hi there again.
as i use flash primarely as a game programming language, and i love it since multiplatform has always been an issue to me (the ability to write a single swf and having it runnig on various platform is great) i’m very excited by this new c++ looking actionscript 3.0 that allows me to write applications consistently intead of splitting my code among frames and objects.
well, my point is just that i’m a bit confused by the new line of products adobe is making. linked to my game programming needs, there is an issue called “offline playing”. most of the flsah games you find online are mostly for casual gamers or coffee break gaming sessions. using flash to develop more “profound” games is of course possible, but in this case having them running within a browser could give the player the wrong impression that he’s still playing a fast game, even if you’ve programmed a 100 hour adventure. luckily enogh, converting it into exe and app is an option, PLUS you can also and always deliver it as a swf file and / or on a web page so that you can reach the widest audience.
still, you lack something that generally desktop applications have, like access to the filesystem (write files and the like) or databases etc.
the solution had a name: director. it was a very powerful tool programmed with a language i suddley fell in love with, lingo. unfortunately, until adobe releases a new version and the player is not as widespread as flash’s, it is hardly an option as the product and its surrounding community are, if not dead, at least dying and surely not in competition with flash’s.
now, i’m not very confident with flex and air. correct me if i’m mistaken, but what i’ve understood about them is:
flex: develop desktop-like applications on a web-page
air: take it back to the desktop but with the web things.
for “web things” i mean that both the technologies seem to me confusingly made like virtual frankenstein putting together pieces like html, xml, css, flash, actionscript, ajax, javascript and server side solutions like coldfusion (is there anyone really using coldfusion instead of some free fast beauty like php?!).
now, admittedly, any web site is, for hystorical reasons, a walking frankenstein (at least html + css + javascript + serverside scripting). adobe’s adding even more pieces to this and, with a further step (air), packing it all in an executible (will air actually make exe/apps?).
what i find upsetting is that flash seems now a b-side technology only useful to be integrated in the other two as a sidekick, not a standalone one. looking throu the internet (and gathering impressions by surfing adobe’s site) the actionscript 3.0 word is almost solely associated with the word “flex”. same with air, a technology that is not really actually “here” yet.
so, long story short: should i care, from a game programming point of view, about flex and air? the perspective of having a game runnig smoothly on a web page, as a downloadable swf AND as a desktop application with gui and access to the filesystem and databases is amazing, but is it possible at the moment? how much effort would it require and how much of the flash-driven workflow i’m used to has to be rethinked and re-learned?
thanks and sorry for the long post, any comment greatly appriciated.
