Android Game Development - Creating Android Games Using Flash CS5

If you're interested in creating Android games using Flash CS5, then check out Lynda.com's Flash Professional CS5: Creating a Simple Game for Android Devices video training course. This course on creating Android games will show you how to translate your existing Flash skills so that you can use them to design a game in Flash and publish it as an AIR for Android app. By the end of the course, you will have learned the following game concepts: collision detection, random enemy creation and movement, shooting capabilities, creating multiple levels, and displaying high scores.

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This course also goes beyond game functionality and shows you how to incorporate the use of mobile device capabilities such as the accelerometer and gestures to control graphics, and the hardware keys to activate menus. You'll also learn how to optimize your game so that it plays well on mobile devices. Once you've designed and created your own Android game using the skills you've learned from this course, you'll probably want to distribute it through the Android Market; this course will teach you that as well.

This training course consists of a total of 3 hours and 35 minutes worth of video divided into different chapters. You'll be viewing clearly presented video recordings of the author showing you how to create the Android game. No need to go through long pages of text, and best of all, you'll see exactly what's happening on the author's screen so that you can easily follow along.

Here are a couple of sample videos from the course that will give you a better idea of the kind of game that you will be creating:

Introduction - Flash Professional CS5: Creating a Simple Game for Android Devices

Adding code snippets - Flash CS5: Creating a Simple Game for Android Devices

This video talks about Flash CS5's handy feature known as code snippets. Code snippets are pre-made customizable code that you can easily add to your project.

Adding elements of randomness and chance to your game - Flash Professional CS5: Creating a Simple Game for Android Devices

This video will show you how to create an element of chance when generating the number of enemies that come up in your game. You'll also learn how to randomize the movement of these enemy characters.

Using the accelerometer to enable the user to move the game character by tilting the device - Flash Professional CS5: Creating a Simple Game for Android Devices

This video will show you how to use the AS3 Accelerometer class in order to take advantage of an Android device's accelerometer sensor, which detects if the device is being tilted by the user, so that it can be used to make the character move.


If you liked the sample videos, then go ahead and sign up for a Lynda.com membership to view the entire course. For $25, you get 1-month unlimited access to not just this training course, but all of Lynda.com's 900+ training courses. No long-term commitment required. You can cancel your membership at any time. And as a special promotion for visitors of this site, you can get a Free 10 day pass to lynda.com. Go ahead and see for yourself what a great learning resource this website is.

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Here's a more detailed outline of the course:

Title: Flash Professional CS5: Creating a Simple Game for Android Devices
Author: Paul Trani
Duration: 3hrs 35mins
Date of Release: 15 February 2011

Chapter 1: Introduction to Mobile
Understanding the user
Flash content on Android devices

Chapter 2: Mobile Game Setup
Reviewing the game
Creating a file in Device Central
Reviewing the game structure
Adding code snippets

Chapter 3: Basic Game Movement
Animating the intro screen
Moving the player
Adding enemies
Adding movement
Adding chance and randomness

Chapter 4: Advanced Interactivity
Adding lasers
Detecting collisions
Adding explosions
Removing assets from the stage
Adding audio

Chapter 5: Scoring
Adding scoring and levels
Subtracting lives and ending the game
Creating a results screen
Displaying the score
Saving and loading game results

Chapter 6: Mobile-Specific Functionality
Detecting movement with the Accelerometer
Using the swipe gesture
Using hardware keys

Chapter 7: Optimizing for Mobile Devices
Handling exits and idle mode
Handling activation and deactivation
Optimizing graphics
Optimizing ActionScript

Chapter 8: Publishing
Creating the application files
Creating the app (Mac)
Creating the app (PC)
Publishing to an Android device (Mac)
Publishing to an Android device (PC)

Chapter 9: Uploading to the Android Market
Uploading to the Android market
Downloading from the Android market

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So if you want to start learning about Android game development so you can start creating your own Android games, then sign up for Lynda.com's Flash Professional CS5: Creating a Simple Game for Android Devices training course.