4 ms·

Am I the only one that remembers SWF load-progress indicators and how retarded they were?

robmclarty 13y ago
I think this is something slightly different in that it's non-blocking. The progress bar provides users with feedback as to the current status of the page they have requested to load, but it doesn't get in users' way and the page loads and renders as assets become available (unlike in SWF where all interaction is halted until the entire site has been downloaded up front).
infinita740 13y ago
This guy make fun of it in his flash games (progress bars go forward then backward) http://www.ferryhalim.com/orisinal/ http://www.ferryhalim.com/orisinal/ Brings lots of memories, I used to make flash games in school when I was 15. I always liked those little games. /nostalgia
- mmcclure 13y ago
  What have you done...now I'm going to play Winterbells for the rest of the afternoon.
- ianhawes 13y ago
  Anddddd there goes my day. Winterbells.
  - cbhl 13y ago
    Today I learned that Winterbells is now available on iPhone. What has the world come to?
- swah 13y ago
  There aren't JS games close to this yet, right?
  - voltagex_ 13y ago
    Apart from the art, is there any reason you couldn't do this in JS/HTML5?
    - cbhl 13y ago
      Is HTML5 audio available on all browsers yet? I remember for Cut the Rope that they claimed that HTML5 audio for games only worked in IE, and that for whatever reason Firefox/Chrome/Safari didn't work quite right and needed a Flash stub.
    - swah 13y ago
      In theory, yes. But my research indicates that you don't see smooth games like that yet.
borlak 13y ago
What do you mean? The SWF progress bars are one of the few that can actually be relied upon. A good example: http://armorgames.com/play/12141/kingdom-rush http://armorgames.com/play/12141/kingdom-rush The Microsoft installation progress bars are the ones I remember as being ridiculous. Often going backwards, showing ridiculous install times, etc.
- mcintyre1994 13y ago
  I think the worst was Windows movie maker, which used to seem to just randomly choose a time it might take and do a bad job of self correcting on the way. Oh, and of course there's a relevant xkcd, http://xkcd.com/612/ http://xkcd.com/612/
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
fsckin 13y ago
Reminds me of this: http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2013/03/security_theate_8.html http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2013/03/security_theat... Sadly down now. :(
chavesn 13y ago
I think the problem was that SWFs so frequently needed load indicators. Sure, progress bars make the time seem to go by quicker, but what's better is actually being quicker. Progress bars were a crutch, but the pages were still dramatically slower, that's why we all hated Flash sites so much.

I think this is something slightly different in that it's non-blocking. The progress bar provides users with feedback as to the current status of the page they have requested to load, but it doesn't get in users' way and the page loads and renders as assets become available (unlike in SWF where all interaction is halted until the entire site has been downloaded up front).

infinita740 13y ago

This guy make fun of it in his flash games (progress bars go forward then backward) http://www.ferryhalim.com/orisinal/ http://www.ferryhalim.com/orisinal/ Brings lots of memories, I used to make flash games in school when I was 15. I always liked those little games. /nostalgia

mmcclure 13y ago
What have you done...now I'm going to play Winterbells for the rest of the afternoon.
ianhawes 13y ago
Anddddd there goes my day. Winterbells.
- cbhl 13y ago
  Today I learned that Winterbells is now available on iPhone. What has the world come to?
swah 13y ago
There aren't JS games close to this yet, right?
- voltagex_ 13y ago
  Apart from the art, is there any reason you couldn't do this in JS/HTML5?
  - cbhl 13y ago
    Is HTML5 audio available on all browsers yet? I remember for Cut the Rope that they claimed that HTML5 audio for games only worked in IE, and that for whatever reason Firefox/Chrome/Safari didn't work quite right and needed a Flash stub.
  - swah 13y ago
    In theory, yes. But my research indicates that you don't see smooth games like that yet.

borlak 13y ago

What do you mean? The SWF progress bars are one of the few that can actually be relied upon. A good example: http://armorgames.com/play/12141/kingdom-rush http://armorgames.com/play/12141/kingdom-rush The Microsoft installation progress bars are the ones I remember as being ridiculous. Often going backwards, showing ridiculous install times, etc.

mcintyre1994 13y ago
I think the worst was Windows movie maker, which used to seem to just randomly choose a time it might take and do a bad job of self correcting on the way. Oh, and of course there's a relevant xkcd, http://xkcd.com/612/ http://xkcd.com/612/
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]

fsckin 13y ago

Reminds me of this: http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2013/03/security_theate_8.html http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2013/03/security_theat... Sadly down now. :(

chavesn 13y ago

I think the problem was that SWFs so frequently needed load indicators. Sure, progress bars make the time seem to go by quicker, but what's better is actually being quicker. Progress bars were a crutch, but the pages were still dramatically slower, that's why we all hated Flash sites so much.