Sean: Hey ShooterMG!, First off ,Can you please explain your position in the flash game design process?
Before my current project, I generally worked by myself. Art,
programming, design... I did everything. That was great for when I was
getting a feel for the whole process and trying to learn a bit more
about each of the roles, but it had the negative trade off of being
very time consuming. I did work on a couple projects with a couple
different artists, and I think that helped me realize that it's time
to get more of a "team" going. My current project involves me and two
other people. Only having to focus on programming this time takes a
huge weight off of my shoulders!
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| Ben's TumbleStump 2: The Next Episode is a really fun platformer with some impressive lighting effects. |
How long did it take you to learn to program, and what do you suggest people do if they want to start?
For me, learning to program has been a life-long journey. I started
back when I was a kid, programming little game/animations in BASIC
with my best friend at the time. Nothing really fancy, nothing
earth-shattering. Then I took a break for many years and didn't return
to programming until maybe around 7 years ago, when I got into web
development. I was quickly disgusted with the web standards and having
to code for several different browsers, so I started looking for
something different. I tried many languages, including C++, Ruby, and
Java, but none of them were capable of giving me quick results that I
was demanding. I then turned to Flash and Action script, and it felt
almost like they were designed just for me. I had a bit of an art
background by then as well; my grandfather is a commercial artist and
I had been sketching cartoons since I was a kid. Combine Flash's ease
of creating artwork, and it's simple and effective language, and I was
in heaven. Haven't looked back since, although I'm looking toward
the future of mobile gaming.
What's your best tips for optimizing flash games?
There are quite a few well-known ways to optimize Flash games, and
while I don't really have any specific tricks up my sleeves, there are
always a few I rely on. Firstly is to make little use of filters.
Filters can easily kill performance if there are too many of them, or
if the graphics they are applied to are too large. Secondly, pay close
attention to the FPS you've set for your game. Setting the FPS *too*
high can actually reduce performance in certain situations.
Finally, What's your favourite flash game and why?
I really don't have a *favorite* game. There are plenty that I've
enjoyed and played quite a bit, including SteamBirds, GemCraft, and
physics games like Crush the Castle and Demolition City. I don't
really have a lot of time to play games (irony!) so I tend to
gravitate towards games that are very pick-up-and-play friendly.
Thanks for the chat, ShooterMG - I hope you and your newest game the best!
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Tomorrow I plan on having an interesting chat with an artist!, and no!, It's not myself.
Sean Parnell
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