World of Flash Archive

In light of recent events, I felt I should show my colors – go Team Conan! OK, time for business.

In the popular “Late Night” segment, Conan would make humorous predictions of what was going to happen in the years to come, even though 2000 had come and gone. In contrast, these are going to be very serious predictions on where Flash/browser-based gaming can/will go in the future – from the coming months to years down the line. Sure, you may end up laughing, but these are my predictions on where Flash can go and where it can falter…

• Flash games will not only be used as advertising, but will have direct effects on the stories of the games they’re linked to - This is an easy one because the trend has already started. While it’s a couple steps away, Dragon Age: Journeys is a fun flash game that can be tied to an EA account. Depending on how much of the game you complete, EA will reward you with in-game items for the full Dragon Age: Origins. If they can share enough information to make it so that your progress in a Flash game can equate to rewards in the retail release, it seems more than possible to have the same factors affect the development of the story. Perhaps not main plot elements, but wouldn’t it be cool if the actions of your Flash character prevented a city from being raided in the main game?

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Now that the holidays are over and people have gone back to the grind of reality, I have returned in an attempt to make your productivity plummet. In what will likely be the last of my “surveys of the Flash gaming world,” I will be like the mother bird and feast upon the flesh of my runt offspring. I josh. Instead I shall provide you with wings, so that you may begin to wander the wild world of Flash yourself.

Newgrounds

Founded by Tom Fulp, the programmer behind the dynamic developer duo that is Behemoth (creators of Alien Hominid and Castle Crashers), Newgrounds is likely the largest site of user-submitted and peer-reviewed content on the web. The site primarily relies on amateur or very small independent developers to submit their Flash game/video to the community. Then it is up to the community to either protect it and push it to the top, or to “blam” it and keep it from ever seeing the light of day.

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Welcome back to my little hovel of a weekly blog known as the World of Flash. So at the end of last week, I told you I was going to inform you about where to find these flash games in nature. Well, I lied. I know, I’m horrible. I’m a monster. Get over it. I only do this for you. The world of Flash games is a big and scary place, and I’m not ready to let go of you just yet. Instead, this week I’m going to take you on a journey to a small but really intriguing niche of Flash game, perspective-based puzzlers. There are only a handful of games that fill this genre, but what they do is so unique and interesting that I feel they warrant a little more attention. So open your mind and get ready to adapt a whole new point of view.

Coign of Vantage

Well, it takes a while to put a million pieces back together!

Made by two guys named Markus and Philipp based out of Vienna, Coign of Vantage has the player adjusting his or her mouse to line up pixels in such a way that a 2D image is formed. The twist is that the pixels are scattered in 3D space, and the only thing you can control is the camera. Did I mention the time limit? Time begins to count down from thirty seconds as soon as the first pixels appear. However, with each image you complete, you gain more time to complete further images. Still, as the clock winds down, your mouse starts flailing more and more as you try to find just where the hell you need to put the camera. What’s the goal? Points, baby, points! Finish as many as you can to earn the high score and gloat to your friends about your more worldly perspective. Or don’t and just enjoy the game and the soothing piano accompaniment.

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WHADDUP BLOGOSPHERE?! Do people even call it that anymore?

After a long silence, here I am. Once again back is the incredible, not-so-rhyme animal, Incredible T. Or perhaps the incredible, inedible Tony. ‘Lo what could stir the Tony so strongly that he found it necessary to write again? The answer, my esteemed friends and colleagues, is Flash games.

I’d like to begin with a discussion of the qualification of a Flash game. A Flash game can be made using Adobe flash, but I really use this as a general term for browser based gaming. There are slight variations between engines used, but the point is that the code is compact enough to be downloaded and then run within the confines of your browser window. A Flash game is typically an independent production from a single person or a small team. However, there are known contradictions to this, in particular the Dragon Age Journeys game put out by EA2D. So as you can see, there has been a large amount of evolution to the Flash game genre. Now take my hand and join me on a trip to visit a couple of the latest and greatest residents of the magical world of Flash.

Canabalt

CHEESE IT!

Ah, here is a game marvelous in its simplicity. Known as an iPhone app from a group called Semi Secret Software, Canabalt really has its roots in the hands of two prolific indie designers; Adam Atomic in charge of the game and its visuals and Dan Baranowsky in charge of the music. As some sort of perfect storm of simplicity, the game is highly addictive. In fact, these guys keep it so simple that your only means of control is a jump key! Originally mapped to the x and c keys, as an iPhone app you find yourself frantically trying to tap the screen (or click for the browser version) to jump over all the obstacles dumped in your path. And what, pray tell, are you running from? Who the hell knows! I just know it must be scary as hell because the more obstacles you miss, the faster your little man books it from the left side of the screen to the right. The game also derives a lot of its atmosphere from the fast retro-esque music and sound design, as well as the carnage ensuing in the background. If you enjoy this fantastic work that was first constructed on the flixel engine, be sure to check out another fav of mine called Gravity Hook.

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