see some of the old chaps here once in a while, hope they aren´t angry anymore about MikeMD´s and my endless discussions on unity in the past =D
And yeah, i made that horse racing thingy in unity =)
I´m basically mostly using higher level cross platform middleware like Unity and Udk (next to still flash, too, then for some 2D web game or video stuff usually), not going lower level than those usually, i feel like why should i work ages on trying to create something like unity from the ground up if there is, you know, unity and i could make a game in it =)
I appreciate effort´s like the one by rumblesushi, but yeah, i´m not into doing that myself anymore.
I more prefer taking something like unity and making stuff for all sorts of platforms with it, getting a new gadget and trying some stuff on it or playing on some kinect motion sensor stuff or doing actual gameplay related stuff in a game is more appealing to me these days, too than working on a physics engine or graphics engine etc.
But i totally understand when that´s different for others, i´ve been in that mood of spending ages on trying to improve a super tile scroller or writing yet another tile editor version etc in the past, so i know how weirdly addicting that is, too =)
With 3D games its time intensive enough to work on the game(play) with a usable core game engine ready for it for me, no need to add several years on top by trying to remake unity or udk =)

Regarding Stimunation: I´m still running it, but yeah, most of the old chaps left back in the days when we did games for fun and at most licensed them to some game portal (usually for way too low prices regarding how much time and energy we invested into the games) and hence the team gig was cool but never that profitable back then since we didn´t really have a great master plan to make it way more profitable. Nor did we have a lot of time for that since some were in their education days while others had a fulltime job already..

[Olorin]

And another old regular signing in here Cool to see that there are still some familiar usernames here after all these years.

I've been doing flash games for clients and for my own site. Just released a new game this week: Dibblez Adventernity
And I'm finally going to switch from Flash 5 (not CS5, but 5, when Actionscript 1 was brand new) to CS5.5. Should be interesting...

[rumblesushi]

I agree, no ****ing way would I make a game with HTML5, even horrible performance aside. Someone can simply steal your game and repackage it no? The idea of writing games on a platform where someone can just right click and see your complete source code is insane.

[.hooligan]

Wow Olorin, old school. Good to see your still around and those dibblez dudes are still rocking it.

[.hooligan]

I agree, no ****ing way would I make a game with HTML5, even horrible performance aside. Someone can simply steal your game and repackage it no? The idea of writing games on a platform where someone can just right click and see your complete source code is insane.

Agreed

[Nig 13]

Hello

I first signed up in 2006, when I posted some of my first games, which were awful - however, just a few weeks ago, I've been really active here, helping people with Actionscript (yeah, I use AS2, and I LOVE it). It's really cool, as I build up my experience in Flash and also help other people

[Squize]

I do love the whole "It's so easy to steal an html5 game" thing

Distribution is far more of an issue, followed by monetizing. I think the issue of theft is pretty much on par with Flash.

Squize.

[mr_malee]

html5 suuuuuuuuuckz.

There I said it.

[ImprisonedPride]

Hello
... helping people with Actionscript (yeah, I use AS2, and I LOVE it) ...

My my, that sounds vaguely familiar.

[.hooligan]

Distribution is far more of an issue, followed by monetizing. I think the issue of theft is pretty much on par with Flash.

Yeah you're right. Just as easy to steal and not as easy to publish and distribute as flash. Have you done much html5 work? Game related html5?

html5 suuuuuuuuuckz.

There I said it.

hahah, been working with it much?

Nice work, your a seasoned veteran now.

[Squize]

Nah not touched it mate, don't want to. I want to make games, not mess around with tech for tech's sake.
As far as I'm aware there's nothing in HTML5 that can't be done in Flash, so it would be a backward step. I don't do agency work anymore so I'd don't have to whore myself out by learning it.

Squize.

[mr_malee]

hahah, been working with it much?

Just once. I built the game portion of the worlds biggest pacman. Oh the joy.

[Squize]

That did incredibly well though, and was really well done.

So roughly, to the nearest 100, how many times did you think "If I was doing this in Flash it would have taken me 3 days"

Squize.

[.hooligan]

Just once. I built the game portion of the worlds biggest pacman. Oh the joy.

Did you learn HTML5 while working on that. Pain in the butt learning while you have a deadline. So you found it was more trouble then its worth?

Have either of you worked with WebGL or the new Molehill API?

[rumblesushi]

That's actually very impressive for an HTML5 game, other efforts I've seen are pretty awful.

Why the choice to use HTML5 over Flash to start with though?

[mr_malee]

Squize, About 500 times. That game took about 3-4 weeks to complete, it started bad, got better, then sound came to the party and it got worse. We were not allowed to use flash as a backup for sound, so its all html5 sound which is unbelievably buggy and different on all browsers.

Hooligan, yeah I had to learn it while building, I almost had my own renderer setup, but then came across easel JS by grant skinner, that saved my life. Haven't used any webGL or molehill, yet

rumblesushi, wasn't our choice, was Microsoft. They wanted to showcase the hardware acceleration on IE9. Weird that they went with pacman to do this, I don't think they had webGL support yet, so it had to be something 2d.