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I still use Flash

foon.uk

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Re: I still use Flash

#141

Post by 4RealFreedom »

LoveMortuus wrote: post #83

Anyone knows of a modern browser that still supports flash? I'm stuck having to use old browsers, which I'm not very happy about. Ruffle doesn't work the for game that I play (Crystal Saga).

I use flash occasionally to run some older code. I've been running this setup for a few years now on my Intel Mac because it won't work with Apple's new M chips. There are a couple of things you will need. First, download Firefox 84.0 here: https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/84.0/mac/en-US/. Next, you need the Flash Player itself. Adobe, as far as I know, removed the links to download it and I don't have anywhere I would trust to download. After you have the Flash Player, install Firefox 84 and disable the auto-updates. Now install Flash and everything should work. Good luck!

Re: I still use Flash

#142

Post by jonathanyc »

rogual wrote: post #2

Hey HN, I haven't done a lot of technical postmortem blogpost-style writing so I'd welcome any feedback or tips on how to improve. Is it too long, too short, too technical, not technical enough? Boring? Interesting? Is it enlightening or does it just come off like content marketing? I literally have no idea how good I am at this.

Great post! No complaints at all from me. The mix of your thought process + screenshots + examples is perfect.

Re: I still use Flash

#143

Post by adrian17 »

tetris11 wrote: post #69
numair wrote: post #36

Really great writeup. So people stop asking the obvious question, here is the GitHub issue that clearly shows Ruffle doesn’t support ActionScript 3: https://github.com/ruffle-rs/ruffle/issues/1368 I recently picked up a copy of Flash MX to use on an old PowerBook, highly recommend others do the same. As many have commented, today’s authoring tools are poor substitutes (someone should do a list of the superior abandon…

It looks like its 99% there though in terms of support

This linked issue is - quote - "a non-exhuastive, basic checklist of where we are aiming". As in, a checklist for MVP level support. And indeed, we have pretty much reached the MVP level, with several simple games (and some nontrivial libraries like box2d or mochicrypt) working.

From this point on, it's hard to make a simple TODO checklist. We could analyze the entire Flash API surface and make a tracking issue for each available class, but that's a lot of bookkeeping and it doesn't really say that much about real support (as, assuming pareto principle, 80% of fancier features are used by only 20% of games).

Re: I still use Flash

#144

Post by Karawebnetwork »

d0100 wrote: post #5

I still haven't seen anything beat Flash with its sweet 1-2 combo of vector drawing, animation and programming tool Or maybe it's just me reminiscing

One college near me still teaches 101 classes through Flash. When presented as an educational tool with disclaimers that the end result is not secure, it's a perfect product to teach with. You can take someone who does not even know how to turn on a computer and by the end of the class they understand what programming is, how to draw on a computer, vector vs bitmap, etc.

Re: I still use Flash

#145

Post by robertlagrant »

rogual wrote: post #2

Hey HN, I haven't done a lot of technical postmortem blogpost-style writing so I'd welcome any feedback or tips on how to improve. Is it too long, too short, too technical, not technical enough? Boring? Interesting? Is it enlightening or does it just come off like content marketing? I literally have no idea how good I am at this.

Just to say: thank you for these games. I loved them when I was in my 20s.

Re: I still use Flash

#146

Post by thatguy0900 »

dj_mc_merlin wrote: post #96

I remember creating a simple "catch the falling X" game in Flash 20 years ago. It was basic, but had everything you'd expect in a beginner project: points, multiple game states/screens, a victory condition, basic story (which was just a screen at the beginning, like NES). The thing is, I was a literal child and I also had no clue how to code -- I did everything by following tutorials and gluing together code I copy&p…

You should look into roblox. I think a lot of the kids who want to create are doing it there or in minecraft. There are really some pretty expansive games created there.

Re: I still use Flash

#147

Post by dmitriid »

zozbot234 wrote: post #98
fallat wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. What we see in UI design today is a consequence of game theory at work. It's to optimize business. In fairness you don't want to scare users away. I think though many people equated it all to "clean looking", without realizing removing micro-interactions is a net negative....

I think touch screens are a bigger factor. You can't have small buttons in a touch-screen UI, because they must be targets for your finger. (OTOH, swipes in a touch UI are a lot easier than mouse drag-and-drop. So the optimal touch UX probably has lots of drag-activated pie menus. And confirmation flows for potentially destructive actions, to cope with the lower accuracy of touch interactions.)

The problem is these "designers" bring those touch-optimised UIs to desktop. And so you end up with hamburger menus on 4k-screens, tall narrow alert dialogs on MacOS etc.

Re: I still use Flash

#148

Post by lostgame »

ecshafer wrote: post #132
CharlesW wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It blows my mind that no one has made a tool like that in so long. […] Why has the pinnacle of ease of use in game creation been achieved and never replicated since? FWIW it never went away¹ and targets standards-based runtimes these days. I'm sure there are many kids every month having the same kind of epiphanies with it! That being said, because Adobe Animate is marketed as a tool for professionals rather than ki…

There is a small but major difference with Flash vs Minecraft and Roblox. Flash let you create something from scratch (or close to it). You aren't just modding a game, you are making a game or a cartoon. It was fantastic. Minecraft you are limited to the world of minecraft.

It could also run in its own standalone environment you could redistribute. IIRC you could even export something like an EXE and bundle the flash player with the installer.

Re: I still use Flash

#149

Post by oneepic »

gibspaulding wrote: post #25

I was expecting "Attempt 3" to involve Bluemaxima's Flashpoint, and was surprised not to see it mentioned. Does anyone know why that wouldn't have been an option, or is this essentially what Attempt 1 would have involved? For anyone not familiar with Flashpoint, it's a project to preserve old flash games and animations and keep them playable on modern platforms. It's open source and includes a huge library (including…

I still play games on Flashpoint. Hell, I speedrun and showcase games in Flashpoint during some regular events with my other friends playing ""real"" games. It's not the best UI, but you do have an easy search function to find content you might like.

Gotta be careful to avoid the porn games though. Flashpoint archived some.

Re: I still use Flash

#150

Post by dmitriid »

goatlover wrote: post #18
d0100 wrote: post #5

I still haven't seen anything beat Flash with its sweet 1-2 combo of vector drawing, animation and programming tool Or maybe it's just me reminiscing

The Flash Builder was really good for complex vector manipulation. I don't know if there is anything as good for SVG/HTML.

> I don't know if there is anything as good for SVG/HTML.

There's not because the DOM isn't suited for complex animations. People manage to animate SVGs (see Greensock etc.), but it's a pain in the nether regions

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