(Ok, so the post editor in Wordpress is still playing up, so apologies if this is formatted oddly)
I have installed and played with Emanuele Feronato’s WP-Mochi plugin/theme and you can see the results by clicking the banner above.
It still needs tweaking, and I’ll get back to you with a proper post on it soonish :)
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This is a lengthy tutorial about HTML basics.
Prepare yourself.
Origin
HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language. That means that it’s text with uncanny abilities to manipulate time and space, and present to you web pages. It’s based on a tag system, like XML. Obviously, you don’t see these tags everywhere; they represent content that your browser shows [...]

Colour by adotjdotsmith, on Flickr.
We’ve all been there, haven’t we?
The need to develop, but no idea where to start. Idea count down in the region of times I’ve successfully run cross country without complaining (For those who even pondered that for a second, that’s approximately… none), and you don’t know what to do about it.
Well, if you’ve stumbled across this post through a search engine, you’ve started right. Research is a great way to get ideas and get out of a creative slump.
If the next time you open flash, you end up staring at a blank stage for 10 minutes, close it again. Open up your browser of choice, and surf on over to one of the larger games portals. Have a look at what’s doing well right now, as well as looking at the brand new submissions. You’re bound to find a feature, gameplay element, idea amongst them that you think you could apply to a new game. (Note: Don’t outright copy games, but developing on ideas they’ve touched upon is a great way to start a new game)
If you can’t find anything here, why not check out some retro games? They can often be addictive, fun and easily portable to Flash.
Also, try checking out some independant developer sites (Hey look, you’re doing that now!) and read some game development blogs (You’re doing that too, good job!). A good place to start with searching for new Flash blogs to read would be FlashGameBlogs (Another brainchild of the FGL team)
Of couse, if these ideas dont’ manage to get you out of your slump, try this:
Close your eyes, mash the keyboard and cross your fingers. It’s better than doing nothing ;)

Rails by FrozenHaddock, see more on Flickr
Many apologies for the severe lack of content here recently. I can assure you, I’m not dead.
To start with, I was merely a lazy teenager recently discovering *gulp* actual social interaction and taking exams, then general Meatspace issues interfered with my access to a computer with a copy of Flash.
However, I have computer access now (Admittedly still no Flash, but I’m hoping to return to my trusty home machine soon) and I intend to get the blog moving again! I’m sure I own enough creativity to write without a copy of Flash for now… :)
Thanks to the forum-dwellers for keeping it alive in my absence, even though we had an attack of spam. You guys rock.
This post does’t have much interesting, so I’ll leave you with one of my photographs for now. It’s a habit I’ve gotten from my personal blog, and I like the effect. I’ll try and include at least one relevant image with each post from now on, though as this doesn’t have much of a theme to it, I raided my Flickr account. I hope you don’t mind.
- Tom, Frozenhaddock Admin
Remember playing Pandemic 2? Remember sitting there watching the Earth crumble before your mighty infecting powers? Remember buying a new keyboard after you hit the last one too hard after Madagascar closed it’s ports for the 50th time that night?
Well one person sure does.
Ben Forbes: Singer songwriter, friend of mine and nerd.
His latest song to be released online is all about Madagascar and their pesky ports… go and have a listen!
Anyone else know of any flash-inspired music?
The latest post at MichaelJWilliams’ blog brings his AS3 Avoiding game tutorial to an end with part 12 …or does it?
This final segment details garbage collection, the nitty gritty part of game development that’s important to you, but doesn’t bother the players that much, until they notice the lag that inevitably comes from leaving each of those enemies onstage…
Anywho, it’s a must-read and a nice tie-up-the-loose ends post, and this series of tutorials is once of the best out there.
Now, why may it not be coming to an end?
Myself and Michael shall shortly be launching a new site geared around the wonderful Avoiding game, hosting both our tutorials amongst other things, and we’d love for you to get involved! Perhaps you have an avoiding game you’ve written and want to show it off, or you want to share the secrets to that interesting feature you’ve worked in, throw us an email or hit me up in the comments for this post and we’ll get back to you. Stay tuned for more information :)
Here we go, another interesting instalment in MichaelJWilliams’ AS3 Avoiding game tutorial, part 11, covers saving and loading shared objects in AS3. Handy for keeping highscores, level progress and stats. Make sure you check it out!
You may or may not recall, a long time ago, I wrote a tutorial on how you could create a button mashing game in AS2. (Yes, I also promised more parts to it and didn’t deliver, eep!) And a little while ago, someone commented asking for an AS3 conversion.
Now, I’m still not confident enough with AS3 to go writing game engine tutorials with it, so I leapt over to the forum and asked if anyone there would take on the challenge.
Luckily for me, HiddenSpartan did, and has very nicely allowed me to post it up here on the blog.
You can grab the source at HiddenSpartan’s DeviantART page, here, or download it from FH, here. Remember to give credit if you use it!
Now, you’ll have to bear with me on this one, (I’m still learning AS3 too) but I may well have an AS3 tutorial for you today!
Let’s learn how to listen for keys, and how to react to keyboard input. In this example, how to move a player when the user hits the cursor/WASD keys. (Which I have shown you before in AS2)
I’ll be putting all of this code on the frame (Sorry strict AS3 writers, but for now, it’s frame coding for me!), I will however place the character from the library, leaving nothing on the stage.[...]
Today marks the release of FGL’s new developer service GameTracker, an API designed to track how players actually play your game. Can’t get better feedback than the way they play itself can you?
Intended for use with rough tracking and important events, now you can find out how people play. Ever wanted to know if anyone finishes your game? Which level people get stuck on and give up with? Which important collectable they continually miss? Now you can!
Currently only in Alpha, and AS3, the API is expected to change dramatically, and AS2 support is planned.
For more information, check out the FGL Forums announcement here (You will require an account, and an uploaded game to view this board.)

