spacemonkey

I'm going to venture out on a limb and say that, with Flash, animations are harder than making a game. Of course, this is only a special case, because some games are complicated while others are not. For example, you mention Xiao Xiao 4. The program the creator used to create the scenery was Swift3D. It is a basic modelling program that exports a movie you create as a Flash SWF file. So, all he had to do was model the scenery, and then move a camera through it twisting and turning it to simulate movement. Then, he imports the animation into Flash, adds a few enemies that have to be animated strategically, and makes a menu, and he's done. If you notice, the enemies are very simple. They appear, they play through their animation, and when you click on them, they die. Very, cery simple programming. However, 90% of this game was animated, and very nicely animated, at that. So, in this case, it is only fair to say that animation is harder, since it was most of the work.

That is a very clever way of simulating a direct connection. I'm not very keen on PHP or MySQL, but I would probably think that if a lot of people are going to be playing your game, you should have some unique game session identification. In other words, in the MySQL database, you're probably going to need a lot of different spaces to accommodate a lot of games being played at once, and you'll need some way of identifying which set of values goes with which game currently active.

I looked into "Swish Max" and found that yes, you can use this to create Flash animations. While it looks like it is basically Flash MX but re-organized, there seem to be a lot of included effects and scripts. I suppose Macromedia allowed someone to crete this or I was completely wrong about the intellectual property rights.Oh well, I stand (or rather, type) corrected.

Very interesting. I would go so far as to say that all humans do this to some extent or another. If you are talking to someone in a really mentally-engaged conversation, take one second to notice what you are doing with your hands or other parts of your body. Using gestures to help convince someone of or illustrate a point has been proven to be an inert psychological and physiological function. How do we know this? Blind people use the same gestures, even when they have not seen which gestures to use. Also, if you are talking on the phone, why is it that sometimes you use your hands to gesture in an attempt to make the point more clear? The person on the other end of the telephone cannot see what you are doing (unless, of course, you are on a video phone).Again, this is a very interesting topic. I would be so bold as to say that if someone has no experience using the power of persuasion and then tries this technique, they might end up making themselves look like a fool. I would personally suggest using very subtle additions to your already present conversational technique rather than adopting a whole new set of mannerisms.

This afternoon, I awoke (I stayed up late) and began casually flipping through the channels on my television. I usually go to CNN first to catch up on world and national current events. This is the story that was being reported.My thoughts and sympathies go out to those affected by this attack on London, as well the people of England in general. Once you have encountered an attack so close to home, you temporarily lose that warm sense of security you once had. Eventually, you will regain it; and hopefully those responsible will pay for their cowardish and pitiful attempts at conveying a completely wrong and hateful message.I was in London two years ago, as well as a few other countries scattered throughout Europe. I am thankful that I was able to return home without my life being threatened, and I am very sad to learn today that many people have suffered for a cause that the civilized people of this world do not support.Again, my condolences.

Usually I prefer to use Notepad to do any HTML or CGI scripting that is relatively small scale. I find that using Notepad significantly strengthens both your logistic ability with the language as well as your troubleshooting and improvisational abilities. If you are looking for a good, clean text editor that isn't What You See Is What You Get that has a lot of nice text-editing features (such as Regular Expression Find and Replace functions) and auto-cursor positioning for when you edit a lot of similar lines, you might want to try out TextPad. It is free and very functional and efficient. http://www.textpad.com/ As an added bonus, you can even type Java into the editor and compile and run it, but the Java options and capabilities in no way interfere with your HTML features or projects.

I haven't personally used Blender, so I suppose you're welcome to find out.

I, like you, do not really like to read for entertainment. I'd rather play games or listen to music or go outside and do something physical. However, a former teacher of mine suggested I read The Da Vinci Code a few weeks ago, and while I was reluctant to actually read for a change, I read the first few chapters and suddenly found that I simply could not put the book down. I read the entire novel in less than 2 days (which for me is quite an accomplishment). I have yet to read "Angles and Demons" but I am looking forward to it. Although I am somewhat angry that I read The Da Vinci Code first rather than Angles and Demons, the plot in The Da Vinci Code really didn't seem to draw off the other book -- so that was a relief. As for my other favorites, I would have to say that "A Wrinkle in Time" was an old, old favorite book of mine. I remember reading that book years ago. Rubicon was also a good read. It was about a murder in Ancient Rome. Quite good. Another favorite of mine is The Knights Templar. I read it a while back, perhaps a year prior to reading The Da Vinci Code. But it was really interesting, and it kept me entertained. The aforementioned former teacher is writing a few books at the moment. They sound like they will be very interesting to read, and I am looking forward to reading his work.

Very nice work. I hated using that Lasso all the time on large, intricate pictures. I guess I really odn't have any patience.At any rate, the Quick Mask is great. I'm learning more and more about Photoshop each day, and thanks to you, I learned something actually HELPFUL.Keep up the good work.

Very cool tutorial. I've been using Photoshop CS for a while now, and never thought about doing it like that. Nice work, keep it up!

137203[/snapback] Yes, Quake 4 will not be like Quake 3 at all. Which may sound unfortunate to most, to me, it sounds great. I always did like the storyline behind Quake II, as well as the game technology and the overall experience of playing it and... FINALLY beating it that one day a few years ago. I've heard that Quake 4 will feature squad-based, FPS play both in small, indoor areas and large, broad outdoor terrains. Only time will tell if this is true, and, if so, whether or not the developers have successfully pulled it all off into a rightful sequel to one of the best-selling game franchises ever shipped.

People feel the same way about a lot of different bands. What if I told you the Backstreet Boys sucked? Would you agree? So it's not really fair to despise an attitude that we all have, in some way, encountered. This having been said, I really don't care for the band. I just simply don't like the music. I can recognize that they have talent, but I'm not into it.

Very nice tutorial. I have just started working with Photoshop recently and your tutorials are very well explained and very effective.Keep up the good work.

You do realize you effectively double-posted in one post.

Blender is only a 3-D modelling and animation tool. You'll be able to make your 3d models with Blender (and animate and render them) but you can't build a game with it.Based on some of the functions in Game Maker 6.1, you could import the models you make in Blender (so it won't look so much like a Game Maker 3d game), but your best bet is to use darkbasic or Blitz3D or the Torque3D engine. Blitz and Torque are ~$100, which is cheap considering what you want to do (and how much work you won't have to do if you buy either). darkbasic will more than likely take some time to get used to (especially if you don't have any programming experience), but it is powerful and cheap.

Sorry, accidentally left this part of your post out when I responded. FedEx does this as well as UPS. The USPS, however, does not (if I remember correctly).

I worked for a private mailing store (like Mailboxes Etc, except privately owned) for almost two years. I have plenty of experience with almost every single shipping possibility or method. Actually, you can require a signature with USPS, UPS, or FedEx. It costs a few dollars extra with USPS, whereas UPS and FedEx are not much at all. UPS also has this feature. Each time a UPS label is printed, it is automatically assigned an electronic tracking number. You can track any package by going to https://www.ups.com/ . This is because the FedEx main headquarters is based in Memphis, Tennessee. All packages shipped via FedEx first arrive in Tennessee and are then re-routed to their destination. You would think that this method would be very time consuming and really not necessary, but FedEx Air service (overnight, 2 day, and 3 day guaranteed delivery times) is way more reliable than UPS's. UPS only charges ~$1 for every $100 of insurance that you purchase above $100 (up to $5000). I don't see why you would take a chance with something over $100. It won't save you money if the package is damaged. UPS's software and customer service is generally more efficient and productive than FedEx's. UPS's ground shipping service is much more reliable than FedEx's ground shipping service. FedEx's Air service is cheaper than UPS's. UPS's ground service is SLIGHTLY more expensive than FedEx's (by only a few cents), but it is more reliable. Bottom line: When shipping something, pay someone else to pack it. Buy the correct amount of insurance for the package. For overnight, 2-day, or 3-day shipping, use FedEx. For standard ground shipping, use UPS. Use the post office for letters and bills only or you will hate your life (ESPECIALLY if a package is damaged and you file a claim). Trust me.

I just don't think that ignorance to the world, whether for the purpose to prevent depression or otherwise, should be encouraged. That's the gist of what I wanted to say. In response to your comments on violence versus ratings: you are spot on. As I began to read your agreement with what I had initially commented, I thought the same thing, then I read it from your post, so that's one less subject I have to type out. Yes, I agree. Society doesn't matter anymore -- ratings (i.e. - money) is what matters.

Depends on what you're attempting to make.

While lacking certain artistic skills may prevent you from making a few categories of art, it won't prevent you from being proficient in Photoshop. Personally, I can't draw hardly ANYTHING. But, with a pretty reasonable knowledge of Photoshop and/or Fireworks, I can make a whole lot of good looking and useful works of art. You shouldn't let your lack of a certain skill stop you. Instead, work around it if it is impossible for you to overcome it, and utilize different aspects that will help you achieve nearly the same goal.

You could even omit the Javascript with the function by using the command right from the button: <input type="button" value="Print Page!" onclick="window.print()" />

Ahhhh.. I remember when my brother got a Sony Playstation. That was some time ago, wow.. a LONG time ago. I feel so old, and I'm not really that old whatsoever. Heh, Mortal Kombat on the Playstation, good times. Aslo, I think I remember a game called Warhawk? Not sure exactly. That game was cool. I also remember Jet Moto, and the beloved Demo Disc that my brother had that contained perhaps a handful of PS1 game demos. I remember the Die Hard game demo on that demo disc. It was hard.

You can try Game Maker 6.0. While its focus is primarily 2-Dimensional games, it has quite a lot of 3-D functions that can help you create a simple game in maybe a couple hours (which isn't bad at all). The only downside to this from your perspective is there is an ~$20 registration fee. http://www.ambrosine.com/resource.html The link above should show you some tools to get you started, not all of the tools listed on that page are free.

Answers:1. To my knowledge: no. Macromedia owns all intellectual copyrights for Flash and the creation of such a program (without Macromedia's consent) would violate those copyrights. It would definitely be possible for Macromedia to allow a third party to develop such a program (or even develop one themselves, though that is unlikely), however, as I stated before, to my knowledge they have not done this. 3. ActionScript 2.0. Again, this is Macromedia property, so unless you developed some sort of compiler and made your own language, I wouldn't try messing with theirs. In Flash, the timeline really isn't COMPLETELY necessary to make games. ActionScript, while also completely optional, can control many, MANY aspects of the events that occur within a movie or, in this case, a game. It could very well be possible to make a cool game with ActionScript and have only one or two frames used on the timeline. It has been done. Since ActionScript is pretty much a simple language to learn over time, compared to say, C++, with some dedication you should be making games sooner than you might think. If you are concerned with money issues, let me go ahead and say that you're out of luck if you want to create Flash games. There are student discounts available which can take a nice chunk out of the original retail price for a Flash MX license. However, if that is still too costly, you might as well invest your time into something cheaper or even free. Flash, while cool, can quickly become the least ideal platform to use when developing a game.

While no one can force you to keep up with current events, I would highly, HIGHLY suggest that you do so. Not only will you gain a better understanding of the world and be able to make important decisions later on in your life, but you will be able to exercise your mind and gain other points of view by having discussions regarding what's happening in the world. While it's nearly impossible to shut yourself away from the world and its happenings, you shouldn't strive to make that achievement. Inspired: I agree with your comments. Especially about the media desensitizing the public with disturbing and morbid news stories rather than positive and uplifting ones. Turn on the news in the evening and what do you see? Three or four stories about robbery, murder, or other crimes, and maybe one or (though it is unlikely) two stories about the community or a new program at the local school. The media, it seems, would rather frigthen the public than inspire it. I watched "Bowling for Columbine" a month or so ago, and I must say that this is, quite frankly, THE ONLY point with which I agree with Michael Moore (but we won't get into that here). I had somewhat wondered about this issue but his presentation really put it into perspective.