[casual_games] About Flash Wrappers

Cameron Owen thecoffeeboy at gmail.com
Sun Nov 5 22:35:10 EST 2006


Sounds good Daniel, I'd be keen to see what you've come up with, epically if
it's Flash/SWF 9 compatible.

As for the performance concerns, it's all a matter of tool selection IMHO.
If you're making a game that needs high performance technology, then Flash
(or your game design) is simply a poor fit. There are cheaper and better
tools for developing cpu/gpu hungry action-orientated games like the pop-cap
framework or Torque 2D (Torque Game Builder). No doubt flash has it's own
strengths, but everyone reading this  should know them or we wouldn't be
having this discussion in the first place.

Cameron.


On 04/11/06, Daniel Kinney <sonicron at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Al,
>
> I'm not aware of Jugglor claiming faster performance after wrapping, but I
> know they claim to be the fastest wrapper available. They accomplish this by
> wrapping the Macromedia projector EXE, where other wrappers use the Flash
> OCX which can be an order of magnitude slower.
>
> However, of all the fast, non-OCX options, none have proven compatible
> with DRM solutions. This has driven me to write a new wrapper to work
> specifically with DRM solutions and to offer the basic functionality game
> developers need. (Such as: resolution switching, windowed/fullscreen
> support, and of course, performance on par with the fastest solutions
> available.) I'll be making the product available sometime next week. If
> you're interested, let me know and I'll send over an email when it's
> released.
>
> Take care! :)
>
> All the best,
> Daniel Kinney
> SolariStudios.com
>
> On 11/3/06, Allen R Partridge < allen.partridge at iup.edu> wrote:
> >
> > Thanks Hal,
> >
> > Performance is very much a concern, both from Flash and from any
> > wrapper. As you might suspect, my curiousity isn't necessarily driven
> > by plans to implement a game this way as much as it is a desire to be
> > able to compare the major options objectively.
> >
> > Personally I've been burned by Flash performance pretty regularly over
> > the past decade, but I trust folks who've told me that things have
> > improved significantly. (I also like the idea of Flash ubiquity for an
> > online version - but honestly am beginning to consider a core Director
> > game with a simplified Flash clone for our next title. It does't
> > really mean that much more to build it on both engines - most of our
> > next game is art and timing, not so much deep code as the past ones
> > have been.
> >
> > I hear lots of buzz on screenweaver, but all the links seem to be dead
> > and I'm not sure I understand the current state of the project. Does
> > anyone know if it's no longer under development, gone commercial?
> >
> > Can anyone explain how Jugglor can claim performance enhancement -
> > (faster playback) after wrapping? Is it true - (I imagine it depends
> > on the test.)
> >
> > On a sort of related note, I know that some of the big houses have
> > developed internal engines. Anyone licensing those?
> >
> > --Thanks again,
> >
> > Al
> >
> > On Thu, 02 Nov 2006 20:57:20 -0800
> >   Hal Barwood <hal at finitearts.com> wrote:
> > > Not sure if performance is a problem for your Flash games or not,
> > >but be aware:  wrappers that use the OCX browser plug-in can run
> > >really slowly:  in my experience, about 1/2 as fast as the standalone
> > >player.  A
> > > previous thread on this topic identified some wrappers that
> > >incorporate the standalone player -- worth a careful look.
> > >
> > >
> > > Cameron Owen wrote:
> > >> You might also want to look into using browser based projectors.
> > >>There
> > >> are a few programs around that will package HTML content into an
> > >> executable (mostly IE wrappers) and allow similar features (full
> > >>screen,
> > >> resolution, local file system access) with the added benifit of
> > >>being
> > >> able to use the browser itself for various types of HTML content
> > >>that is
> > >> generally quicker to produce than Flash content such as help files,
> > >> support pages, order forms and so forth.
> > >>
> > >> Screenweaver is also an open source projector tool with a lot of
> > >> features but I found the work-flow of developing with it to be very
> > >> unproductive and quicksome. It show a lot of promise with future
> > >> development though.
> > >>
> > >> For security, you might want to look into any possible Flash 9
> > >>options.
> > >> Flash 9 with action script 3.0 is compiled into a form of byte code
> > >> which will provide added security as it will be a little more
> > >>difficult
> > >> to reverse-engineer. However, sooner or later someone will figure
> > >>out
> > >> how to reverse-engineer F9 byte code as well (probably sooner).
> > >>
> > >> The best option would be to approach various portals or your
> > >>publishers
> > >> and see what they can offer in the form of DRM wrappers or consider
> > >> hiring a C/C++ developer to write your own. I know a few flash
> > >> developers do this as well as using a similar wrapper as a browser
> > >> plug-in to protect their flash games being played online.
> > >>
> > >> On 03/11/06, *Rajat Paharia* < rpaharia+lists at gmail.com
> > >> <mailto:rpaharia+lists at gmail.com>> wrote:
> > >>
> > >>     Hi Allen -
> > >>
> > >>     You may also want to look at:
> > >>     mProjector - http://www.screentime.com/software/mprojector/
> > >>     <http://www.screentime.com/software/mprojector/ >
> > >>     SWF Studio - http://www.northcode.com/
> > >>     Screenweaver - http://screenweaver.com/about
> > >>
> > >>     Flash Magazine has an older roundup of the various projector
> > >>tools
> > >>     from last year: http://www.flashmagazine.com/1100.htm
> > >>
> > >>     best, - rajat
> > >>     --
> > >>     Rajat Paharia
> > >>     rajat at bunchball.com <mailto:rajat at bunchball.com >
> > >>     http://www.bunchball.com
> > >>     Bunchball is hiring!
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>     On 11/2/06, *Allen R Partridge* < allen.partridge at iup.edu
> > >>     <mailto:allen.partridge at iup.edu>> wrote:
> > >>
> > >>         I'm examining Flash Wrappers today (or arguably wrappers in
> > >>general)
> > >>         and wondered if folks on the list have any thoughts about
> > >>the
> > >>         commercially available options, their own options etc.
> > >>
> > >>         I have looked at SWFKit, MDMZink, and Jugglor, and read over
> > >>the
> > >>         past
> > >>         posts and a great article on the topic (leading to an in
> > >>house
> > >>         build)
> > >>         from the folks at Oberon.
> > >>
> > >>         Anybody see major options I'm missing? Anyone using or
> > >>avoiding
> > >>         any of
> > >>         the above for any reason?
> > >>
> > >>         I'm examining questions like ... ease of extensibility - can
> > >>I
> > >>         use it
> > >>         to write files to local machines easily? Ease of resolution
> > >>         shifting,
> > >>         can I use it to detect, set and reset screen resolution
> > >>eaisily?
> > >>         Ease
> > >>         of registry and system access. Customization and
> > >>compression, can I
> > >>         put in just what I need easily in order to optimize file
> > >>size on the
> > >>         deliverable? Security - does it enhance security - protect
> > >>the files
> > >>         better?
> > >>
> > >>         Finally I'm interested in opinions about the implications of
> > >>Adobe
> > >>         Apollo for the wrapper phenomenon.
> > >>
> > >>         Thanks in advance for your thoughts,
> > >>
> > >>         Al
> > >>         _______________________________________________
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> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
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