Moho Forum

http://www.stencyl.com

Quite easy to create videogames with this.

I've only been experimenting a few days, but I've got this running quite fast: www.lukaskrepel.nl (there's a flash game in the bottom)

It can also export to iOS and Android etc, but not in the free version. Export to flash is free though.

Wow, cool software and very addictive game on your page. I have no idea what I'm doing but I can't stop playing!

Great work Lukas....I am going to download and give it a test.
Thanks for sharing and nice artwork in your game mate!

Cheers
D.K

Lukas wrote:(there's a flash game in the bottom)

I take it that was done with the FREE version?

InfoCentral wrote:

Lukas wrote:(there's a flash game in the bottom)

I take it that was done with the FREE version?

Yep.

I am thinking of trying to create something for iOS when I feel more comfortable with the software, but that requires Pro + an apple dev account.

Is it a design or game engine flaw that crouching from a jump makes the character fall through the ground? Maybe a problem with collision detection?

Nice design.

Yeah it's a problem with the collision boxes of different animation sets. I plan to fix it with a 'landing' animation with proper collission to get back up properly. The game is very WIP and an experiment in general. The engine seems pretty good so far!

Good to know, Lukas. I may have to play around with this myself.

Nice work Lucas!

I'd also like to throw 'Construct 2' into the ring... I think it's really fantastic, and you can do a lot with the free version (much cheaper too - £80 for life, not per year.)
http://www.scirra.com/
AND it's HTML5, not flash

Oh, I didn't notice that. Yeah, subscription-based software is bs. Downloading Construct2 now.

I tried both Stencyl and Construct2, and have to say I like Stencyl better. It's more intuitive. Of course flash is dead (thanks apple), but both export to iOS and Android, which is where the money is for interactive things.

Lukas wrote:Of course flash is dead (thanks apple)

I think what killed Flash was Adobe's stupid decision to kill all mobile versions of Flash when the market was clearly going mobile. Not only did they do that but they took down all versions so people couldn't even download the last version. They are still developing Flash for the desktop so perhaps there will be a management change and the new management will bring back Flash once again to the mainstream. But I don't know because I don't play the subscription game.

Let's make sure we got the terminology correct.

Flash is the development tool. SWF is the content that Apple wouldn't support.
Flash can be used to develop for iOS, Android for mobile or SWF for desktop only.
Adobe has an entire suite of tools now for creating content in Flash and "exporting" to different mobile platforms.

Flash is a brilliant development tool for content. It isn't the application that was "bad" it was the SWF format and "player" that was a problem. There were many factors that "killed" SWF on mobile. It wasn't just Apple. The player itself was a power hog. On desktop the Flash player is very insecure and is patched constantly for security holes. The Flash player is insecure and prone to targeting by hackers.

Apple has a policy about mobile development to protect users from viruses and malicious software. Allowing Flash to play on iOS would make that pointless since the Flash player would be a "development tool" outside of Apples control. There would be no way for Apple to vet applications or problems because the playback app is outside the OS itself. It is another virtual engine running content. Apple wants apps to run within the iOS.

I believe Adobe made the correct decision when they changed the way Flash is used to build applications. They have jumped on the mobile bandwagon and not restricting themselves to SWF export.

Before this change, Apple had banned using Flash for ANY iOS development. After Adobe "tweaked" Flash, Apple changed their policy about using Flash for iOS development.

Flash is still around... it's not going anywhere and is still a strong development tool for those who have invested time in learning it. What has changed are the export options. You can still go SWF for desktop, but now you can also go HTML5 or other formats for mobile. It's not a simple "one click" solution but it can be done.

Thanks for setting that straight Vern! Shows what I know

Lukas wrote:Thanks for setting that straight Vern! Shows what I know

I was mostly commenting on infocentral's statement about Adobe's decision regarding SWF support on mobile. Basically the reasons that Apple had for not supporting Flash player on iOS are the same reasons Adobe dumped it on android. It just never worked very well. For the same reasons that Jobs had. Of course it was Apple and Steve Jobs that pushed the end of SWF on mobile by not supporting it on iOS. I was really really pissed about this at first but then realized it was a good idea.

Adobe made the right choice. SWF just wasn't going to work on mobile as it was. All the mobile development was going in a different direction and also using different methods. Basically the Flash player runs on it's own as a separate app... then... the player loads and runs SWF files that also have code and scripting running inside the player. You sort of get a double hit on performance and security. The player has to be secure and also any content running inside that player also has to be secure.

Adobe is A VERY SMART COMPANY. They aren't perfect and sometimes do things that annoy users, but overall they do make good decisions.
I have the Adobe subscription with access to all of the apps.... and they keep coming out with new stuff for mobile app development that works with Flash or on it's own. So basically they have "repurposed" flash to keep it going for the next phase of web app development.

To get back on topic...

I would much prefer to use either of the two development platforms in this topic to create games than jump through all the hoops to use Flash. They get me excited.