Tag Archives: flash

Scaleform, for the love of Flash

AIR, AS3, Flash, iOS, Scaleform, Starling, , ,

RE-Edit : Scaleform mobile SDK 4.4 is out!

Edit, official answer from Autodesk: “Initial Indie friendly efforts have focused on MayaLT, as the most widely used Autodesk game tool. Autodesk is considering a similar option for their Game Middleware tools (such as Scaleform, Navigation and HIK) which will make them more affordable and accessible to Indies. An Indie friendly pricing model, hopefully coming soon, would allow them to offer the latest version of Scaleform to Indies and not bother maintaining a separate (and older) consumer Scaleform Mobile download. That should solve the problem for Indie devs that want the latest Metal, XCode and 64 bit support.”

We’re in 2015 and Flash is still there. It might be a dying technology but it couldn’t die right now because there isn’t any other tool which is able to replace it. The strength of Flash is obviously its vector animations. However since several years many of the flash developers don’t use the Flash Pro software in their daily job. Now we’re mostly using Starling and sometimes we grab animations from a fla and turn them into a SpriteSheets, or using DragonBones or mostly a SWC file to turn it into textures at runtime. Also there is the fact that we’re not able to reload SWF file using AS3 code on iOS.
Those facts highlight that something is broken in our production line: graphic/animation designers are increasingly dependent on developers. We are not able to take their SWF to make it running on our mobile device, so we must recreate everything ourselves via code and optimized framework (Starling). And hell, I hate doing animations jobs.

I think AAA studios were laughing when Flash was announced dead, because they use it daily. Mass Effect, Tomb Raider, The Witcher, Crysis… all of them use SWF file for their UI stuff. Have you thought a moment that even EA was using SpriteSheets with several resolutions for its menu!? Obviously not, with SWF file they are able to target all resolutions needed with just scaling/stretching their SWF without any loss, from a crappy 640 x 480 resolution to a 4k. However they are not doing it via AIR (it even doesn’t exist on console), but via Scaleform. Let’s have a look on this amazing tool!
Continue reading Scaleform, for the love of Flash →

Update an application on several PCs with one click

AIR, AS3, Flash, , ,

Hey there, happy holidays!

This last month I worked for Fontevraud, the largest abbey in Europe! I updated their iBar program. Inside the main chapel, they have several touch screens displaying Fontevraud’s informations about Eleanor of Aquitaine, a Quiz, a Pacman retracing the story of a prisoner (the abbey was a prison after the French Revolution)…

The iBar program (PC only) works exactly like an iPad, a main screen launching applications. That was the first time that I worked for a museum, and so there were new kinds of problematics: how to know if a touch screen crashed and notify someone? How to get the errors for fixing them later? How to update the application on each touchscreen without human intervention on each machine?
Continue reading Update an application on several PCs with one click →

Taking screenshots with Flambe, fighting multi-platforms

Canvas, Flash, Haxe, HTML5, JavaScript, WebGL, , , , ,

I enjoy playing with Flambe. It’s the only tech (except OpenFL) which enable you to have a SWF, Canvas & WebGL browser game with one code base made in Haxe (like OpenFL).
Having those three targets, you’re sure to reach your audience at 100%. However one feature, taking an in-game screenshot, may ruin your multi-platforms adventure.
Continue reading Taking screenshots with Flambe, fighting multi-platforms →

Silly Family available on the Mac App Store

AIR, AS3, Flash, ,

Hey, I’m glad to share with you that Silly Family is now available on the Mac App Store! Don’t hear anything about Silly Family? Have a look there.

Thanks to Adobe AIR technology, with exactly the same code base we released the game on iOS, Mac, Android & Amazon. We could also release it to PC, but not sure where to sell it… I hope AIR would work on Windows 8 modern UI mode and so sell it via Windows store, but that’s an other story.

The first time you’re looking for putting your AS3/AIR game on the iOS store, you will find lots of tuts. However for the Mac App Store, that’s an other story. This one is the most concrete that I found.

Here is my bash script, FromAirAppToMacAppStore, working for AIR 13:

#!/bin/sh
#!/usr/bin/env bash
#$ -N $2
 
DIR="$( cd "$( dirname "$0" )" && pwd )"
 
cp $DIR/Info.plist $DIR/"$1".app/Contents
cp $DIR/Icon.icns $DIR/"$1".app/Contents/Resources
 
rm $DIR/"$1".app/Contents/Frameworks/Adobe\ AIR.framework/Versions/Current/Resources/WebKit.dylib
rm -rf $DIR/"$1".app/Contents/Frameworks/Adobe\ AIR.framework/Versions/1.0/Resources/AdobeCP15.plugin
rm -rf $DIR/"$1".app/Contents/Frameworks/Adobe\ AIR.framework/Versions/1.0/Resources/Flash\ Player.plugin
rm -rf $DIR/"$1".app/Contents/Frameworks/Adobe\ AIR.framework/Versions/1.0/Resources/adobecp.plugin
 
chmod -R 777 $DIR/"$1".app/
 
#codesign -f -v -s "$2" $DIR/"$1".app/Contents/Frameworks/Adobe\ AIR.framework/Versions/1.0/Resources/AdobeCP15.plugin
#codesign -f -v -s "$2" $DIR/"$1".app/Contents/Frameworks/Adobe\ AIR.framework/Versions/1.0/Resources/Flash\ Player.plugin
#codesign -f -v -s "$2" $DIR/"$1".app/Contents/Frameworks/Adobe\ AIR.framework/Versions/1.0/Resources/adobecp.plugin
codesign -f -v -s "$2" $DIR/"$1".app/Contents/Frameworks/Adobe\ AIR.framework/Versions/1.0
codesign -f -v -s "$2" $DIR/"$1".app/Contents/Frameworks/Adobe\ AIR.framework
codesign -f -v -s "$2" --entitlements $DIR/entitlements.plist $DIR/"$1".app
 
codesign --display --entitlements - $DIR/"$1".app
 
productbuild --component $DIR/"$1".app /Applications $DIR/"$1".pkg --sign "$3"
 
codesign -v --verify $DIR/"$1".app
 
exit 0
 
#sh FromAirToMacAppStore.sh "SillyFamilyDesktop" "3rd Party Mac Developer Application: DaVikingCode (XXXXXXXXXX)" "3rd Party Mac Developer Installer: DaVikingCode (XXXXXXXXXX)"

For more instructions (and latest update) have a look on my Github’s repository. Note that I’m moving some repositories to Da Viking Code‘s Github account, the Citrus will move too 😉

Android 4.2.2. resolve problem with AIR mobile deployment

AIR, Android, AS3, Flash, , ,

Google has recently pushed a new Android version: 4.2.2. Concerning the new features, this update brings about a new security feature in regards to USB debugging: now there is a gatekeeper on your phone! You will have to accept the RSA key before being able to deploy on your device. More information concerning this update there.

If you have made this update on your device, you won’t be able to deploy your application, even if you’ve accepted the RSA key. Your IDE won’t success to connect to the device and push on it.
When I tried to resolve the problem, it quickly appears it wasn’t related to the IDE but directly from the AIR SDK. Then I tried to deploy on my tablet with a Unity project: same problem. Using Unity, you work directly with the Android SDK. I just needed to download its latest version and replace the previous one, and it works!

Concerning AIR, we also use the Android SDK but not with its original structure. You need to replace some files on this folder: YourSDK/lib/android/bin. Replace those files: aapt, adb and dx.jar with files coming from the latest Android SDK: sdk/platform-tools aapt, adb and its lib folder with the dx.jar file. Using Windows you will also need to replace the dll files.

That was easy! I hope Adobe will quickly deploy an AIR SDK update for everyone.

Take photo with AIR on iOS

AS3, Flash, ,

Hey guys,

Recently, I’ve worked on a mobile project and camera use drives me crazy about performances. On iOS, after taking a photo and validate it, it freezes the application during one minute to be able to encode it.
I’ve made lots of tests with several libraries, using Alchemy ones, and finally the fastest way (less than 5 seconds) is to use the new BitmapData encode method, available since Flash Player 11.3 and AIR 3.3.

Here is the code (lots of code come from this excellent post) :

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if (CameraUI.isSupported) {
	viewsAC.addItem({label:"Take Photo", icon:cameraIcon});
	myCam = new CameraUI();
	myCam.addEventListener(MediaEvent.COMPLETE, onCameraComplete);
}
 
protected function onCameraComplete(evt:MediaEvent):void
{
	sqlStatement = new SQLStatement();
	sqlStatement.sqlConnection = model2.connection;
	sqlStatement.text =
		"INSERT INTO albumItems (album, photoFile, dateAdded) " +
		"VALUES (:album, :photoFile, :dateAdded)";
	sqlStatement.parameters[":album"] = model2.selectedAlbum;
 
	var mediaPromise:MediaPromise = evt.data;
	if (mediaPromise.file == null) {
 
		// For iOS we need to load with a Loader first
		_loader = new Loader();
		_loader.contentLoaderInfo.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, imageloader_complete, false, 0, true);
		_loader.loadFilePromise(mediaPromise);
 
		return;
	} else {
 
		// Android & BlackBerry
		registerPhoto(mediaPromise.file.url)
	}
}
 
private function imageloader_complete(event:Event):void {
 
	_loader.contentLoaderInfo.removeEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, imageloader_complete);
 
	var loaderInfo:LoaderInfo = event.target as LoaderInfo;
 
	if (CameraRoll.supportsAddBitmapData) {
 
		var bitmapData:BitmapData = new BitmapData(loaderInfo.width, loaderInfo.height);
		bitmapData.draw(loaderInfo.loader);
		var file:File = File.applicationStorageDirectory.resolvePath("image" + new Date().time + ".jpg");
		var stream:FileStream = new FileStream()
		stream.open(file, FileMode.WRITE);
		var bytes:ByteArray = bitmapData.encode(bitmapData.rect, new flash.display.JPEGEncoderOptions());
		stream.writeBytes(bytes, 0, bytes.bytesAvailable);
		stream.close();
 
	}
	registerPhoto(file.url)
 
}
 
private function registerPhoto(url:String):void {
 
	sqlStatement.parameters[":photoFile"] = url;
 
	sqlStatement.parameters[":dateAdded"] = new Date();
	sqlStatement.execute();
 
	viewsList.selectedIndex = -1;
}

Citrus Engine V3 and a new website!

AS3, Citrus Engine, Flash, Games, , ,

Hey there,

I’m glad to announce the V3 release and a new website for the Citrus Engine! It has been a long and hard work. Most of the new tutorials and news will be displayed on this new website. Don’t know how I will manage this blog on Citrus Engine subject due to the new website, I will certainly replicate some contents.

Anyway I let you explore the new website 🙂 Don’t hesitate to give some feedback.

Playing with Cadet Editor 3D and AwayPhysics

AS3, Away3D, AwayPhysics, Citrus Engine, Flash, Physics, , , , ,

The 3D part is a bit in stand-by this last weeks on the Citrus Engine, because I’m polishing the engine for the V3 which should be out this week!

I’ve never clearly introduced AwayPhysics in the Citrus Engine, so it’s the day! The idea is to have a similar pre-built platformer objects that we already have with Box2D and Nape but with AwayPhysics this time for 3D stuff! This work and Away3D support will evolve during the V3.

Now that 3D views and physics are supported, it’s time to give a look on which tool we can use as a 3D game Level Editor. At first, I thought to Prefab. This is the best tool to create a scene with Away3D, importing assets, add lights… But too complex for a simple level design, I mean : hey the Citrus Engine is not a concurrent to Unity3D (which I started to learn thanks to this awesome tutorial) 😀 Its 3D physics part is just here to create basic 3D game / puzzle. Also the level editor has to support object creation (physics object), this isn’t obvious with Prefab.
Then I gave a look to Cadet Editor, the 3D editor is very easy to handle. You can create quickly sphere, cube and plane objects, add lights… That’s the right tool to see what can be done!

Continue reading Playing with Cadet Editor 3D and AwayPhysics →