Best place to start?

[xPreatorianx]

Where is the best place to start in order to get fully acquainted with flash? Specifically in areas for making games such as the one's made by Gorepete? You know hack and slash titles? I know there's tutorials here but are there any other places you all would recommend in order to learn Flash? I have Photoshop, the latest Adobe flash, etc. I just need some guidance on where to begin as the entire program looks like gibberish to me. I don't even know how to open up an existing project and go to the coding section so I can just tinker around.

[BlueLight]

I believe under file on the task bar, there will be a options to open a existing project.
I would attempt to help you but my computer with flash has some corrupt system files.

[OwnerOfSuccuby]

What is flash:
1)You draw or import some thing.
2)You animate it.
3)You code it.

Try to look tutorials there - there are a lot of good animators who write about it. It just needs practice.

I am not the best with 1) and 2) - but can talk about 3) a little

For example tutorial about simple coding:
viewtopic.php?f=29&t=2370

And to make some thing you have to know basics of 1) / 2) / 3) - may be i write 3) a little to detailed so do not scare if you read my tutorial that it is to long

But more important you need to have some idea and wish to make it. Then may be 1) 2) 3) will not be even so important

And with ideas and motivation i always have problems too so i can not tell more about it

[GoRepeat]

There are a lot of good video tutorials at Kup and Newgrounds. Google "Flash Platform Game" and you will probably find a bunch. Almost all of my games are modified from the same basic platform concept.

In order of importance, I would learn (in AS2):
1) How to make a movie clip
2) How to reference a movie clip
3) How to animate the clip on the timeline
4) How to embed movie clips in each other
5) How to manipulate the movie clip around the stage with code (_x, _y, _alpha)
6) How to use If/Then/Else statements
7) How to use onKey commands

^ those are the absolute basics that cover enough knowledge to make a decent game. As OoS said, Draw something (1,2), Animate it (3,4,5), Code it (6,7). If you want to try to jump in, you can always go download one of my .FLAs from the big thread of stuff in the creative corner. Grab the game you are trying to make and just look at how I set things up and try to learn by breaking stuff.

[KaTsuO_O]

I would really recommend that you start out with making a maze game, one where move your cursor through a path and are not allowed to hit the walls. It may not sound like much at all, but it is so good to start with it if you have no idea of how anything works.

I looked a bit and found this tutorial, it isn't that great, but it is one of the better ones.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4S2eebJTWJQ

When you open Flash, you need to click on Actionscript 2.0 Document, then you should be able to follow the tutorial.

[xPreatorianx]

Thanks for all the suggestions and sorry I haven't replied sooner. I will look at everything you guys linked too and start my "education."

@Gorepete = Ahh the coding part isn't going to be a problem. I've got decent experience with various languages. C#, VB, C, etc. So something as basic as If/Then/Else is pretty much a no brainer. But from what I understand of flash so far it seems like everything is designed as an "interactive movie." Which is something completely foreign to me. I've never tried anything that started with animating and then coding last. Coding came first, then the design work after you had a basic game going.

So starting with the graphics and then moving on to the coding is going to be a new one for me.

[IrrelevantComment]

oding came first, then the design work after you had a basic game going.

So starting with the graphics and then moving on to the coding is going to be a new one for me.

So long as you stick to AS3, you can still start with coding. I know I do.

[Shinji62]

This is a video that explains the basics of the programs and how some of the functions work. I'm currently learning how to use flash as well, and it's helped me a lot. Flash is by far the most confusing program I've ever tried to learn though. A lot of it makes no sense, especially compared to Photoshop. As a lot of the shortcuts are different in each program.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHtoFwHh38Q

[Dragon42]

If you want to try to jump in, you can always go download one of my .FLAs from the big thread of stuff in the creative corner. Grab the game you are trying to make and just look at how I set things up and try to learn by breaking stuff.

Lets say I wanted to try my hands at a Dusty's V2...what software did you use making the game? I want to make sure I have all the tools before I try breaking things.

Also, you wouldn't object to such a project, would you?

[IrrelevantComment]

If you want to try to jump in, you can always go download one of my .FLAs from the big thread of stuff in the creative corner. Grab the game you are trying to make and just look at how I set things up and try to learn by breaking stuff.

Lets say I wanted to try my hands at a Dusty's V2...what software did you use making the game? I want to make sure I have all the tools before I try breaking things.

Also, you wouldn't object to such a project, would you?

To open an .fla file, you need a version of Flash Professional that is as recent or more recent than the version that was used to create the .fla (just get CS6 if you can). Flash is quite expensive, but you can download a month trial or torrent the full thing. [Mods: I forget the rules on this. I'm allowed to suggest torrents so long as I don't link to them, right?]

That's all the software you need. There are other tools that can help such as FlashDevelop, but that's only useful if you are developing separate actionscript files.

And the link to the download page is here: http://www.legendofkrystal.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=3131

[Dragon42]

So it looks like CS6 with Flash Professional runs about $1900 new. That's alot of $$$. I assume this has everything needed to do the art, animations, and scripting for a game like this? What tools were used specifically for Dusty's? I haven't done art on a computer before, so I expect a learning curve, but I want to make sure I am learning the right tools.

Also, are there options for getting CS6 used...like on Ebay or something...that might be cheaper?

[GoRepeat]

If you want to try to jump in, you can always go download one of my .FLAs from the big thread of stuff in the creative corner. Grab the game you are trying to make and just look at how I set things up and try to learn by breaking stuff.

Lets say I wanted to try my hands at a Dusty's V2...what software did you use making the game? I want to make sure I have all the tools before I try breaking things.

Also, you wouldn't object to such a project, would you?

Nope, go nuts. Just remove my name and logo from it. I think I was using CS5.5 when I made Dusty... either that or CS6. I could probably backdate the FLA to CS4 or whatever version of flash you wanted to use. Just let me know.