20th April 2019, 10:45 PM
(This post was last modified: 20th April 2019, 11:23 PM by bls1999. Edited 1 time in total.)
Ah, flash. My old friend.
For those who don't know what it is, Adobe Flash Player (also known as Shockwave Flash) is a virtual environment plug-in and standalone program designed to make running rich applications easy across different platforms (including both web and local machine support).
There are some really great perks of flash:
- ActionScript is really easy to learn and use. ActionScript (or AS) is the programming language that powers flash. AS2 is a lot like JavaScript, and AS3 is a lot like object-oriented JavaScript.
- It's great for indie designers/developers. Flash has been a great medium for creativity. Countless masterpieces have come out of the platform from people with little or no professional experience when they started (such as the Platform Racing series).
- It's versatile. There are many possibilities with flash development, such as things as complex as full-blown mobile apps, or something as simple as some floaty bubbles that sit on top of a website.
While flash was the popular method of sharing your creations starting near the turn of the century through about 2012, it has significantly declined since then. I'm sure by now you've heard that Adobe Flash Player will be losing support on Dec. 31, 2020. Why? What does this mean?
Over the years, flash has been plagued with countless issues. Even Jiggmin has grown to hate it...
...and with good cause. There are a lot of reasons to ditch flash:
- Security is almost non-existent. Bad guys can make flash files with malware attached that executes on your machine just by opening the file in your browser. This article has more useful information.
- Your code is not secure and can be manipulated or changed. Anyone can see your code using a decompiler, and some programs even have the ability to change it. If you really know what you're doing, you can even get past obfuscation (jumbling the code) and encryption (locking it so only machines can see it). Trying to prevent this in situations like highscore submission reminds me of that movie "Us"; anything a developer does can easily be changed/bypassed and recompiled by someone with access to the tools that allow them to change the code.
- It's not a native program. Despite having support across multiple platforms, flash requires installation of a plug-in or standalone application. The most notorious example of a platform that does not support flash is iOS (iPhones/iPads/iPod Touches).
So what does this mean for this site when flash loses support on Dec. 31, 2020? Well, the games on the front page won't be playable in your browser anymore; however, this won't prevent them from being played on your local machine with the standalone Adobe Flash program. I'll provide more information on this when the time comes.
A long-term goal I have between now and when flash loses support is to convert the more simple games to JavaScript. While this doesn't solve the problem of being able to view and manipulate the code client-side, this will allow them to be played on all platforms that support JavaScript (including iOS and all modern browsers). I'd also like to get some of the newer games Jiggmin made for flash working before I try to convert those (e.g. Volly-Bounce, Creation, War of the Web).
I'll have more time over the summer to devote to the development of this site, rehabilitation of old games, and conversion from AS to JavaScript. All of this is on hold until the end of the semester; until then, I'll be focusing primarily on schoolwork, and of course JV/PR2 in my free time.
For those who don't know what it is, Adobe Flash Player (also known as Shockwave Flash) is a virtual environment plug-in and standalone program designed to make running rich applications easy across different platforms (including both web and local machine support).
There are some really great perks of flash:
- ActionScript is really easy to learn and use. ActionScript (or AS) is the programming language that powers flash. AS2 is a lot like JavaScript, and AS3 is a lot like object-oriented JavaScript.
- It's great for indie designers/developers. Flash has been a great medium for creativity. Countless masterpieces have come out of the platform from people with little or no professional experience when they started (such as the Platform Racing series).
- It's versatile. There are many possibilities with flash development, such as things as complex as full-blown mobile apps, or something as simple as some floaty bubbles that sit on top of a website.
While flash was the popular method of sharing your creations starting near the turn of the century through about 2012, it has significantly declined since then. I'm sure by now you've heard that Adobe Flash Player will be losing support on Dec. 31, 2020. Why? What does this mean?
Over the years, flash has been plagued with countless issues. Even Jiggmin has grown to hate it...
(31st March 2012, 2:01 AM)Jiggmin Wrote:Before running off and making something with a 4 in it, I'd like to see how possible it is to develop a game in javascript instead of flash. (Flash is a sinking ship...)
...and with good cause. There are a lot of reasons to ditch flash:
- Security is almost non-existent. Bad guys can make flash files with malware attached that executes on your machine just by opening the file in your browser. This article has more useful information.
- Your code is not secure and can be manipulated or changed. Anyone can see your code using a decompiler, and some programs even have the ability to change it. If you really know what you're doing, you can even get past obfuscation (jumbling the code) and encryption (locking it so only machines can see it). Trying to prevent this in situations like highscore submission reminds me of that movie "Us"; anything a developer does can easily be changed/bypassed and recompiled by someone with access to the tools that allow them to change the code.
- It's not a native program. Despite having support across multiple platforms, flash requires installation of a plug-in or standalone application. The most notorious example of a platform that does not support flash is iOS (iPhones/iPads/iPod Touches).
So what does this mean for this site when flash loses support on Dec. 31, 2020? Well, the games on the front page won't be playable in your browser anymore; however, this won't prevent them from being played on your local machine with the standalone Adobe Flash program. I'll provide more information on this when the time comes.
A long-term goal I have between now and when flash loses support is to convert the more simple games to JavaScript. While this doesn't solve the problem of being able to view and manipulate the code client-side, this will allow them to be played on all platforms that support JavaScript (including iOS and all modern browsers). I'd also like to get some of the newer games Jiggmin made for flash working before I try to convert those (e.g. Volly-Bounce, Creation, War of the Web).
I'll have more time over the summer to devote to the development of this site, rehabilitation of old games, and conversion from AS to JavaScript. All of this is on hold until the end of the semester; until then, I'll be focusing primarily on schoolwork, and of course JV/PR2 in my free time.
