Half an Hour, Flash/haXe Jumpstart

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SoCoder -> Article Home -> Coding Basics

Jayenkai	Created : 27 August 2008 Edited : 27 August 2008 Language : FastBasic Half an Hour, Flash/haXe Jumpstart Make things in code, that run in flash!
You know you've always wanted to do it.. import flash.MovieClip; class Test { public var buffer: MovieClip; public var GameTick: Int; static function main() { new Test(); } public function new () { buffer = flash.Lib._root.createEmptyMovieClip ("container", 0); buffer.onEnterFrame = mainLoop; buffer.focus (); GameTick=0; } private function mainLoop(): Void { GameTick+=1; buffer.clear(); var mx=buffer._xmouse; var my=buffer._ymouse; buffer.lineStyle(1, 0x000000, 100); buffer.moveTo(mx,my); buffer.lineTo(100,50); buffer.lineTo(100,100); buffer.moveTo(Math.random()200,Math.random()200); buffer.lineTo(Math.random()200,Math.random()200); } } --v = this... Now you can. haXe is a lovely new language that allows you to compile to flash! Code, Compile, Sorted! Took me a while to get everything working right, though, so I thought I'd make a nice Jumpstart to get everyone else into it a bit quicker. (And also to remind myself how I did it, once everything goes horribly horribly wrong!) Step 1 : Download haXe itself, and FlashDevelop IDE For future (Oh no, all the updates have caused it to break) reference, the versions I used were.. Note, you'll have to download FlashDevelop IDE 2.0.2, because the 3.x.x ones don't work! Step 2 : Install Install the two files you just downloaded. You'd think that'd be it, but it's not! Open up Command Prompt, and shove in the following.. haxelib install haxefd which installs the FD(FlashDevelop)->haXe stuff. and then haxelib run haxefd "c:\program files\flashdevelop" (assuming you used the default install path) to do some more install stuff. shrugs With that, you're ready to make your first project! Woot! Step 3 : CasESenSiTivitY's AnNoyIng Open up FD Menu - haXe, New Project Name your project. Now, at this point, you might want to write down a few bits of this, or something like that, because when you flip back out of FD the damn window closes on you! Let's continue.. Menu - View, haXe Files (Alternatively, you should have 2 tabs on the left.. hover over the one that says haXe Sources to pop it out.) Rightclick the Project name, New - File. Name it. Note : This is really annoyingly case sensitive. I'm 99% certain that the first letter must be a capital letter! (Didn't seem to work, otherwise!) Menu - View, haXe Project (Or again, hover over the tab) Rightclick the topmost project thingy, and Add Target. Name it, then click on it to bring up it's properties below. Make it a flash, ignore most of the rest of the boxes, except.. Class open the file you just created. Tick the Call main Function box. Sorted. That's pretty much your first project ready and raring to go. But first, we need to put some code in it! Step 4 : Put some code in it! Your main window should now hold your project's .hx file. import flash.MovieClip; // This is the Movie.. // We must import it, otherwise everything gets baffled! class TheProj { // <-- This class name should be the exact same name as your file. // Ensure the first letter's a capital! public var buffer: MovieClip; // Buffer will be a Movie Clip. public var GameTick: Int; // Always handy to have a counter! public var mx: Float; // Mouse Co-ords. public var my: Float; // We'll set these later. static function main() { // This function is called when the program starts. (It's that "Call main() function" checkbox you checked in the parameters.) new TheProj(); // Ensure you get the class name right // This then calls the "new" function. } // \| // \| // v public function new () // The new function! { // Here, we setup what we need for our project. // First off, we make a nice blank Movie Clip, and stick it into buffer. // We can use this to draw stuff onto! buffer = flash.Lib._root.createEmptyMovieClip ("container", 0); // Set the focus to our buffer. buffer.focus (); // Reset the GameTick GameTick=0; // And tell it that every new frame, it should go to mainLoop. buffer.onEnterFrame = mainLoop; // \| } // \| // \| // \| private function mainLoop(): Void // <----------------/ { // This is called every frame, so this is where the game goes.. // Keep the tick ticking. GameTick+=1; // CLS buffer.clear(); // Shove the mouse co-ords into mx and my. mx=buffer._xmouse; my=buffer._ymouse; // Note, these are FLOATS, not ints.. // But they do rescale as the window does. // So, if the game's 320x240, but being played in a 640x480 window, // it's still going to return 0->319 and 0->239 // Great! // lineStyle ( Thickness, 0xRRGGBB, Alpha (0-100) ) buffer.lineStyle(1, 0x000000, 100); buffer.moveTo(mx,my); // Move drawing pointer to.. buffer.lineTo(50,50); // Then draw a line to... buffer.lineTo(100,100); // And again.. buffer.moveTo(Math.random()320,Math.random()240); buffer.lineTo(Math.random()320,Math.random()240); } } --v Shove it in, have a read, and don't forget to change the class names to what you saved yours as. Press F8 to compile it, then F5 to run it. Step 5 : Extra Parameters Open up the properties for the project again (The project tab) Down at the bottom of the tab, there should be an Extra Parameters section. Place the following in there. -swf-header 320:240:30:FFFFFF This will set up the program to run at 320x240, 30fps, and with a white border. F8, F5, Test, Be happy! If you're not happy, let me know below! If I bother continuing with this, and actually bother to make Jumpstart - Part 2, it'll be all about struggling to get some sprites onscreen

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Tuesday, 09 September 2008, 22:22
Evil Roy Ferguso	Flash development was something I had always (well, relatively) been interested in, but I found the development environment rather intimidating for a variety of reasons. After having read this, I played around with haXe for a little bit and am finding it quite a lot more like what I prefer to work with, and the quickstart did help -- thank you for writing this.

Half an Hour, Flash/haXe Jumpstart

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