Flash Games - a History

By Mark Zerbes


Today, Flash is the software that countless free games online run on. But how came this to be? Why is Flash the software of choice for innumerable designers of free games online?

The historical past of Flash games is tightly connected to the history of the Flash application itself.

Flash, which is one of the most prevalent browser extensions today, was initially presented in 1996 by the company Macromedia. It had been based on a program named "FutureSplash", which in turn was obtained by Macromedia just before.

The first version of the Flash software was still limited to animated graphics - there was not a chance to interact with users during the run of the animation. That's why the application area of the Flash application was restricted to things such as internet site introductions or animated commercials. Such things as free games online seemed to be virtually impossible.

Within the following years, The Flash Software saw new releases promising new capabilities. In 1999, version 4 of the Flash application was released. It was the first release that incorporated the programming language ActionScript, which offered things such as conditions and loops, that are vital to any programmer aiming to create a somewhat sophisticated program, such as a Flash video game for example. At this point such things as computer based training and online game projects were feasible. ActionScript has been a very important aspect of Flash since that time, and it's been constantly improved.

The year 2003 saw the release of Flash MX 2004, which included ActionScript 2.0, allowing to design sophisticated applications including forms, desktop applications and rich internet applications were now doable.

In 2005, Macromedia ended up being obtained by Adobe for 3.4 billion US Dollars, and Macromedia Flash turned Adobe Flash. In the next year, Adobe published the Flash Player 9, which provided support for the new ActionScript Version 3.0. This new version of ActionScript became a significant step concerning the speed of applications and programming features, allowing far more efficient programming. Flash Player 9 was also the earliest Flash version which included a full screen function.

2009 saw the very first Flash Player available on cell phones, making it possible for flash games to be played mobile.

And yet the initial issue remains: Exactly why do creators of free games online go for Flash in order to develop video games, whileyou'll find innumerable different programming languages to choose from? The response is situated in the overwhelming position of the Flash browser plugin, which permits Flash programs to be run inside a browser, without requiring to down load, unpack and manually run a application. The simplicity of that practice will allow free games online programmed in Flash to be played without work, and delivers game developers a way to deliver their products that could hardly be easier.




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