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Is it possible to develop new flash games and experiences that can run in browsers with this kind of emulation layer? Lots of people purport to miss developing

Is it possible to develop new flash games and experiences that can run in browsers with this kind of emulation layer? Lots of people purport to miss developing in ActionScript, so why isn't this path more popular? (I was just thinking about this yesterday and was considering submitting an Ask HN :)

rezonant 3y ago
I don't see why not :-) I think Actionscript was incredible and comparing it to how JavaScript (and Typescript) evolved is fascinating. The developer experience of working with RTMP is something we are only now just replicating with solutions like tRPC (or my own Conduit library)
krapp 3y ago
>Lots of people purport to miss developing in ActionScript, so why isn't this path more popular? Every popular game engine will export to HTML5/Webassembly now, there's really no need to keep Flash alive just for the sake of nostalgia.
- rezonant 3y ago
  Let me take a Polaroid real quick.
- milesvp 3y ago
  I think you may underestimate how approachable flash was to non devs. There is something about an animation engine that triggers code on a given frame that upends how most devs think about code. The main reason to keep it around is I’m not sure there’s anything else like it. Hypercard I understand was close. That said, part of what made flash approachable was also the ecosystem and the world in general. I don’t expect to see another cambrian explosion that was flash again in my lifetime, and it’s probably ok to let it die, given how tied it was to the zeitgeist of the early 2000s. Still, working for a replacment platform rather than just exporting from existing platforms is probably something the world will likely always need every generation. It’s all about what catches the interest of kids, and there is a known dichotomy between building for experienced users and building for beginners. And platforms will tend toward experienced users over time (mosty because repeat customers are much more profitable than new customers).
  - bonestamp2 3y ago
    Ya, it's not that we want to keep flash alive, it's that we want a similar approach to building web content. Unity has some similarities, but it's much more complex to do basic things.
- Bakingpotato 3y ago
  There's a reason you don't see too many HTML gaming websites, it itsn't that great for games, as much as they would like it to be.
zenger 3y ago
Take a look at https://haxe.org/ https://haxe.org/
OmarShehata 3y ago
Newgrounds just hosted a "Flash Forward Jam" recently where people did just that! https://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/1517301 https://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/1517301 Results are here: https://www.newgrounds.com/collection/flashforward2023 https://www.newgrounds.com/collection/flashforward2023
Nouser76 3y ago
Ruffle[0] can be embedded in your website to make flash work in modern browsers. Neopets actually did just this a few days ago[1] to bring back their catalog of old flash games. So if you can find a way to write Flash (the old tools should still be fine, but I haven't looked too deep) you can leverage it and let folks play today. [0]: https://ruffle.rs/ https://ruffle.rs/ [1]: https://www.theverge.com/2023/7/17/23798368/neopets-relaunch-website-flash-games https://www.theverge.com/2023/7/17/23798368/neopets-relaunch... Edited for citations
Bakingpotato 3y ago
Absolutely. Get the authoring software, (I hear a certain animate archive has them) and post to NG like all the Flash forward jammers have Ruffle works wonders

rezonant 3y ago

I don't see why not :-) I think Actionscript was incredible and comparing it to how JavaScript (and Typescript) evolved is fascinating. The developer experience of working with RTMP is something we are only now just replicating with solutions like tRPC (or my own Conduit library)

krapp 3y ago

>Lots of people purport to miss developing in ActionScript, so why isn't this path more popular? Every popular game engine will export to HTML5/Webassembly now, there's really no need to keep Flash alive just for the sake of nostalgia.

rezonant 3y ago
Let me take a Polaroid real quick.
milesvp 3y ago
I think you may underestimate how approachable flash was to non devs. There is something about an animation engine that triggers code on a given frame that upends how most devs think about code. The main reason to keep it around is I’m not sure there’s anything else like it. Hypercard I understand was close. That said, part of what made flash approachable was also the ecosystem and the world in general. I don’t expect to see another cambrian explosion that was flash again in my lifetime, and it’s probably ok to let it die, given how tied it was to the zeitgeist of the early 2000s. Still, working for a replacment platform rather than just exporting from existing platforms is probably something the world will likely always need every generation. It’s all about what catches the interest of kids, and there is a known dichotomy between building for experienced users and building for beginners. And platforms will tend toward experienced users over time (mosty because repeat customers are much more profitable than new customers).
- bonestamp2 3y ago
  Ya, it's not that we want to keep flash alive, it's that we want a similar approach to building web content. Unity has some similarities, but it's much more complex to do basic things.
Bakingpotato 3y ago
There's a reason you don't see too many HTML gaming websites, it itsn't that great for games, as much as they would like it to be.

zenger 3y ago

Take a look at https://haxe.org/ https://haxe.org/

OmarShehata 3y ago

Newgrounds just hosted a "Flash Forward Jam" recently where people did just that! https://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/1517301 https://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/1517301 Results are here: https://www.newgrounds.com/collection/flashforward2023 https://www.newgrounds.com/collection/flashforward2023

Nouser76 3y ago

Ruffle[0] can be embedded in your website to make flash work in modern browsers. Neopets actually did just this a few days ago[1] to bring back their catalog of old flash games. So if you can find a way to write Flash (the old tools should still be fine, but I haven't looked too deep) you can leverage it and let folks play today. [0]: https://ruffle.rs/ https://ruffle.rs/ [1]: https://www.theverge.com/2023/7/17/23798368/neopets-relaunch-website-flash-games https://www.theverge.com/2023/7/17/23798368/neopets-relaunch... Edited for citations

Bakingpotato 3y ago

Absolutely. Get the authoring software, (I hear a certain animate archive has them) and post to NG like all the Flash forward jammers have Ruffle works wonders