Its a flash application that has the same vectors and almost certainly the same AS code. Is there anything I can do? I’m in the UK – they’re in Brazil. »

The guy who opened this thread looks quite desperate… now imagine this happening to your latest Flash game.

That’s why you must protect your code. You don’t want someone else stealing your work.

I am going to review DCOM Soft’s SWF Protector.

SWF Protector

SWF Protector is an swf protector software working through actionscript encryption to secure your actionscript content. This means decompilers won’t be able to read your actionscript.

The most interesting SWF Protector features are:

* Inexpensive: only $59.95 for a Business License. You can earn twice in just one day with a single game.

* Simple and fast. You can encrypt your SWF with a couple of clicks.

* Cross-platform. Available for Windows, Mac and Linux.

* Mass protection. You can protect several SWFs at once.

This is the interface you’ll see when you are about to secure your flash content:

I am testing the software on the file created on Box2D Flash game creation tutorial – part 2 tutorial.

This is the original content of the custom_contact_listener.as file:

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package {
	import Box2D.Dynamics.*;
	import Box2D.Collision.*;
	import Box2D.Collision.Shapes.*;
	import Box2D.Dynamics.Joints.*;
	import Box2D.Dynamics.Contacts.*;
	import Box2D.Common.*;
	import Box2D.Common.Math.*;
	class custom_contact_listener extends b2ContactListener {
		override public function BeginContact(contact:b2Contact):void {
			// getting the fixtures that collided
			var fixtureA:b2Fixture=contact.GetFixtureA();
			var fixtureB:b2Fixture=contact.GetFixtureB();
			// if the fixture is a sensor, mark the parent body to be removed
			if (fixtureB.IsSensor()) {
				fixtureB.GetBody().SetUserData("remove");
			}
			if (fixtureA.IsSensor()) {
				fixtureA.GetBody().SetUserData("remove");
			}
		}
	}
}

Now, I will use a Flash decompiler to extract the same file from an unprotected version of the swf… here it is:

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//class custom_contact_listener
package 
{
    import Box2D.Dynamics.*;
    import Box2D.Dynamics.Contacts.*;
 
    internal class custom_contact_listener extends Box2D.Dynamics.b2ContactListener
    {
        public function custom_contact_listener()
        {
            super();
            return;
        }
 
        public override function BeginContact(arg1:Box2D.Dynamics.Contacts.b2Contact):void
        {
            var loc1:*=arg1.GetFixtureA();
            var loc2:*=arg1.GetFixtureB();
            if (loc2.IsSensor()) 
            {
                loc2.GetBody().SetUserData("remove");
            }
            if (loc1.IsSensor()) 
            {
                loc1.GetBody().SetUserData("remove");
            }
            return;
        }
    }
}

The code is amost more polished… and obviously it works.

Now let’s try to do the same on the obfuscated swf made by SWF Protector… that’s what I got (sorry for the italian screenshot: I’m currently running an italian version of Windows7)

The decompiler crashed… probably the amount of weird characters inserted by the flash obfuscator made it crash.

In the end, SWF Protector is simple to use and very fast. It has shown lightning-fast speeds of SWF files loading, processing and saving and uses four reliable protection algorithms.

You can download a trial version on the official site or win one of three business licenses I am giving away being the first to reply “I want one” when this post will be published on my Facebook Fanpage. This is a special giveaway for three of my Facebook fans. And won’t be the only one.

Now he is explaining us a new way to monetize Flash games: GamesChart

« When I first saw the announcement on Flash Game Developers group on www.linkedIn.com about the GamesChart beta program I immediately thought to participate. It was a surprise to me to find that my game Haunted House was at first position for the entire 4 weeks of the beta program!

Actually also my Alice Memory game is also on the chart, even if never more than in the 6th position.

What GamesChart is about?

It’s another way to generate money from you Flash games. The nice thing is that it is not an alternative to the traditional banner you place during the loading of the game. But it goes together.
The main idea is to have publisher to “bid” for which game will be in the chart and this will generate extra revenue to the developer, to the publisher who correctly bid and of course to the GamesChart organization.

This is from Barry White directly from linkedIn group.

I thought I’d include some more information about how GamesChart can earn developers money:

+ Every game that has the GamesChart API embedded in it is tracked by GamesChart.

+ The developer can also choose to enable or disable a series of dynamic charts that actually display within the Flash game itself.

+ The most popular games each week make their way to the top of the charts.

+ Any gamers who click on a game listed in these charts is taken to play that game on another portal.

+ Publishers use an advanced pay per click bidding system to purchase this traffic and drive users back to their own sites to play the games they have bid on.

+ Games need to be uploaded to the Publishers portal before they can receive traffic. (great for seeding)

+ Developers receive up to a 50% revenue share of any outbound clicks generated from within their game should they choose to display the charts. (also full blacklisting available)

+ Publishers also receive 10% of total revenues generated from any GamesChart enabled games featured on their site.

I am going to explain the very easy steps to follow to have a game added to this GamesChart.

In order to do so I am going to provide my other game Tokyo Train with this service as well.

First thing you need to register as developer, if you don’t already. This is quite easy to do, just follow instruction on the site.

You then are prompted to add a game:

So do not hesitate: go to click the button and create the new game:

Instructions are easy and nice to follow: I have to admit they did a very good job on make your job easy.

You are now prompted with the game id that you need to put on the component property to have your game identified.
Of course first of all you need to download the API library from the “GamesChart Wiki” link.

You have the choice to get the component for Adobe Flash IDE or the complete API if you use FlashDevelop and for both choices you can choose between AS3 and AS2. My choice was for the component and AS3.

The very first time you download the zip pack, you need to double click on the GamesChartAPI-AS3.mpx:

This will install the component, and that’s the only thing you really need to install: brilliant.

Now open your FLA and browse for the components (Windows > Components menu): you will find the GamesChartAPI one.

Now, again it’s easy: drag and drop the component onto the stage (better if at the top layer):

Do not worry about the position: it will be hidden once the game starts. Do you remember the game id? Go to grab it and paste it in the component inspector:

That’s all! You can now publish the game: you will notice a small G icon on top right of the stage.

You can force to have this cute icon can be hidden or display when you want. Or you can also move it.

I would suggest you to leave it for the entire game and in that position: it’s the best position, just adjust your buttons if you have any conflict.

In this way a player can click on the icon anytime during the game. This will let him vote your game and show chart. In fact when the icon is clicked the chart will appear and will let you open a new window with the games on the list.

You need one more thing: to publish the game. You can get your SWF file or you can first upload on MochiAds with version control as I am doing. This is the best solution because your game will be updated all over the world with the cute G icon.
That’s all!
Enjoy!

PS.: I just discovered that Haunted House is no more on first position! So let’s go there and click the cute “G” icon!! »

Andrew Fitzgerald from Desuade released the new version, of his amazing particle effects engine: Partigen 2.

Featuring over 120 exclusive preset effects, Partigen 2 is the first and only extension for Flash that let’s you to create complex particle effects in just a click.

The list of features is huge, so I am listing the ones I found most interesting:

• Full Package XML-Serialization
• Fully documented AS3 API
• Emitters can be created with either the IDE component or via ActionScript
• Particles can be any display object that inherits the Particle class
• Renderers can be shared across multiple Emitters
• Pools can handle the internal creation and storage of Particle objects in memory

You can read the full list of features here

The documentation is awesome, the best I’ve seen so far in a product like this one. You can access the full API documentation, and from this link you can access a 42 minutes long video covering the entire Partigen 2 component, and you can create beautiful effects using the component in less than a minute.

Anyway, we’re not here to talk about the component, but to test the AS3 API.

Playing with AS3 API

In this example, I am going to create a particle effect with the user interface provided in the component, then I’ll export it with XML and finally add it “on the fly” to the Box2D car example.

Playing with the presets is easy and fun, and once you’re done, just press “Copy to XML” to have the XML copied into your dashboard

Then, since we don’t want external files in our game, this is the code we need:

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package {
	import flash.display.Sprite;
	import flash.events.Event;
	import flash.events.KeyboardEvent;
	//
	import Box2D.Dynamics.*;
	import Box2D.Collision.*;
	import Box2D.Collision.Shapes.*;
	import Box2D.Common.Math.*;
	import Box2D.Dynamics.Joints.*;
	// partigen libraries
	import com.desuade.partigen.emitters.*;
	import com.desuade.partigen.renderers.*;
	public class partigen extends Sprite {
		public var world:b2World;
		public var car_body:b2Body;
		public var front_wheel:b2Body;
		public var rear_wheel:b2Body;
		public var front_motor:b2RevoluteJointDef = new b2RevoluteJointDef();
		public var rear_motor:b2RevoluteJointDef = new b2RevoluteJointDef();
		public var fixtureDef:b2FixtureDef = new b2FixtureDef();
		public var rear_motor_added:b2RevoluteJoint;
		public var front_motor_added:b2RevoluteJoint;
		// partigen variables
		public var the_particle:particle_mc = new particle_mc();
		var particle_emitter:Emitter = new Emitter();
		public function partigen() {
			world=new b2World(new b2Vec2(0,10.0),true);
			debug_draw();
			var body:b2Body;
			var bodyDef:b2BodyDef= new b2BodyDef();
			var boxDef:b2PolygonShape = new b2PolygonShape();
			var circleDef:b2CircleShape=new b2CircleShape(20/30);
			var revoluteJointDef:b2RevoluteJointDef = new b2RevoluteJointDef();
			bodyDef.position.Set(250/30, 200/30);
			boxDef.SetAsBox(600/30, 20/30);
			fixtureDef.shape=boxDef;
			fixtureDef.friction=1;
			fixtureDef.density=1;
			body=world.CreateBody(bodyDef);
			body.CreateFixture(fixtureDef);
			bodyDef.position.Set(0/30, 200/30);
			boxDef.SetAsBox(50/30, 50/30);
			fixtureDef.shape=boxDef;
			fixtureDef.friction=1;
			fixtureDef.density=1;
			body=world.CreateBody(bodyDef);
			body.CreateFixture(fixtureDef);
			bodyDef.position.Set(500/30, 200/30);
			boxDef.SetAsBox(50/30, 50/30);
			fixtureDef.shape=boxDef;
			fixtureDef.friction=1;
			fixtureDef.density=1;
			body=world.CreateBody(bodyDef);
			body.CreateFixture(fixtureDef);
			bodyDef.position.Set(250/30, 90/30);
			bodyDef.type=b2Body.b2_dynamicBody;
			bodyDef.userData = new Sprite();
			boxDef.SetAsBox(50/30, 10/30);
			fixtureDef.shape=boxDef;
			fixtureDef.density=1;
			fixtureDef.friction=1;
			fixtureDef.restitution=0.1;
			car_body=world.CreateBody(bodyDef);
			car_body.CreateFixture(fixtureDef);
			fixtureDef.density=1;
			fixtureDef.friction=5;
			fixtureDef.density=0.1;
			fixtureDef.shape=circleDef;
			bodyDef.allowSleep=false;
			bodyDef.position.Set(car_body.GetWorldCenter().x + 40/30, car_body.GetWorldCenter().y);
			front_wheel=world.CreateBody(bodyDef);
			front_wheel.CreateFixture(fixtureDef);
			bodyDef.position.Set(car_body.GetWorldCenter().x - 40/30, car_body.GetWorldCenter().y);
			rear_wheel=world.CreateBody(bodyDef);
			rear_wheel.CreateFixture(fixtureDef);
			front_motor.enableMotor=true;
			front_motor.maxMotorTorque=10;
			front_motor.Initialize(car_body, front_wheel, front_wheel.GetWorldCenter());
			front_motor_added=world.CreateJoint(front_motor) as b2RevoluteJoint;
			rear_motor.enableMotor=true;
			rear_motor.maxMotorTorque=1;
			rear_motor.Initialize(car_body, rear_wheel, rear_wheel.GetWorldCenter());
			rear_motor_added=world.CreateJoint(rear_motor) as b2RevoluteJoint;
			addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, update);
			stage.addEventListener(KeyboardEvent.KEY_DOWN, key_down);
			// partigen code
			var particle_container:Sprite = new Sprite();
			addChild(particle_container);
			var particle_renderer:Renderer=new StandardRenderer(particle_container,'top');
			particle_emitter.renderer=particle_renderer;
			particle_emitter.particle=particle_mc;
			var emmx:XML = 
			<IDEEmitter particle="particle_mc" eps="10" burst="2" life="1" lifeSpread="*0.5" group="GroupParticle" groupAmount="0" groupProximity="10" angle="0" angleSpread="*360">
			  <Controllers>
			    <EmitterController/>
			    <ParticleController>
			      <ParticleTweenController duration="0" property="rotation">
			        <KeyframeContainer tweenClass="BasicTween" precision="0">
			          <Keyframe position="0" ease="linear" spread="*200" label="begin"/>
			          <Keyframe position="1" ease="linear" value="0" spread="*100" label="end"/>
			        </KeyframeContainer>
			      </ParticleTweenController>
			      <ParticlePhysicsController duration="0" flip="false" useAngle="true" property="x">
			        <ParticleTweenController duration="0" property="velocity">
			          <KeyframeContainer tweenClass="BasicTween" precision="1">
			            <Keyframe position="0" ease="linear" value="3" spread="*0" label="begin"/>
			            <Keyframe position="1" ease="linear" spread="*0" label="end"/>
			          </KeyframeContainer>
			        </ParticleTweenController>
			        <ParticleTweenController duration="0" property="acceleration">
			          <KeyframeContainer tweenClass="BasicTween" precision="2">
			            <Keyframe position="0" ease="linear" spread="*0" label="begin"/>
			            <Keyframe position="1" ease="linear" spread="*0" label="end"/>
			          </KeyframeContainer>
			        </ParticleTweenController>
			        <ParticleTweenController duration="0" property="friction">
			          <KeyframeContainer tweenClass="BasicTween" precision="2">
			            <Keyframe position="0" ease="linear" spread="*0" label="begin"/>
			            <Keyframe position="1" ease="linear" spread="*0" label="end"/>
			          </KeyframeContainer>
			        </ParticleTweenController>
			      </ParticlePhysicsController>
			      <ParticleTweenController duration="0" property="alpha">
			        <KeyframeContainer tweenClass="BasicTween" precision="2">
			          <Keyframe position="0" ease="linear" value="0.1" spread="*0.8" label="begin"/>
			          <Keyframe position="1" ease="linear" spread="*0" label="end"/>
			        </KeyframeContainer>
			      </ParticleTweenController>
			      <ParticleTweenController duration="0" property="scale">
			        <KeyframeContainer tweenClass="BasicTween" precision="2">
			          <Keyframe position="0" ease="linear" value="0.3" spread="*0.5" label="begin"/>
			          <Keyframe position="1" ease="linear" value="0" spread="*0" label="end"/>
			        </KeyframeContainer>
			      </ParticleTweenController>
			      <ParticlePhysicsController duration="0" flip="true" useAngle="true" property="y">
			        <ParticleTweenController duration="0" property="velocity">
			          <KeyframeContainer tweenClass="BasicTween" precision="1">
			            <Keyframe position="0" ease="linear" value="3" spread="*0" label="begin"/>
			            <Keyframe position="1" ease="linear" spread="*0" label="end"/>
			          </KeyframeContainer>
			        </ParticleTweenController>
			        <ParticleTweenController duration="0" property="acceleration">
			          <KeyframeContainer tweenClass="BasicTween" precision="2">
			            <Keyframe position="0" ease="linear" spread="*0" label="begin"/>
			            <Keyframe position="1" ease="linear" spread="*0" label="end"/>
			          </KeyframeContainer>
			        </ParticleTweenController>
			        <ParticleTweenController duration="0" property="friction">
			          <KeyframeContainer tweenClass="BasicTween" precision="2">
			            <Keyframe position="0" ease="linear" spread="*0" label="begin"/>
			            <Keyframe position="1" ease="linear" spread="*0" label="end"/>
			          </KeyframeContainer>
			        </ParticleTweenController>
			      </ParticlePhysicsController>
			    </ParticleController>
			  </Controllers>
			</IDEEmitter>;
			particle_emitter.fromXML(emmx);
			particle_emitter.start();
		}
		public function key_down(event:KeyboardEvent):void {
			switch (event.keyCode) {
				case 39 :
					rear_motor_added.SetMotorSpeed(10);
					front_motor_added.SetMotorSpeed(10);
					break;
				case 37 :
					rear_motor_added.SetMotorSpeed(-10);
					front_motor_added.SetMotorSpeed(-10);
					break;
			}
		}
		public function debug_draw():void {
			var m_sprite:Sprite;
			m_sprite = new Sprite();
			addChild(m_sprite);
			var dbgDraw:b2DebugDraw = new b2DebugDraw();
			var dbgSprite:Sprite = new Sprite();
			m_sprite.addChild(dbgSprite);
			dbgDraw.SetSprite(m_sprite);
			dbgDraw.SetDrawScale(30);
			dbgDraw.SetFillAlpha(0.5);
			dbgDraw.SetLineThickness(1);
			dbgDraw.SetFlags(b2DebugDraw.e_shapeBit);
			world.SetDebugDraw(dbgDraw);
		}
		public function update(e : Event):void {
			world.Step(1/30,10,10);
			world.ClearForces();
			world.DrawDebugData();
			for (var bb:b2Body = world.GetBodyList(); bb; bb = bb.GetNext()) {
				if (bb.GetUserData()) {
					particle_emitter.x=bb.GetPosition().x*30;
					particle_emitter.y=bb.GetPosition().y*30;
				}
			}
		}
	}
}

As you can see, the partigen code is very small, the most of the code is the particle XML itself.

And this is the result: I wanted fake bodies to spread from the car’s body.

Move the car with left/right arrow keys and enjoy.

Final considerations

Partigen 2 is the most complete tool to create particle effects with Flash IDE and API, in a couple of minutes you will be able to create amazing effects, saving hours of trial and error.

Desuade is so confident that you’ll fall even more in love with Partigen 2, it comes with a 100% satisfaction, 60 day money-back guarantee. A single license costs $97, and it’s positively a must-have.

Powered by Papervision3D, CU3ER an image slider initially conceived to create 3D transitions between slides, turned out to be a convenient and multifunction solution that can be applied in a range of website building areas, from content slider to feature slider and image & banner rotator.

I played with it a bit and starting from the built in example and following the docs I was able to create an interesting commented source code to help you all getting started:

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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<cu3er>
     <!-- first, define the settings -->
	<settings>
          <!-- set autoplay if you want the slideshow to... autoplay -->
          <auto_play> 
               <!-- the "loading" symbol and the time between a picture and another -->
               <defaults symbol="circular" time="4" /> 
               <!-- symbol position, size and color -->
               <tweenIn x="500" y="20" width="35" height="35" tint="0xFFFFFF" /> 
          </auto_play> 
          <!-- defining the look of the caption text -->
     	<description>
     	    <!-- font family and size -->
     	    <defaults heading_font="Verdana" heading_text_size = "12" paragraph_font="Verdana" paragraph_text_size = "11"/>
              <!-- description box itself -->
              <tweenIn tint="0x000000" x="0" y="240" alpha="0.5" width="520" height="80" />
          </description>
          <!-- "prev" button -->
         	<prev_button>
         	     <!-- corner styles -->
     		<defaults round_corners="25,0,25,0"/>
     		<!-- rollover effect -->
     		<tweenOver tint="0xFFFFFF" alpha="0.5" />
     		<tweenOut tint="0x000000" x="-50"/>
     	</prev_button>	
         	<prev_symbol>
         	     <!-- "prev" symbol (the arrow) -->
     		<defaults type="8" /> 
     	</prev_symbol>	
     	<!-- "next" button... same thing as "prev" -->
         	<next_button>
     		<defaults round_corners="0,25,0,25"/>			
     		<tweenOver tint="0xFFFFFF" alpha="0.5"/>
     		<tweenOut tint="0x000000" x="570" />
     	</next_button>
          <!-- "next" symbol... same thing as "prev" -->
         	<next_symbol>
     		<defaults type="8" /> 
     	</next_symbol>	
 
	</settings>  
     <!-- defining the slides -->  
     <slides>
          <!-- 1st slide -->  
          <slide>
               <!-- image url --> 
               <url>images/slide_1.jpg</url>
               <!-- image link --> 
               <link target="_blank">http://www.google.com/</link>
               <!-- image caption -->         
               <description>  
                    <!-- title -->     
                    <heading>This is my heading text</heading> 
                    <!-- description -->  
                    <paragraph>Paragraph text goes here!</paragraph>  
               </description>  
          </slide>
          <!-- transition -->
          <transition num="3" slicing="vertical" direction="down"/>
          <slide>
               <url>images/slide_2.jpg</url>
          </slide>		
          <!-- transition -->
          <transition num="3" slicing="vertical" direction="down"/>
          <slide>
               <url>images/slide_3.jpg</url>
          </slide>
          <!-- transition -->
          <transition num="4" direction="right" shader="flat" />
          <slide>
               <url>images/slide_4.jpg</url>
          </slide>
          <!-- transition -->
          <transition num="4" direction="left" shader="flat" />
          <slide>
               <url>images/slide_5.jpg</url>
          </slide>
          <!-- transition -->
          <transition num="4" direction="right" shader="none" />
     </slides>
</cu3er>

And this is the result:

I’ll definitively use it in a creative way on this blog during next days… check out CU3ER!!

Such file is created according to the SWF File Format Specification so you can create your IDE and develop your Flash projects without using the official Adobe Flash CS4 package.

Since you can compile your own swf file, there is also a way to decompile it.

Flash Decompiler Trillix is the most advanced tool to convert swf to fla, with full support of Flash 10 and AS3.

Legal and ethical dilemma

As you must know, different Countries have different laws about copyrights. Even Wikipedia does not provide enough information about reverse engineering legality.

On the ethical side, you should respect developers’ work and don’t try to decompile their projects and “get inspired” from their code or use their graphics.

But it would be a big hypocrisy saying I’d never take a look to someone else’s secrets. If I could access to Coca-Cola formula or Google’s PageRank algorithm, I would.

Definitively.

My personal experience

As some of you know, I am the co-founder of a web company… you know… hosting, web apps, web sites, SEO and all those things you normally can’t talk about with women.

Recently we acquired a new customer with a Flash site. A well designed Flash site, I have to say. The problem was the company behind the project did not survive the economy breakdown and closed some months ago.

The customer needed some minor changes in the site and renewing the domain (and changing the hosting) but he never got a reply at the emails he sent to the old company owners.

That’s what happen when you rely on cheap companies (hint)

So we made two proposals, at two (very) different prices

1 – Redesigning the site making it as close as possible to the original one

2 – Decompiling the site and making the required changes

You can imagine the choice and finally I am ready to start the review

Decompiling test

I am testing this tool on the movie you can see at Pure AS3 magnifying effect using Displacement Map Filter.

The interface is just brilliant:

you can preview the movie, look at its properties and browsing its assets at the same time.

You can export single images as well as chuncks of codes, but the most interesting feature is the conversion from swf to fla.

And that’s what I did

Do you remember my original library?

well, the one created by Flash Decompiler Trillix is even more organized…

but the most interesting test is performed on the scripts:

this is the original one:

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package {
	import flash.display.Sprite;
	import flash.display.Bitmap;
	import flash.display.BitmapData;
	import flash.filters.DisplacementMapFilter;
	import flash.geom.Point;
	import flash.events.Event;
	public class as3displace extends Sprite {
		// creating a new Bitmap variable
		var the_bitmap:Bitmap = new Bitmap();
		// creating a variable to store "malecon" image.
		// notice you MUST specify width and height or you'll get an error
		// 1136: Incorrect number of arguments.  Expected 2.
		var the_image=new malecon(500,373);
		// creating a variable to store the "displace_movie" movieclip
		var the_displace:displace_movie=new displace_movie();
		// creating a point at the upper left corner
		var starting_point:Point=new Point(0,0);
		// creating a 100x100 bitmap data, that will contain the gradient movieclip
		var displacement_map:BitmapData=new BitmapData(100,100,true,0x808080);
		// creating the displacement map filter
		var displacement_filter:DisplacementMapFilter=new DisplacementMapFilter(displacement_map,starting_point,1,2,50,50,"color",0x000000,1);
		public function as3displace() {
			// assigning the "the_image" data (the photo) as bitmapData of "the_bitmap" variable
			the_bitmap.bitmapData=the_image;
			// in the displacement map, draw (copy) the content of "the_displace" movieclip
			// (the gradient sphere)
			displacement_map.draw(the_displace);
			// placing "the_bitmap" on the stage
			addChild(the_bitmap);
			// listener that triggers at every frame
			addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, onFrame);
		}
		public function onFrame(e:Event) {
			// changing the starting point of the displacement map filter according to mouse position
			starting_point.x=mouseX-50;
			starting_point.y=mouseY-50;
			displacement_filter.mapPoint=starting_point;
			// applying the displacement filter to "the_bitmap" (the photo)
			the_bitmap.filters=[displacement_filter];
		}
	}
}

and this is the one generated by Flash Decompiler Trillix

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package 
{
    import flash.display.*;
    import flash.events.*;
    import flash.filters.*;
    import flash.geom.*;
 
    public class as3displace extends flash.display.Sprite
    {
        public function as3displace()
        {
            this.the_bitmap = new flash.display.Bitmap();
            this.the_image = new malecon(500, 373);
            this.the_displace = new displace_movie();
            this.starting_point = new flash.geom.Point(0, 0);
            this.displacement_map = new flash.display.BitmapData(100, 100, true, 8421504);
            this.displacement_filter = new flash.filters.DisplacementMapFilter(this.displacement_map, this.starting_point, 1, 2, 50, 50, "color", 0, 1);
            super();
            this.the_bitmap.bitmapData = this.the_image;
            this.displacement_map.draw(this.the_displace);
            addChild(this.the_bitmap);
            addEventListener(flash.events.Event.ENTER_FRAME, this.onFrame);
            return;
        }
 
        public function onFrame(arg1:flash.events.Event):*
        {
            this.starting_point.x = mouseX - 50;
            this.starting_point.y = mouseY - 50;
            this.displacement_filter.mapPoint = this.starting_point;
            this.the_bitmap.filters = [this.displacement_filter];
            return;
        }
 
        var displacement_filter:flash.filters.DisplacementMapFilter;
 
        var the_displace:displace_movie;
 
        var the_image:*;
 
        var starting_point:flash.geom.Point;
 
        var displacement_map:flash.display.BitmapData;
 
        var the_bitmap:flash.display.Bitmap;
    }
}

It’s a bit different, but it works the same way

Final considerations

A personal license costs $79.95, both for PC and Mac OS, and all in all is a must-have if you are a Flash developer. Besides strange cases like the web company one I discussed before, it’s really a tool that can save you hours and hours should your fla file get damaged or lost.

Really recommended. For more information and purchase options, go to www.flash-decompiler.com.

Let me talk about GamerSafe

The service allows players to enrich their gaming experience and developers and publishers to earn money out of it.

Let’s see its features in detail

PLAYERS

GamerSafe is a free service for players looking for a better gaming experience. The most important feature allows you to save games, highscores and achievements in a cross-site way. This means you can play a game on Kongregate, save it and continue playing on Newgrounds. All the achievements will be kept in one place, so you are free to play anywhere and be sure your hard-gained rewards bill be saved no matter where you are playing.

Completing tasks and quests will make you earn GamerPoints you can spend in shops to get new items and rewards. Moreover, you can buy GamerGold with real money and use them to unlock exclusive content that will lead to more achievements.

If you think players play games for pure fun no matter the achievements, maybe you should consider the 2.5 billion Xbox Achievements unlocked.

DEVELOPERS

Developers can add all players features in their game, giving players a reason more to play their games and getting more gameplays. They can also earn money when a player purchases items with GamerGold, with a 60% revenue share. Higher than the average one.

Moreover, developers can automatically split the revenue share with co-authors or sponsors.

PUBLISHERS

Publishers earn 10% of all transactions made by games played on their sites, but the really important feature is having a unique system handling points and achievements should reduce the gap between the ordinary arcade site and the achievement-enabled site like Kongregate.

I thought a video could give you a better idea about the system I am playing Swordless Ninja, I purchased an item with my GamerPoints and if you have a little patience (normally I play better but… you know… the camera…) you’ll see me unlocking an achievement.

That’s all at the moment, but I will try the API in my next game in order to make some tutorials and share my experience with you.

I must admit I am overhelmed by the enormous amount of options of this tool, but I’ll try to be as much clean as I can in my review.

Tired of making online games? Make a game online

First, PlayCrafter is an online tool. You don’t need to install any software in your computer. And this is the first great feature, because this means you don’t even need a computer to make a Flash game, you can just sit in an internet cafè and make your game in a matter of minutes.

The power of drag & drop

In PlayCrafter, you don’t need to write a single line of code. You just drag and drop elements to the stage, designing your level in a few clicks.

Any element has its own features, so a turret will automatically fire, a car will skid, a space trooper will jump and fire bouncing bombs, and so on.

The engine that handle physics is the famous Box2D so expect accurate physics simulation.

New elements are added frequently so you’ll never run out of ideas.

You can even edit your element or import your own graphics.

The Community

There is a quite big community behind PlayCrafter. You can play, rate and even edit games made by other players.

When you game receives a good feedback from the community, you can export your Flash game and publish it on game portals

The price

PlayCrafter is free to use, but you can pay a monthly fee ($4.95) to upgrade your account to “Premium” and unlock exclusive features such as raising the limit of levels to 100 and exporting the games to Flash portals.

Moreover, some assets in the game cost an a mount of Pips, the PlayCrafter’s currency. You can buy Pips with real money or you can have for free if your refer users.

The limits

At the moment, the most important limits are the fixed stage size and the lack of scrolling. In my opinion, if PlayCrafter guys do not add more and more assets this will cause a large number of games with no difference among them.

Monetization

I am going to test the monetization of this tool very soon, meanwhile play Matcheroo to see a nice game made with this tool.

Final considerations

I strongly suggest to try PlayCrafter even if you are an experienced developer… you know… at school or at work you can’t install Flash… so why don’t you make a game between a task and another?

Expect a game made with this tool very soon…

This free package comes in two versions: as a Photoshop plugin or as a standalone software.

I tested the PS plugin and that’s what I think about it:

First, on the official site you will find virtualPhotographer is compatible with Photoshop CS3 and older

But I successfully installed (and used) it on my CS4 Master Collection version.

This is a clearly unretouched digital photo:

and this is what you see when you launch the plugin

Now you can work with more than 200 preset effect with just one click or creating (and saving) your own ones adjusting several parameters.

That’s what I got with one click:

This is “mountain” effect, one of my favourites

Do you need some dramatic black and white? This is “Hollywood”

Compare it with the standard “desaturate” adjustment people use to get a B/W image…

no more playing with curves to get a decent B/W image…

Do you need a vintage image? “Less tungsten” is the one you need

And I could continue for hours… so go to www.optikvervelabs.com and download this amazing plugin.

Satisfaction guaranteed.

Unfortunately, designing a theme from scratch can be difficult due to a lot of variables to consider: header, sidebars, buttons, css and more.

There are a lot of free and not free themes available on the web, but the best ones are downloaded a thousand times every day… not exactly what I would call “unique”…

So I am going to introduce you a software able to create a quality WordPress theme in a matter of minutes, without any knowledge of HTML, Php, Css and so on.

It’s Artisteer and I am going to review it.

The most interesting idea about Artisteer is the “Suggest” button… you can let Artisteer suggest the whole theme, playing with more than 100 variables, or make it suggest only some features, such as typography, color schemes, buttons, menu and so on.

These are three randomly generated themes.

It’s important to know each theme was created in a click. In a review, some pictures are worth a thousand words.

The software is localized in all most popular languages (not italian, though)

I also would like you to see how a feature not so easy to code, like columns layout, can be easily set with a click

If you afraid you can’t choose a decent color scheme, Artisteer helps you with a wide range of preset palettes

Obviously every element of the blog is fully customizable through dialog windows… even interesting effects like shadows can be set in a click

Look… you can create drop down menus without writing a single line of javascript

How many tutorials did you read about round buttons? Here they are…

The header is fully customizable. You can choose from a set of buit-in images or upload your own. Don’t be afraid to miss a feature… there is a complete manual for you to read

The final test… the theme is finally ready anf I am about to export it… this is the fight of the night…

The software created all necessary files ready to be uploaded…

And here it is my blog with the new theme… fully compatible with WordPress 2.7

Artisteer costs $99.95 – about as much as ONE premium theme – until February 15, 2009, and there is a demo to let you test its features.

A must have.

Just look at these logos

There isn’t any name next to the graphic, but you surely recognized the companies just with a brief look at their logo.

So if a logo is important for a big company, it must be important for a small company too, or even for a personal website.

Having a polished, well designed logo will make your page look more professional. The more polished and original your logo, the more chances people will remember it.

That’s why I wanted a logo for the blog.

I designed about a dozen logos for some companies around here in my career, but I wanted to try a company that is specialized in logo design. So I googled for “logo design” and started watching the portfolios of some companies listed in the results page.

I was impressed by logos made by The Logo Company so I decided to buy a logo from them.

I purchased the basic package for $149 that included 5 mock-ups to choose from, unlimited revisions and initial concepts in three business day.

Let’s see what happened:

December, 7th

I placed the order. I had to fill a form with some information about the logo I wanted, such as the style (illustration, text based, …), the feel (high tech, corporate, …), my preferred colors and so on.

I wanted something like an avatar, so I sent them a picture of me.

Then I had to pay in advance. It was sunday, so nothing else happened.

December, 8th

A project manager was assigned to my logo, and wrote me an email saying he would send me the initial designs in a couple of days.

December, 9th

After only one business day, I got five design concepts. Being just concept, they wasn’t that polished, but I liked this one:

I liked the deformed look… but I don’t have blonde hair nor I like green shirts… so I wrote them about it.

December, 12th

I got four revisions of the logo I choosed, and I had an hard time having to choose between these two logos:

I loved them both but I decided to continue with the rightmost one because it looks more like me. I just asked to change the font, but I already decided to use the logo without my name, or with my name written by me. A geek always has to mess around with everything.

December, 15th

I got my logo in various formats, included the master I can edit with Adobe Illustrator.

Now that’s my logo:

Expect to see it on the new blog design coming “soon” and in my next Flash games.

» A well designed logo be be very important when it comes to branding your name, and a good logo can be used for all kinds of great promotional products and other types of marketing strategies to increase brand awareness.