I am getting signed up for some basic comp programming classes but I was curious if anyone had any advice, suggestions, etc.
I am specifically interested in making shockwave multiplayer games like this.
Does anyone know someplace where I might find sample source code and or could anyone reccomend some books that might help me in my self study on my desired subject while I get my classes.
I really don’t know anything about shockwave just that it seems to be a rather nifty way to interface simple games over the net.
It’s not often I get to answer first, so even though I may not be the best person to chime in, here goes:
Shockwave is a way for anyone’s web browser to run programs created by Macromedia Flash or Macromedia Director. These are programs that allow you to create multimedia interactive animation (images and text and sound and animation and interactivity) that you can insert into a web page (just like you can insert a GIF image), and when the end-user downloads the Shockwave plug-in, their browser will play that interactive multimedia on their own computer. With the possible exception of RealPlayer, Shockwave is probably the single most downloaded plugin on the web.
I used to teach a class on Macromedia Director, which can also make interactive Shockwave animation and games on the web. I know a bit about Flash, but not as much as I do about Director. Macromedia is the same company that makes Flash. But as each newer version of Flash has gotten more powerful, and since Flash was designed from its inception to be a web application, Flash has become the primary animation and interactive program plugin on the web.
That being said, here are a few pointers to keep in mind:
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It is not enough to just learn the “programming” aspect of Flash. The programming part of it is specifically designed to utilize (and rely on) the way the Flash program itself works. You MUST know how the basic Flash application works in order to utilize the more powerful programming aspect of it. If you have experience with other graphic applications, it should not be too hard to learn this, but it is a bit complicated (and there are definite differences from any other graphic application you have used before).
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One way to learn the program is through a class. This will be much more expensive that teaching yourself, but it will “force” you to go through the motions to learn the program, it will keep you from the common pitfall of learning just what you need to know to complete your immediate assignment (which often has the effect of forever limiting your use of the program to that which you already know and foregoing many more aspects of the program), and you will have an instructor to physically show you what to do and how to do it and answer specific questions you have. One way to find a class is to go to Macromedia’s website and look for an Authorized Training Center in your area.
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Teaching yourself, though, is certainly an option. I do not have a specific title to tell you to look for, but if you go into any large bookstore (like a Barnes and Noble or a P. Dalton or a Super Crown, etc) you should find a large number of books dealing with Flash. ALL these books should go over the basics of both the program itself, and of the programming aspect. Some will concentrate more on one than the other. If interactivity is important to you, you should find a book that goes beyond the basics of Flash programming, and delves into some advanced programming topics. I would suggest going to a bookstore that has several benches in the stacks and a liberal browsing (and reading) policy, and look through several of the books in detail to find one that is up to the level you feel you can assimilate. If nothing else, the detailed table of contents for each book will show you what they cover, and you can compare accordingly.
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I’m sure there are websites that also have lessons and “sample code,” but these will be of much greater use to you once you have learned the basics of the program. I don’t know of any off hand, but I’m sure they would be easy to find. Any decent book you buy will have a CD attached, from which much “sample code” can be examined and copied.
For that matter, if you buy the program new (or at least in the box with the manuals) you will get a basic “how to” for both the program and the programming language. Actually, Macromedia has additional sources on their own website (assuming it is the same as for Director): if you go to the Developers section of their site, they will have some lessons (for free) and quite a few Technotes, which will not only deal with bugs, etc., but also with how to program (with the actual code) some tasks which may not be obvious to all (at least not obvious to enough people who asked that they wrote a Technote about it).
- Remember that learning how to program in Flash is NOT the same as learning an independent stand-alone programming language, like javascript or C++. Flash programming will only work inside the Flash program, and it is specifically designed to use the Flash program to work. Of course, there are similarities with other programming languages (like using variables and repeat loops, etc.) so that if you know one it makes it that much easier to learn the other, but they are not the same.
Good luck!
Wow, thanks. After following the link to macromedia I found that they have 30 day trials on director. I am very familiar with Coreldraw/Photopaint so trick graphics software doesnt intimidate me. I was assuming that it would be its own little world with little if any to do with the outside world of programming.
Anyone else?