Understanding Macromedia Flash 8 ActionScript 2: Basic Techniques for Creatives

'Learn the basics of strong scripting skills for truly professional results. Written from a creative viewpoint, this is a book that really talks your language!' World Animation Journal If you are a designer or new Flash programmer looking for a crash course in ActionScript 2 – then look no further! Andrew Rapo and Alex Michael explain all the important programming concepts from a designer's point of view, making them completely accessible to non-programmers. Completely revised and rewritten this second edition will help you develop professional ActionScript 2 applications, and communicate knowledgably about current, Object Oriented ActionScript 2 techniques. Divided into four sections to take you from novice to professional results: – Flash Fundamentals: Introduces the Flash authoring environment and basic core Flash concepts. – ActionScript 2 Fundamentals: Explains basic programming concepts and terminology, and shows how ActionScript 2 classes are constructed and used. – Built-in Classes: Describes the built-in ActionScript classes that are available for use in applications, including the MovieClip class, Key class, Sound class, etc. – Using ActionScript to Build a Game: Describes the development process for creating a complex Flash application and presents commercial-quality game coding examples.

 

Table of Contents

Introduction – Understanding Macromedia Flash 8 ActionScript 2 Flash Fundamentals 1 – An Introduction to ActionScript 2 Programming Tools in Flash 8 2 – Timelines, Layers, The Stage, MovieClips, and the Library 3 – Events and Event Handlers 4 – External ActionScript Class Files ActionScript 2.0 Fundamentals 5 – A Brief Overview of ActionScript2 Programming 6 – Transitioning from AS1 Classes to AS2 Classes 7 – The Anatomy Of A Class 8 – The Building Blocks of Code 9 – Organizing Code With Functions 10 – Arrays 11 – Inheritance and Polymorphism Built-in Classes 12 – Built-in Classes 13 – Built-in Classes: The MovieClip Class 14 – Built-in Classes: The Key Class 15 – Built-in Classes: The Sound Class 16 – Built-in Classes:The XML Class Using ActionScript To Build A Game – Astro Sweeper 17 – Designing a Game 18 – Building the Game – Phase I: The FLA and the GameController 19 – Building the Game – Phase II: Movement and Powerups 20 – Building the Game – Phase III: The Complete Game Appendices Appendix A – ActionScript Terminology Appendix B – Key Codes