Stick with Flash/AS3 or move to HTML5
- Thread starter TidyWorks
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If you can program in HTML5 lets move, I think it's becoming mainstream in places now.
Soldato
HTML 5 all the way. Flash is ONLY good for browser games now.
Caporegime
Sorry to resurrect this but I've been reading some topics on this subject, i.e. to what extent HTML 5 will be able to replace Flash, and I'm confused. Stop me if I've misunderstood anything as I'm a complete noob...
Flash allows you to draw things and then make actions happen to those things using action script. Iirc (it's been a while) you can do this within a very user-friendly GUI and relatively little code, making things nice and easier for a designer. With HTML 5, you design in sentences, which doesn't suit everyone. Yes you can embed videos and animate drawings jscript. However you need CSS also. So that's 3 languages you need whereas with Flash, you just need to be handy with frames and the pen tool and learn action script. (Though I suppose there aren't many action script people that don't know CSS also).
So: HTML 5 vs. Flash...is it still true that "Flash is ONLY good for browser games now"?
Flash allows you to draw things and then make actions happen to those things using action script. Iirc (it's been a while) you can do this within a very user-friendly GUI and relatively little code, making things nice and easier for a designer. With HTML 5, you design in sentences, which doesn't suit everyone. Yes you can embed videos and animate drawings jscript. However you need CSS also. So that's 3 languages you need whereas with Flash, you just need to be handy with frames and the pen tool and learn action script. (Though I suppose there aren't many action script people that don't know CSS also).
So: HTML 5 vs. Flash...is it still true that "Flash is ONLY good for browser games now"?
No it is not true. HTML5 does not support DRM which is a massive issue when building VOD sites. For this reason flash will be around for a while longer. For video playback, flash is very much still the king.
As for flash being good for browser based games, well HTML5 versions of doom and quake have been released. I personally think flash has peaked and is dying a slow death, where as HTML5 has only just got going.
As for flash being good for browser based games, well HTML5 versions of doom and quake have been released. I personally think flash has peaked and is dying a slow death, where as HTML5 has only just got going.
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I hate sites that need plugins now. They are a pain in the butt! We need to go with CSS and html5 for the future.
Die flash, java, shockwave & silverlight.
Die flash, java, shockwave & silverlight.
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I'd say that most companies who develop games using Flash don't use Flash Pro, they use Flash Builder. Flash Builder, which is based on Eclipse, is an IDE specifically suited to building ActionScript applications. There's no drag-and-drop GUI, you get a code editor. The only relationship between Flash Builder and Flash Pro is that the end result is played back using Flash Player.
If you're developing a game with Flash, Flash Pro becomes quite cumbersome to use once you get past one or two scenes and a few buttons.
With HTML5, there are a few drag-and-drop GUI's you can use. The most prominent of which is Adobe Edge, Adobe's own HTML5 animation tool. It does a lot of the stuff that Flash Pro does, but not all. Although it's still in the alpha/tech preview stage, people are using it for actual production work, and there's even a game on the iOS App Store that was developed with it.
Personally though, if you want to build games with HTML5, you certainly want a code editor, of which there are many HTML/JavaScript/CSS ones out there.
It's also worth noting that you don't need CSS to do the animations. A lot of people use plain old JavaScript for it (Myself included), by either using or implementing their own tweening library. Although it's a good idea to mix them and/or switch to them when appropriate, as certain devices provide hardware acceleration for CSS3 transforms.
To answer your question ("Is Flash ONLY good for browser games now"), I'd say no, but that's pretty much the only thing it's being used for aside from video players, ala YouTube. HTML5 is still a ways behind in terms of capabilities, but you can still do some pretty impressive stuff with it, to the point where I think people should be asking "Can I do this using HTML5 instead of Flash" instead of sticking with what they know.
EDIT: I will say that one of the advantages of Flash Pro is that your artists and designers can animations quickly and easily, and export them as a swf. This makes it really easy for the coders to use the ready-made animation in ActionScript by importing the swf to the stage in code in Flash Builder.
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Soldato
Yes it is. Fair enough you VOD point is valid, however it is the exception, rather than the rule.
While it's possible to create animations using keyframes in Flash, it gives a much better level of control to do it in AS, not to mention allows for re-use of code and the use of various plugins. I'd also say that a good knowledge of HTML and CSS would be a requirement before learning anything with Flash, so your point about HTML5 requiring knowledge of multiple languages isn't as big a deal as you'd think.
You disagree with me, then agree with me. I'd like to add that the number of flash videos out there dwarves html5 ones, whether it be on youtube, bbc, sky or even your own portfolio site. The reality is legacy browser support is still a big issue and thats another reason why flash isnt confined to 'games only'.
Lets not forget google's browser support policy is current browser + 1 previous revision, yet they still choose to use flash - I am aware they do have a html5 version of youtube, but it's not the primary site.
I want flash to die out as much as the next person, but the reality is it's still many years away