EpicDuel PVP Game Design Notes

January 14, 2013

Sometimes Flash treats you right. It's intuitive, smooth, and responsive. Other times, it's a terrible force of nature that could care less about what YOU wanted to do. You want to move that a few keyframes in this movie clip? How about I delete those keyframes AND corrupt the file?

If you've followed any AE Devs on Twitter for any amount of time, you would have seen at least one rant about working in Flash. Crashes, slow performance, and the worst -- irreversible file corruption -- are par for the course with regular Flash usage.

This may seem like a ranty post, and it is, but in addition to blowing off a little steam I also wanted to impart some wisdom on aspiring developers: There's always a way. When whatever platform you're developing for decides it wants to be your worst enemy and devours hours of precious work time, you have two options -- three if you count tossing your computer through a window. You can quit. You can let software win and go do something else with your time that's less stressful. OR you can be a warrior. You can stare at that blank screen or flickering error message and rush right into battle with even more determination than before.

In any long endeavor, you will be tested. Obstacles will emerge to test your resolve and tempt you to take an easier path, but you must fight on! You can get angry, but channel that anger into productive energy to recoup your lost time and produce an even better product that you would have the first time around. Learn from your mistakes and account for the unexpected. These are all key bits of knowledge that will help you persevere when the outlook is most bleak.

Ah! I see that Flash has finally decided to let me open my movie clip. Thank you Flash! And thank you players, for letting me rant a bit, for Flash cares not for the troubles of mere mortals and will only stare coldly at my pleas for mercy.

Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more! 

Tags: Titan