Just Starting! [where to start to learn flash for game design]

[sjohnson243]

Hi all, I'm looking to learn programming, I would like to try my hand at starting making flash games, and hopefully moving on to bigger ones, once I get some of the programming basics down. I have a book, beginning .NET programming in C#. It assumes a higher level of programming knowledge than I have, it is just beginning in applying it to game programming =)

Any advice on where to start to learn flash for game design? I have been doing a google on "Flash CS3 Tutorials" But its really hit or miss.. Could someone suggest a good site, or book on the subject?

Thanks

[Maupin]

I suggest learning Python when it comes to programming basics. It's a free multi-platform language with a very easy-to-read syntax. And there's an SDL wrapper called Pygame that allows you to make 2D games with Python easily. It's what I used for Natto-Cat.

I'm just getting into Flash myself. The only book I bought was Beginning Flash Game Programming For Dummies, and it wasn't much help at all. Don't be tricked by the Amazon.com reviews like I was.

[svero]

You might also want to check out Haxe. as an alternative to using actionscript directly.

www.haxe.org

Theres also some "pay for" tutorial places. I've never viewed these so I cant vouch for their quality.. but stuff like..

http://www.cartoonsmart.com/gaming_index.html

[svero]

Also check this out...

http://movielibrary.lynda.com/html/modPage.asp?ID=423

I've done a few of the courses at Lynda, (not this particular one) but I've always found the quality to be quite good. It's a good site for jumpstarting you on new multimedia apps.

[xelanoimis]

Here is a programming book I wrote for very beginners:
http://www.simion.co.uk/gs9

GS9 is a scripting language very similar to C/C++, but much simpler.
The book's main target are people with no programming experience at all,
who want to use the scripting of my game engine, DizzyAGE.
It has basic examples and a easy to use console application,
to try the code presented in the book.

A lot of effort was put into the book, so it can be easy to understand by non-programmers.
So, I think it's a good place to start, if you want to learn programming.

Don't worry about learning to programm in a not common language, like the GS9.
It's better to start with something easy and, once you got the basics,
you can easy move to more advanced languages, like C/C++.

If you're interested in DizzyAGE, visit the official website:
http://www.yolkfolk.com/dizzyage

Good luck!