http://www.smartwebby.com/Flash/Flash_simple_preloader.asp Does this seem like a good preloader guide to you?

I know it is simple, but it seems good as a start.

I guess it doesn't matter much since the preloader can always be changed easily.

Okay, here's a new file:
http://www.interguild.org/aeon/aeon_new.zip

It's the new, organized build, exported straight from Flash Builder (which really makes the file bigger than it has to be).

I also tried to use more conventional class packaging.

Classes in this build:
src.Aeon
src.gui.BtnRndGrad
src.gui.BtnRecSolid

and of course, aeon.fla

Also, I got rid of that interface idea since flash couldn't recognize the interface as a DisplayObject

Yeah... the file doesn't exist.

sorry forgot that it was in the aeon directory

Lol, I tested that and it worked, and was just about to edit the post when I noticed you already did it.

I forgot to explain the file structure:

when I say src.Aeon, that means that the file for the class Aeon is in the src package, as represented by the src folder.
gui is a package within the src package and is therefore a folder named gui within the src folder.

The package also has to be defined in the  

package {

  statement on top of each class. For example, this is the one for one of the Btn classes:  

package src.gui {

  

updated the file. now BtnRndGrad and BtnRecSolid extend a new class called Btn, which has two methods: moveTo and moveTo2

Just realized something - Is this code ganna be backwards compatible?

you mean compatible with older level codes? Hmm... probably not. I guess when we finish we might make be able to make a converter that will update the code, or we could just manually update them since it's not many levels.

Note: we need to change the way we use arrays throughout the game loop. It is unoptimized and very inefficient.

Here's what I mean.

Instead of doing this:
  

we should do this:
  
something like that. It's way faster

Isa, are you interested in some ebooks about AS3? Remember how the university gives me free access to this site of thousands of tech e-books? I could set up a VPN for you if you want so you can see them.

Yay for that! I'd be very interested. Don't take anything too advanced, though. As I said, I only know AS2, which helps me a bit, but I still need to learn a lot.

Thanks for the offer! You're way too kind.

alright I'll PM you about it in a wile. I currently have 11 books bookmarked. For learning AS3, I suggest Learning ActionScript 3.0: A Beginners Guide. I actually have the hard copy of that, and it's also great in teaching OOP.

Which site? Perhaps I've got access too.

http://proquest.safaribooksonline.com/

No, I can't access it. But I have found several other e-books about AS on Springerlink and ScienceDirect, so once I stop procrastinating I can give one of those books a try.

Nice, I don't need to reconnect to the VPN every time I want to read the book, which I was afraid I'd have to do. Now, I got it saved as a bookmark. I'm even signed in, so I can read other books on the same site.

I couldn't figure out how to save bookmarks of books to my account. I guess I can't b/c I'm running off of a public account, and it doesn't seem to help if I try to do a Personal Sign In. So I just save the URL's of individual pages in my Google Tasks

I just update aeon_new.zip

current class list:
src.Aeon
src.Page
src.HomePage extends Page
src.LevelPage extends Page
src.gui.Btn
src.gui.BtnRecSolid extends Btn
src.gui.BtnRndGrad extends Btn

And there's also an empty package called src.level

Now I'm starting to work on the new LevelPage. There are certain big changes going to be made:
(1) The LevelPage will manage the StartScreen, LevelArea, PauseScreen, and LevelEditor, all of which will be saved to the src.level package.
(2) The new level editor will run off of LevelArea. It will mainly be a user interface for changing stuff in the LevelArea. I've explained this somewhere else before, but the LevelArea will have to be able to perform any change at any time, whether it be moving an object, or changing the background, or changing the level dimensions. This of course, means that we could take advantage of these functionalities and open them up to the XML so that you levels can do crazy things like change backgrounds or dimensions.
(3) The current demo creates a new LevelArea at the end of each play. This time, the LevelArea will only be created once, and it will come with functions to revert itself back to original positions. This not only improves load times, but it also means that we can make checkpoints by having the LevelArea overwrite the original settings, much in the same way they are written when your in the level editor.

The LevelArea will be where the bulk of the work is. And to make our lives easier, we should figure out how the XML structure will be set up. In the meantime, I'll be setting up the LevelPage's fundamentals.

btw Isa, what code editor do you use? Or do you just use Flash itself?

Speaking of Flash, one thing I find annoying with the latest version is that I can no longer just highlight a term, hit F1, and be magically transported to that class' reference files. But it doesn't matter, since I'm using Eclipse to write code anyway.

Also, I heard of a good ebook, which according to one tutorial, should be in every Flash game developers' library: Foundation ActionScript 3.0 Animation: Making Things Move! http://proquest.safaribooksonline.com/9781590597910/1 It may also prove useful for optimization when considering that the display is the slowest and most processor intensive aspect of Flash player.

EDIT: aw man, the ebook has some glitches in it.
EDIT2: oh wait, it only seems to be at the beginning.

and since I'm recommending books, here's a good one that I've had bookmarked for weeks but never started reading: Essential ActionScript 3.0 http://proquest.safaribooksonline.com/0596526946/xix It's a super technical book that really teaches you AS3 (as opposed to an introduction or beginner's guide), but it assumes that you've never programmed before, which is good. This book has been referenced many times by dozens of tutorials and other books that I've come across so far.

EDIT: found this interesting article: http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flash/articles/optimize_transparent_images.html

I'm not using anything that could count as a code editor, I think. I'm writing my .as files in Notepad++ though

What's Eclipse, and why should I use it?  

Eclipse is a a program where you can write the code, and I think compile it too. It works for Java, ActionScript and many other languages. Highly recommended.

yes, Eclipse is great! Although, the ActionScript add-on is controlled by Adobe, which they sell or give away for free to students. I suggest getting the version of Eclipse bundled with the add-on, or else you might end up with two versions of eclipse.

The university internet was down all day today, so I designed a new title page. It's basically just a prettier version of the current title page, not much special.