Flash SIG

International Game Developers Association

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The IGDA Flash in Games Special Interest Group (SIG) is a forum for any professional who uses Adobe Flash or Flash related technologies for any kind of high-quality game or entertainment related use.

Contents

Announcements

4/21/09 - Membership Drive begins! We need to grow the group and show our support for Flash in games. If you haven't joined yet, please join the Yahoo and Linkedin groups. Please let your teammates, co-workers and friends know about the group as well. The more people we have, the easier time we will have to futher our agendas, so it is important that we get everyones support!!!

4/7/09 - Our new home on the web was created! Please let us know what you think or if you have suggestions. We need volunteers to help make this better, if you would like to contribute to the website, please let us know!

Contact Information

Please contact the leadership of the Flash in Games SIG with any questions you might have at: flashsig at igda dot org

Groups

We have also setup 3 groups online for your convenience. If you have suggestions on how to improve this, please let us know.

Linkedin Group

The Linkedin Group is the place to be! If you're looking for the main "hangout" spot, this is it. IGDA Flash Games Linkedin Group

Yahoo Group

There is also a yahoo group. IGDA Yahoo Flash SIG Group You can email the group at: igda_flashsig at yahoogroups dot com

Facebook Group

You can also join our IGDA Flash facebook group at IGDA Flash Games Facebook Group



Overview

The Adobe Flash Player is installed on 98% of all computers, and has begun the transition into: mobile phones, consoles, embedded devices and handhelds. Flash is no longer just used for web or browser based games, as Flash can easily be run on any game consoles and embedded devices with the help of Scaleform middleware. This makes Flash one of the most commonly used pieces of game technology on the market. Adobe Flash is used in a wide range of games, game production pipelines, and development tools. Flash is used by many different types of users, from artists, to designers and programmers, and each needs to use it in a wide variety of ways. So, while Flash is in widespread use, using it well is not trivial and the developer community can really benefit from an active Flash in Games SIG.

The Flash in Games SIG is a resource for anyone who is developing entertainment products using Adobe Flash, or Flash related technologies including: Adobe Creative Suite, Adobe Flex, Adobe Flashlite, Adobe Flash Catalyst, Adobe Air, Adobe Flash Player, Scaleform GFx, ActionScript or other similar technologies.

Also, the Flash development community (currently outside of games) is massive, and more and more Flash developers are leaving traditional web development and interactive agencies to become game developers. It is important to begin educating new Flash users of the use of Flash in game development, so that they can quickly ramp up and be effective in game development, which has a different, more rigorous set of requirements such as performance and memory optimization. A strong and thriving community that shares best practices will benefit both the Flash artist/developer and the game teams seeking new talent to add to their pipelines.

Goals

The goal of the Flash in Games SIG is to provide:

  • Best practices and other resources to Flash developers
  • Information, knowledge and problem-solving approaches to developers expanding their skill sets with Flash.
  • A community of like-minded Flash developers who are committed to improving the state of their craft and sharing the knowledge required to do so.
  • Promotion of and a grassroots movement to expand the use of Flash in gaming
  • Create more dedicated Flash and gaming educational material (books, videos, whitepapers and more)

History

The Flash in Games SIG was established at the 2009 Game Developers Conference in San Francisco in order to elevate the awareness of the broad use of Flash in Games and Entertainment.

Objectives

The Flash in Games Special Interest Group focuses on:

  • Elevating awareness and enhancing understanding of Flash as it is used in games and entertainment.
  • Improving and standardizing the Flash Game development practice.
  • Providing a community for Flash in Games scholars and professionals.

Membership

The Flash in Games SIG is open to anyone who is involved in creating:

  • Causal Flash Game Developers (Windows, MMO, XBLA, PSN, Wiiware)
    ...Mini-Game Designers (Using Flash for Mini-Games)
    ...Game Website Designers (designing games for websites, websites around games, and any kind of web related projects which could involve Flash)
  • Online Game Developers
    ...MMO & Multiplayer Games
    ...Virtual Worlds
  • Console Game Developers
    ...Using Flash for Games, UI or other Uses
  • Mobile Flash Game Developers (Nokia, iPhone, Blackberry and others)
  • Flash Game UI Developers
    ...Scaleform GFx users
  • Flash Movie Creators (creating cutscenes for games or movies)
  • Flash Designers (using Flash for prototyping and other projects)
  • Artists (Using Flash for animated textures and other artwork)
    ...Users of Adobe Creative Studio (looking for tips)
    ...Effects Artists
  • Educational Applications
  • Flash Game Hobbyists

and anyone else using Flash in their projects.

Members of the Casual Games SIG, Localization SIG, Mobile Game Development SIG, Tools SIG and other SIG's may also find this SIG useful.

Membership in the IGDA Flash SIG is open to anyone. However, We encourage everyone who's interested in the SIG to first join the IGDA as a paying member - more information is available here: Join the IGDA Website. Your paid membership and affiliation with the Flash Game SIG will help support the SIG's activities.

If you want to join the SIG, for now, please email your contact information to: flashsig at igda dot org

SIG Leadership

We are in the process of establishing the Flash SIG Leadership and Executive Steering Committee group. We will be holding elections soon, and are gathering names of anyone interested. If you are interested in helping out, either as being the SIG Chairman or being on the Steering Committee, please email flashsig at igda dot org and let us know.

We will also be establishing a variety of sub-committees on various topics (still TBD) which will also each need 1-2 committee chairmen.

In order to be a SIG leader, you must be an IGDA member, and involved in some aspect of Flash and game development.


Initiatives

The Flash in Games SIG has a variety of goals in mind including:

  • Flash Industry Newsletter
  • Creating Best Practices & Whitepapers
    ...Topics would include various types of Flash development and workflow issues related to different types of game users
    ...Topics would also include things like: performance, optimizing Flash for games, use-cases of Flash in published games, and more as specified by the desires of the group.
  • Tools Reviews
    ...Work to review Flash tools and
  • Standardizations
    ...Work to create better standards for how Flash projects should be developed, either through the standardization of workflows, establishing coding standards, and other types of standards which artists, designers and programmers can all utilize. The goal is to allow teams to more easily bring on new Flash developers and quickly integrate them into their team, as well the ability to hire experienced contractors/freelancers and know that to the community has defined standards for quality, best practices and workflow.
  • Create Example Projects
    ...Encourage members to share projects, code samples and more to help others
  • Developer Contest
    ...Host a Flash game development contest at GDC, where entrants would create Flash based games or sequences that would then be judged by a committee of luminaries and/or qualified Flash SIG members (tentatively, for GDC 2010)
  • Flash Use Education
    ...Many people still think of Flash as only a website tool, or a tool with which to do lower quality casual games. Increasingly people know that Flash can be used for game interfaces and more. The expertise of the participants in the SIG will educate the industry on how Flash can be used in a variety of ways beyond the web, and that the quality of Flash projects can be substantially higher than any other tool out there
  • Flash Resource Collection
    ...Collecting, reviewing and talking about the best Flash sites, learning resources, 3rd party tools and other related information.

Flash User Groups

We are looking at adding a variety of user groups within the Flash Game SIG. These groups are still TBD. If you are interested in joining one of these groups, or would like to see another group, please let us know.

  • Web Games
  • Console Games
  • Online Games & Virtual Worlds
  • Others?

The goal of these groups is to offer a more focused place for Flash users to discuss specific areas of Flash use in games, since there are so many different uses of Flash. These groups will try and solve or discuss problems in specific areas.


External links

One goal of this group is to provide a variety of resources for the community.

Resources

Flash Conferences

There are a number of conferences all over the world each year dedicated to Adobe Flash specifically, the entire adobe product line, or just interactive design. Many of these conferences will have a tremendous amount of training and information about Flash, and can be a great place to find Flash experts to hire or help you.

3rd Party Flash Middleware and Tools

More Coming Soon!

Flash Game Developers

Coming Soon!

Flash Game Publishers

Coming Soon!

Flash Business

Coming Soon!


Flash Blogs

The Adobe Flash user community is generally very into blogging, and many different ones can be found with a lot of great information. Many of them also do video podcasts which are great.

Flash 9+ & ActionScript 3.0 Books

  • Adobe Flash CS3 Professional Hands-On Training by Todd Perkins
  • Adobe Flash CS3 Professional Classroom in a Book by Adobe
  • Adobe Flash CS3 Professional Bible by Robert Reinhardt & Snow Dowd
  • ActionScript 3.0 Bible by Roger Braunstein, Mims H. Wright & Joshua Noble

More Coming Soon!

Flash 8 & ActionScript 2.0 Books

  • Flash + After Effects by Chris Jackson
  • AdvancED Flash Interface Design (Advanced Design) by Brian Monnone, Guido Rosso, and Michael Kemper
  • Flash Application Design Solutions: The Flash Usability Handbook by Ka Wai Cheung & Craig Bryant
  • Best Practice: The Pros on Adobe Flash by Douglas Easterly
  • Essential ActionScript 2.0 by Colin Moock
  • Beginning ActionScript 2.0 (Wrox Beginning Guides) by Nathan Derksen and Jeff Berg
  • Understanding Macromedia Flash 8 ActionScript 2: Basic Techniques for Creative’s
  • Skip Intro: Flash Usability and Interface Design by Duncan McAlester
  • Macromedia Flash Professional 8 Game Development by Glen Rhodes

Flash Training Videos

Useful Flash Sites

Flash Award Sites

(for Inspiration) So even though Flash Websites and Movies may not be exactly what you are making, there is still a lot to be inspired by when looking at many of them.


SIG Guidelines

Coming Soon!

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