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‘Techie’
If you have basic knowledge of Adobe Flash but do not have time to master the more complex elements of the software and still want to learn how to create great games then this book really does the job well. Gary Rosenzweig’s book is straight forward and explains everything clearly and in an interesting way. The book is very pedagogical and goes through the essentials step-by-step and covers a range of different games and activities that can be mdofied and used in the classroom for example:
- Jigsaws
- Paddle and Racing games
- Memory activities
- Platform games
- Drag & Drop
- and many many other
Gary Rosenzweig has recently come out with a new book ActionScript 3.0 Game Programming University which is a superb addition to the keen Flash enthusiast. His website is also a brilliant resource to take your Flash skills further.
There are other great books on creating Flash Games which are equally useful. Some of these are more complex for the beginner but they do provide the reader with outstanding files which easily can be tweaked to suit your own classes. For example:
Macromedia Flash Professional 8 Game Development with CD-ROM by Glen Rhodes : although you would benefit from reading Rosenzweig’s book before tackling this one, G. Rhodes’ book on developing games in Flash does go through the basics of ActionScripting and the files you get are excellent!
Nintendo Wii Flash Game Creator’s Guide: Design, Develop, and Share Your Games Online : this is a cheap, fun book which shows you how to create games which you can play on the Nintendo Wii – excellent idea!
There are so many books on flash gaming out there but these really move you in the right direction if you wish to develop games for your own students.
