How to Make Shockwave Games
Programming video games from scratch can be incredibly time consuming and hard to learn. Some programs, such as Macromedia Shockwave, make this process much easier by integrating all aspects of game development into one package. Instead of having to create an engine to display graphics and then having to write out all of the code for how your game will work, you instead just have to import objects and then write simple scripts for what those objects do during the course of the game.
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Instructions
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Come up with a general game design and a hook that will draw the player in and keep them playing. Try to put a new spin on an old game idea or come up with an entirely original style of game play.
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2
Open the Macromedia Director program by either double-clicking the icon on your desktop or navigating through the "Start" menu and finding it in the "Programs" list. You can download a free trial of the Director program from the Adobe website if you do not already have the software installed on your computer.
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Import the images that you have already created in another graphics program that you will be using in the game or draw your own 2D images using Director's drawing features.
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Access the scripting menu for any object that the player will interact with in the game by right clicking on the object in bottom tool bar and selecting the "Cast Member Script" option.
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Use the "OnMouseOver," "OnMouseClick" and "OnMouseOff" commands to create the code that will govern how your game works. Be sure to script out each aspect of an objects behavior, such as when it should first appear on the screen, what happens when it collides with another object, if it ever needs to be removed from the screen.
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Save your project once you have finished the scripting and then export it to a website so that people with Shockwave enabled web browsers can play it online.
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Tips & Warnings
The scripting language for Shockwave is very similar to Javascript. If you are not familiar with that sort of programming you can access Director's extensive help files for step by step instructions on how to make objects interact with each other in your game.
Shockwave games are primarily intended to be played through a web browser with a mouse or keyboard, so you will be unable to create executable files for distributing the game to non-internet connected machines without downloading extra third party plug-ins.
Resources
- Photo Credit Adobe
