I’ve created a multiplayer host system that allows you to write and debug multi-user applications entirely in ActionScript 2.0. You don’t need an account or any special permissions on my server; just write your app in Flash, upload it to a site and run it. There is even a way to run it from within the Flash debugger.
Before you read on, you might just want to log on and see it in action, but be sure to come back and finish reading the post! http://www.biality.com/tubes
The host program, called Tubes, is a chat system with a “plugin” at the top. You can write your own plugins to run there. Users in the chat will be able to join your application and play against or work with each other. You can even have your program featured on the site.
Your server code and client code will both be built-in to your one Flash application. There are simple functions to call things on your “server”, and functions to allow the server to call things on the client. In addition, two other functions are automatically called on the server, for when a user connects and disconnects.
This is all you need to make a multiuser application. There are some example .FLA files you can read from, as well as a small reference manual here: http://www.biality.com/tubes/source
If you have any questions, some of the regular users can help you get your program running – much easier than figuring it out alone!
- Kipp
