Flash is a program used to make animations and games that are most commonly used on the internet. You can also make website templates or a full blown website with it. Adobe and/or Macromedia has a nice flash program. The newest version of there flash program is CS4. It's everything you could possibly need for animating.

What is a pre-loader?

Well a flash pre-loader is just a loading bar for an animation or game. But there's a little more to it then you would think. Without one of these, when someone was to view your flash file it would just have a blank screen until the file loads. With one of these it will show how much of the file has been loaded. Just like a loading bar you've probably seen on things before.

How to make a pre-loader.

Here are some step by step instructions that should help you make a pre-loader in your adobe flash animation.

1. Open a new ActionScript 2.0 file
2. Create an animation
3. Add a blank keyframe for the very first frame in this animation.
4. Right click on the first frame and click on actions
5. Give it the action (copy and paste)

stop();
onEnterFrame = function() {
var amount:Number = this.getBytesLoaded()/ this.getBytesTotal() *100;v
loader._xscale = amount 
if(amount == 100) {
this.gotoAndPlay(2);
delete this.onEnterFrame;
}

}

• Next draw a rectangle you want for your pre-loader
• save that rectangle as a symbol and make it a movie clip
• click on the rectangle you have out on the stage in your animation
• then go to properties and give it the instance name loader

Now when you test your animation the loader wont work but it will when its on a website, such as newgrounds.

Games

Again, we'll start with the games.

The Avernum Series

An incredibly deep isometric RPG series

OK, OK, so this one isn't really free, but the demo versions are so vast they might as well be full games.

AssaultCube

A free first-person shooter

Remember Sauerbraten from the first list? Remember how it was a mod of the Cube game/engine? Yeah, so is AssaultCube.

Conflict Online

Multiplayer top-down shooter

This game was developed by someone I went to high school with as an AP Computer Science final project.

PrBoom

A Doom emulator with an option to view graphics as 8-bit or rendered with OpenGL.

(OpenGL rendering and the EternalDoom WAD)

Cave Story (Doukutsu Monogatari)

A charming side-scrolling adventure/shooter with beautiful pixel visuals.

Amazingly simple, Z to jump, X to shoot, Down to open a door. You just have to play this to understand.

Applications

Onward to the apps!

Adium

Highly customizable instant messenger client that can connect to AIM, MSN, Jabber, Yahoo, and more. Note: this is a Mac OS X only application, sorry Windows users

iSquint

A very useful video converter

VLC

Audio/Video player that can be used to stream and convert files to different file types

Smultron

A simple HTML editor. It has features for generating templates for different types of HTML, HTML and CSS. Definitely worth a look

And now it is time for me to big you farewell as I return to my non-Triond-oriented life. Good luck in your noble quest for free things.

Texas Instruments Inc.

This device extends the battery life in certain types of medical tools, scales, and data acquisition applications.

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Building- I. M. Pei

The architect tends to design buildings that depict the high-tech movement. He always works on larger scale projects and uses geometric designs to shape his buildings.

The "Butterfly Effect" - Prof. Edward Lorenz

Professor Lorenz realized that small differences in a forceful system such as the atmosphere could trigger unsuspected results. These explanations eventually led him to formulate what became known as the butterfly effect. "This term came from a paper he wrote in 1972 entitled Predictability: Does the Flap of a Butterfly's Wings in Brazil Set off a Tornado in Texas?"

Bose stereo - Professor Amar Bose

These stereo speakers are world-renowned for giving high-end performance despite their reticent size.

Ethernet - Robert Metcalf

Ethernet is a relationship between the unit frame-based computer networking technologies for (LANs). The Ethernet controls our access to certain types of data processing models, i.e. Internet.

The Internet Archive - Brewster Kahle

The Internet Archive (IA) consists of an online library containing the vast information on the Web and other multimedia resources. This information includes certain snapshots from various times from software, WebPages, audio visual and other sources.

Rockman amplifier - Tom Scholz

The Rockman is used in conjunction with headphones and an amplifier used for certain guitars. If any of you are familiar with Boston then you know who invented this.

Spacewar, the first computer game-Steve Russell

Spacewar was the first digital computer game of our time. The idea behind the game involved spaceships attempting to shoot each other while manipulating within the galaxy. I remember this game; I used to play it all the time on my Atari. I wish I still had it.

Hypertext - Prof. Vannevar Bush PhD

Hypertext is defined as words or text that leads the user to information associated with those words.

GPS (Global Positioning System) - Ivan Getting

The GPS uses satellites that transmit microwave signals. These signals enable receivers to determine certain types of pertinent information such as direction, time, speed and location.

The launchpad has a ball attached to an arm, you hit the ball with your own choice of club, and the sensor in the arm detects your swing's speed, path and angle and feeds this into the game. This promises to be the ultimate in indoor golfing - ditch that ball and plastic cup! You can purchase the golf launchpad for that special someone (way to get a promotion!), for the insignificant sum of $249 for the PC/Mac version, or $199 for the PS2 version. Oh, and please, please don't let go of the club when you're playing - you could break that expensive TV in your office!

The CPU

As the new Core2Duo 45nm Wolfdale processors have been introduced, these become the best processors, with a larger L2 cache of 6mb, less power usage and a slightly higher clock rate, while still costing the same as their predecessors. All these advantages makes me choose these processors.

Low-budget: Intel Core2Duo E8200 (€160)

Mid-range: Intel Core2Duo E8400 (€175)

High-end: Intel Core2Duo E8500 (€250)

The Video Card

This month, the Radeon HD3870 X2's prices has strongly been reduced, making this card very attractive. It's solid performance and very reasonable prices makes it the perfect video card for the high-end system. For the low-budget system, I would choose the Radeon HD 3850-256mb, but if I could change one thing about the low-budget system, I would swap the HD 3850-256mb for the HD3850-512mb or the GeFore 8800GT-512mb, because 512mb of video memory will soon become the new standard requirement for games.

For the mid-range system, I choose the GeForce 8800GT-512mb, which currently has the best price/quality proportion.

Low-budget: Radeon HD 3850-256mb (€155)

Mid-range: Asus GeForce EN8800GT-512mb (€250)

High-range: Radeon HD 3870 X2 (€380)

The Motherboard

The Asus P5K for all systems.

Low-budget: Asus P5K (€105)

Mid-range: Asus P5K (€105)

High-end: Asus P5k-E (€135)

The Hard Disk

The Seagate Barracuda disks are currently the best offer there is. Attention: In the high-end system, the two disks have to be configured in raid.

Low-budget: Seagate 250 GB 7200.10 SATA-300 (€70)

Mid-range: Seagate 320 GB 7200.10 SATA-300 (€80)

High-end: Seagate 500 GB 7200.10 SATA-300, 2 pieces (€210)

The Memory

There's a lot of rumble on the memory market these days. This caused the price for 2GB of memory to drop strongly. Same for all systems.

Low-budget: 2048MB Corsair Twin2x DDR2 C4 6400 (€62)

Mid-range: 2048MB Corsair Twin2x DDR2 C4 6400 (€62)

High-end: 2048MB Corsair Twin2x DDR2 C4 6400 (€62)

The Rest

Not much to say about the other parts of your computer (computer case with power supply, DVD-player, keyboard and mouse). One thing you should pay attention to: a power supply of at least 400Watt, which can be bought for around €90. Also make sure your case is large enough if you want to buy the 8800GTX. You shouldn't spend more than €25 on you DVD-player either. A mouse and keyboard can be bought for €30, but if you want those with special design or wireless, you will easily be paying over €100. But that's just about taste.

Conclusion

Here I will compare the configuration with that of the previous month. As this is the first month, I can't do that now. So see you next month!

Note: As I'm from Europe, all prices are in euros. Converting them would be too much work and since the euro/dollar course is doing weird, it would also not be correct. Still, the systems listed here are the best to buy, though their price may vary in dollars.

Note: While any downloads are taking place on your device do not let the screen fall asleep! I will post additions in the comments of this article, if you have anything to add post your additions too, if you want to update your firmware, after you have jailbroken your device, make sure that you restore it first or it could get locked.

1. Downgrade Your Firmware

Decide on the software version you want to do this with. The earlier the version the more applications you can get for your device. Next, find the download for this version. I suggest 1.1.1. You can download the file here for the iPod, and here for the iPhone. After it is done downloading connect your iPod to your computer and open iTunes. Find your iPod in iTunes and then press down the Option key on a Mac and click update. You can also press the Shift key if you are on a windows computer. At this point, a dialog box opens up and you will need to select the file you downloaded earlier. Once your iPod is done downgrading it will restart. Congratulations it is now running firmware version 1.1.1.

2. Jailbreaking Your iPod

Now that your iPod is running the correct firmware you can jailbreak it! This part, while the most significant, is the easiest. Simply take your iPod and open Safari, in the address bar type in www.jailbreakme.com. Once your iPod loads the page scroll all the way down and click "Install AppSnapp." In about ten seconds it will be done installing and you will have a new icon on your home screen called "Installer." Your device is now jailbroken and you can get the applications you want.

3. Getting More Sources (Optional/Recommended)

This step is for people who want to do more than make their iPod an iPhone, it's for people who want their iPod/iPhone to be a combined Computer, iPod, Phone, PSP, Gameboy, NES, Playstation, virtual book reader and more. It also allows users to completely customize their device including all images and default text on it. It will allow you to change the order of the buttons on your home screen and put up to fifteen buttons into the Home Dock. Your applications come from programmer's lists called Sources. To add almost every single source of applications into your Installer's database you will only need to manually add one source. To do this open installer on your iPod and click "Sources" on the bottom right. Once your sources are opened click "edit" in the top right corner and then "add" in the bottom left.

Once you do this a dialog box should pop up. Into the box enter the following: http://blazeco.info/blaze.xml. After you do this your iPod should began a database update sequence which could take between three and ten minutes. When it is done updating your sources database your sources should automatically refresh. If they don't, close and reenter your installer and they will (this will also take a short while every time it happens, do not think it is frozen or will affect the rest of your device). You should now have a lot of sources and so many more options of what to install. Now go to sources and click edit then scroll down your list and delete any sources that are in foreign languages. Now after one last refresh your done! Congratulations!

4. Installing Applications

This is the section where you download the actual applications onto your device. They will appear as new icons on your home screen. Open up your installer and go to the "Install" section (second button from the left at the bottom), here you should see a long list of folders each of which contain applications inside. Simply choose the applications you want and then install them. If they have installed correctly, the installer should revert to the screen with many scrollable folders of options. Install up-to five or ten apps and then click your home button. Your screen should jumble up the buttons for a second and then refresh. Once it refreshes your new icons should appear. After you have done this you may return to the installer and install more programs, as many as you like! Once your screen cannot hold any more icons it will simply make a new page for them, to scroll these pages simply slide your finger to either side on your device's home screen. You have now learned how to add applications and I will list some I recommend below.

• iPhone 1.1.1 Apps for iPod

If you are on an iPod and not an iPhone this will give you a list of all the iPhone programs and, if you install them, you will get them on your iPod.

• Customize

Customize your device full description below.

• Aqwoah Keyboard (1.1.1)

This install gives your default virtual keyboard a set of beautiful 3d rounded keys with a brushed steel background. It is much easier to use, as there is more distinction.

• Gaming System Emulators

Download these emulators for things like GBA or NES to have your device be able to act like one of these and have many pre-included games and two player games such as Mario, Zelda, and more.

• Tap Tap Revolution

This is the equivalent of Guitar Hero for your device. If you actually want the flames and other affects of the actual game then download: TTR, the Guitar Hero III theme for it, and songs you like. You will then be ready to play it GHIII style.

• iPhysics

This is well known to be one of the most advanced programs for the iPod/iPhone it is a game where you play by a set of physics laws and you control it with many actions of your fingers. You can draw any shape or line, joins, hooks, rotating anchors and also control some games with your tilt sensor. Also a full featured pinball game is available for it in which the handles and spring are controlled by your fingers. (If you can't find it add iPhone Hacking and Rambling to your sources, if it blinks turn on compatibility mode in the options).

• Social Websites

Adds icons for social websites such as Facebook and Myspace to your home screen.

• BSD Subsystem

Makes your device run better and be more compatible.

• Team Wiki

Finds and makes follow along lyrics with all your songs.

• Games

There are hundreds of games for your device available even two-player games like air hockey.

There are literally thousands of options make your own list of favorites!

5. Customizing (Optional/Recommended)

To customize your device you will need to open installer and install an application called "Customize." Once you have done this you will need to also download all of the designer image sets for customize (big files might take a while). Once you have downloaded both of these open up customize in your home screen. Here you can change how your dock background looks, your icon display order, and any of the default images for your device and the apps on it simply by clicking what you want to customize (from the slider, to the icons to the battery picture, to your music buttons, AND ANY IMAGE at all) and then selecting an option from the list presented. You can also customize iPhone default sounds by clicking "System Sounds". You may also customize default text by going to SpringBoard Strings" and selecting what you want to change (anything from the "Slide to Unlock" to the "System Messages"). All of these things can be changed with my favorite program; "Customize". Your iPod is now customize and has many amazing programs on it.

You have successfully jailbroken your iPod Touch or iPhone! Enjoy your brand new device and show it off to your friends!

Instang Win- Hold ctr + shift +f10 during a game.You'll be asked if you want to abort,retry, or ignore. Pick abort and move any card to instantly win.

Hidden Game modes- Go to the game menu and choose select game. Enter -1 or -2 to start the hidden game modes.

Hearts:

Show all the cards- You need to change the registry key...HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionAppletsHearts create a new string value named ZB with the value of 42 once done start hearts press ctrl + alt + shift + f12 to show all the cards.

Solitare:

Instant win- Simple to do just press alt + shift + 2 during a game to win instantly.

Draw a single card in a 3 card draw game- Hold ctrl + alt + shift when drawing a new card.

Minesweeper:

Show mines- Minimize all windows. 0pen a minsweeper game and type xyzzy. Now hold one of the shift keys for one second now if u move your mouse cursor over one of the squares you will see a small white pixel in the top left corner of your desktop screen. It will turn black when you mouse over a mine.

Stopping the timer- Open minsweeper and start a new game so the timer will start counting once this starts press the windows key + d on your keyboard to show the desktop. So now when you select minsweeper from the taskbar it will continue playing with the timer stopped.

Pinball:

Start by typeing 1max at the beginning to get extra balls.

Instant Promotion- type in rmax at the start of a new game to move up in the ranks.

Gravity Well- type in gmax in the start of a new game to start the gravity well.

Skill Shots- Launch the ball partially up the chute past the third yellow light bar so it falls back down to get 75,000 points. There are six yellow light bars that are worth a varying amount of points:

• First: 15,000 points
• Second: 30,000 points
• Third: 75,000 points
• Fourth: 30,000 points
• Fifth: 15,000 points
• Sixth: 7,500 points

Test MODE- type hidden test at the start of a new ball to enter test mode. You won't know your in test mode though. But now you can left click the ball and drag it around. In test mode press the following:

• H - Get a 1,000,000,000 High Score
• M - Shows the amount of system memory
• R - Increases your rank in game
• Y - Shows the Frames/sec rate

But my thinking is that there could be a programming framework that allowed all the different games that people come up with to get stuck together. Kind of like Second Life's doing (and the other ones) with their sandbox designed to let the avatars design on their own. I'm sure that the world is becoming more rich and complete with each passing day, I just don't have the computer or connection speeds to keep up with it all.

Or the patience. I couldn't spend all day modeling myself a pair of shoes. I'm just not that committed to self-indulgence.

And yet I am. But the self-indulgence that I partake in consists of a dreaming, a creation of a world that exists only in my mind. And it's a cool world, it's just that I don't have a good way to market it just yet.

Back to the programming thing. Isn't it possible that you build a programming language within the framework of an engine? Like, anyone can build a level for a Quake/Unreal based game. And people can model, and they can code various things in that framework. Okay, so what if (and right now we're just cross platforming FPSes) Builder A creates a post apocolyptic world with laser sniper rifles, and Builder B is working on a similar thing but he's focused on hover shoes. You'd have to have grafters to splice the two, but the premise is you play A and then walk through a door into B.

And Builder C has this project on Mars, and Builder D is building a Civil War mod. So now you've got to get your grafter to build a space shuttle and a time machine to act as links between them. But the point is that no matter what level gets built, they're all in the same framework. So you can walk seamlessly through each world that's been created.

Now, you could specify- only allow people to work on certain base structures. You've got your earth, your moon, your mars, your past, your future, your fantasy realm, etcetera, and you could even have all of the grafts already in place were you to pull something of that nature. And empty space extending away from the links. That'd be the easiest way to make it cohesive. But the point is that if Builder B's hover boots work in his map, they're going to work on Mars as well.

But that's thinking on a small level.

What I'm imagining is you can have different games within it all. I'm imagining that you can be the president of the country that's at war with the aliens and you can choose to send reinforcements to whatever sector you deem in most need. I'm saying that you can rebuild the bombed out city with whatever utilities and recreation as you want. I'm saying that you can be a god within that framework, sending plagues at your own whim.

There's an adventure game/platformer where you can get wings to fly to the top of a mountain to fight lizard men. Well, the bio-soldiers sent in to protect against the meteor-transported ooze infestation might just stumble upon said mountain, and now they've got flying wings too.

It's the framework that needs to be created. We've gotten to the point that most of what we could ever hope to do with a videogame (visually, and in terms of gameplay) has pretty much plateaued. Now it's time to create a programming language that is all modular. That is from the ground up bug free. Nothing can be created that will cause problems or interference with the rest of the world in which you're doing the creating.

And it all gets back to Risk. I'd love to play a game wherein I can take over a country. Even just starting there, it's a little past what we've got today; say you've got six cities, and a whole lot of terrain between them. Well, there aren't too many games that can boast creating six cities, first off, if you want to get technical the Elder Scrolls series is the only one that comes to mind. But even those are small towns, really. Not cities.

But say you can model six cities, and we're talking real, full on, public transit and utilities cities. Living, breathing, I can walk into everyone's houses cities. And the physics engine is good enough that everything breaks (and in its own special way, bricks falling apart versus wood splintering.) And you've got a financial model, taxation or what have you, with areas around the cities that are sources for resources. So you can build aircraft carriers, or trucks, or you can conscript soldiers and so on for a set fee.

And there's got to be the upgrade element. Having control of scientific centers allows for better equipment. And your citizens have personalities (and yes, every city is fully populated.) So from the top you've got a border town, an industrial kind of town, and a capital city, and once the tanks start rolling the cities start to crumble and your citizens are at risk.

You can tax the shit out of these guys, go on an all out offense, but then they might uprise. In which case you can send in the national guard to quell them, or use diplomacy to settle your differences. And you need to use terrain to strategize your attacks and defense. Already I'm beginning to see that six cities is not enough. Six cities a side, perhaps.

Okay. Take a step back. Two countries. Six cities each (and for good measure a number of little towns between them.) Each has resources and citizens, trade and commerce, and a level of technology. You start at war with the other side. How you win is open ended, so long as you're the only one standing. You can win with influence; building a strong commerce and unique commercial ideas, then trading with the next town over might get them to rebel against their government. You can win with force; sending a fleet of bombers to carpet a city can destroy it and render it useless. But beware retaliation.

In this game you can develop nuclear weapons, but if both sides deploy it's a stalemate (which means you lose.)

My point is, the game I envision is bigger than Oblivion, as customizable as Sim City, as strategic as Diplomacy or Risk or Imperialism or Civilization, as open and fluid as Black and White, but you can zoom into any citizen or soldier and play them as easily as Crackdown, God of War, or Halo.

Oh, and as for the individual playing style: a citizen needs clearance to go places, isn't particularly strong, but can act as a politician to rally the citizens. A soldier has their physical stats, but little control. A general can command entire armies, but tends to stay away from the action. Even little tweaks in gameplay like that could make a game so much more enjoyable.

Well, enough about all that. I haven't even gotten into the whole RPG that I've been envisioning. Nor have I gotten into the MMO elements that could blow a war game like the one I've been describing right out the water.

The interface in FPS Creator is as simple as can be with allot of flexibility. The levels are made using a Windows Paint-like, point and click method. It's so easy you could make a simple level in a matter of 10 minutes. You use segments to "paint" the level which are things to represent models you have created or bought. Sprites are all the little things like furniture and fire even weapons start as sprites. So overall the interface is really easy to learn and really fun to work with. Now if you would like to, advanced users can work directly with code that The Game Creators have implemented to create more creative and more in-depth games. The source code is also available so if you've taken some courses in programming you can even tweak the engine to your liking.

The graphics of the games produced with FPS Creator are not groundbreaking but they aren't outdated either. With the new FPS Creator X10 they will be implementing the use of Direct X10 for Vista which will really up the sales of this program. Like i have said before, if your game is creative and interesting you could publish it and make some profit. You can produce both single player and multiplayer games with FPS Creator so the outcome of the games made with FPS Creator is commercial quality if worked on well.

The customer support and the "extras" available is really good. Some of the best and friendliest customer support you can find. The "extras" they offer range from model packs to script packs, they even have a forum dedicated to providing users with a place to exchange and publish games and content for FPS Creator. To this date there are 16 official model packs and 1 official sprite pack available on the website.

Cons to FPS Creator are some restrictions on what you can actually create without coding, and there aren't updates too often to the program itself.

Overall i'd give FPS Creator a 9 out of 10 for being one of the best game making programs out there. If your looking for a program to create First-Person Shooting games i suggest you pick up FPS Creator. It's available at here.