Dress Up Game Help

[DemonessOfDeathValley]

I'm trying to learn how to create one of those dress up games in Flash. And the tutorials that I've read have said that I need to download 'Actionscript' which is supposedly by Adobe. When I looked it up to try and download it, it came up with something about a monthly fee for photography creative cloud storage. That was really confusing because to my knowledge, I don't need cloud storage for photos.

So, my question is what is it that I need to get? Is the Actionscript not the right thing? Or is it something different, am I better with photoshop or what?

[AmberStarfire]

I'll help you how I can, which isn't very much possibly. I know Dreamweaver and Photoshop well but never really used Flash.

Basically the way Adobe worked for their programs, you had earlier programs, CS4, CS5 and CS6 (which were actual software programs that weren't part of the cloud), and then they discontinued the CS and Creative Cloud took over. I think it technically came into being sometime while CS6 was out, but any rate, if you're looking for an up to date program, you need to sign up for a Creative Cloud trial. You get a free month's trial and after that they charge a subscription. All of the Adobe programs are now part of the Creative Cloud.

Flash builder is still on there, so it's an option. You don't have to download all the programs btw, but if you choose a 1 month trial of Flash Builder, then it will be from the Creative Cloud.

A lot of people are blocking Flash now, so you might find that the purpose you intend it for isn't as solid as it used to be. I don't know what Actionscript is but the program should tell you what it needs to run.

Also, while personally I'd check out an older version of the program that's off-subscription, you get a lot of fake Adobe and other programs through Amazon. Also I remember hearing that either Adobe or Microsoft won't always honour purchases from Amazon and other sites, so I'd be careful. If you're a student, you'll also find that you'll get big discounts off subscriptions for Adobe. I got my CS5 software back when I was a student and it saved me a lot, but I also found signing up for a Dreamweaver subscription (back when I was using it) through an international site saved me a lot too. As you're in the US I think, you'll probably find Flash Builder subscriptions are cheaper there anyway.

If you're looking to build something for Flash, then Photoshop won't be the right program.

[DemonessOfDeathValley]

The tutorial I found, is for making a dress up game for flash. It's a simple game that's basically a digital paper doll with a selection of outfits, hair styles, make up, jewelry even body shapes. It's sort of a first step to a larger interest of mine.

Your explanation actually helped because the tutorial I was reading talked about CS6 and that art created in Photoshop couldn't be used in the program the author was talking about.

When I looked up Flash, all I could find was the flash program that I already have. So is there drawing software included in the Adobe stuff? Or is that a completely different thing too?

[AmberStarfire]

If you already have a Flash Builder (the software on your computer) then you don't need to download the Flash Builder from Creative Cloud. The Flash Builder on Creative Cloud is the most up to date version of that program, but it won't work unless you're paying a subscription or on a month's free trial. If you already have the software it may serve the same purpose, though if it's a software version it won't be the most up to date. Adobe isn't selling software versions of their programs and suites now, where you can pay once and use them forever. That stopped at CS6.

Adobe has a lot of different programs that are targeted at different kinds of 'creation', including drawing. Photoshop is good for drawing based on pixels (mainly). Just your average kinds of pictures. Illustrator is for vector drawing.

They have a list of their current Creative Cloud programs here:
http://www.adobe.com/ie/creativecloud/catalog/desktop.html

They have different kinds of subscriptions, like you could subscribe to one app/program (like I subscribed to Dreamweaver). I think it was around $15 a month, or between $60 and $100 for all of creative cloud per month (non-student subscription). All of their software seems to have a learning curve (maybe not steep but getting there), which is one reason why trying it for a month first can be a good idea. It may take that long to learn to use one of their programs. There are free or cheaper alternatives to Photoshop out there like GIMP.

[mellowdude]

When you say you have Flash, what do you mean?

There's Flash Player, which is the thing that lets you play Flash... things... (e.g. games, cartoons, videos, etc.) on your browser. It's free and you probably have it installed.

Those things that the Flash Player lets you see/interact with are more formally called SWFs (rhymes with swift, but lose the t at the end). The various flash games and stuff you find online are all swfs.

There's a software called Flash that costs money to acquire legally (unless your place of education or work is giving it to you for free) that you can use to make SWFs. It has some decent vector drawing tools.  You can use Actionscript in it to provide additional functionality (you don't need to get it separately, it just comes with it). My guess is that your tutorial probably requires this, but I can be sure if you put a link to your tutorial here. Adobe Flash looks like this (might be different depending on which version you're using).

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

Flash builder is something that can also be used to make SWFs, but it doesn't let you draw stuff. You can only write code in it (including Actionscript) and draw using code (not recommended unless you really know what you're doing) or use it to import pictures you make using something else. It's free but outdated. Look into the Flex SDK if you're going this route.

There's also, these guys.

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

Incidentally, it is possible to make a browser based dressup game without Flash for free, but it's somewhat harder and I don't know if there are any tutorials specifically for it. One approach that comes to mind is learning Javascript and then looking into either SVG (if you're using vector art) or Canvas (if you're not).

[DemonessOfDeathValley]

Thank you, Amber. I think the illustrator program through Adobe might be what I want. But I believe more research is needed.

Mellowdude, I think it's Flash Player. Because it's the plugin needed to view certain videos, play games and what not.

[AmberStarfire]

A 1 month Creative Cloud free trial will let you try out any of the apps you want (Illustrator/Photoshop/Flash Builder etc).

I was going to say I don't think you can create what you're looking for in Illustrator but I Googled it and maybe you can. I don't know.

[mellowdude]

Flash Player alone won't let you make anything. It'll just let you view swfs.

In order to make a dressup game, you need graphics, but you also need interactivity (so users can drag and drop stuff)

Photoshop and Illustrator, to my knowledge don't let you make anything that lets an end user (i.e. someone playing your game) drag and drop images (as far as I can tell). You can do that with Flash (using images made in Photoshop, Illustrator or nearly anything else if you like) or you can do that with Javascript (harder but free).

Adobe Illustrator (Vector), Adobe Photoshop (Raster), and even Adobe Flash (Vector) can be used to make 2D graphics (though Illustrator and Photoshop are more specifically designed for it).

This page explains Raster vs Vector graphics. Vector graphics are more typically used for logos and 'cartoony' images, but can also be used for Realistic Images via stuff like Illustrator's Gradient Mesh tool. If you're more used to making non digital artwork, you might find making raster images on Photoshop more intuitive though and some art styles might be difficult to use in vector form.

Adobe products are industry standard, but there are free alternatives like Inkscape (Vector Graphics) and GIMP (Raster Graphics).

[DemonessOfDeathValley]

Thank you, mellowdude that was very helpful. From the links provided, it appears that Vector is what I need. And I recognize Vector as being what other Artists on dress up sites talk about using.

Is Inkscape something that is easy to learn? Because I've run into a bit of a snag with another free software program. It's my graphics program Daz3d that is free but it took a while to learn how to use because all the tutorials were extremely confusing.

[mellowdude]

I've downloaded Inkscape and tried it out for around 10 minutes. It doesn't seem to be particularly hard to use IMO, but I already knew vector drawing basics (e.g. control points, gradients, layers) beforehand so I don't think I'm a good judge on how easy it is to learn them from scratch on Inkscape.

I've never used Daz Studio, but as far as I can tell, it's a 3D modeling software. A 3D model is a very different beast from an image. If you want to make a true 3D browser based dressup game (i.e. one where you can put in some sort of movable camera and/or turn the figures around), that's a pretty tremendous undertaking. It's not impossible, but if you don't have any experience with 3D programming, it'll be quite difficult. Alternatively, consider making custom assets for videogames with active modding scenes like Sims, Skyrim, Fallout, etc. if you want to make 3D objects.

You can still make a 2D dressup game using 3D models in Daz Studio if you render 2D images of the models in it, but unless Daz Studio can export into some vector format, they're going to be raster images. You can then manually trace the raster images manually with a vector editing program to get vector images if you like.

Could you tell me as much as you can about what you want your final product to look like and/or do? Maybe with sample artwork and links to whatever dress up game is most similar to the one you'd like to make?

Minor suggestion: I think you might be able to get more advice from more people if you change your thread title to 'Dress up game help' or something like that

[DemonessOfDeathValley]

This is the type of dress up that I'm looking to create. It's a type of digital paper doll with options to click on and the doll changes. Drag and drop is great but it's not my personal preference. As it gets tricky with multiple layers in my opinion.

What I'm trying to do is draw out a 2D basic digital paper doll, with different facial feature options, hair styles choices, make up, outfit choices, accessories, jewelry and then some drag and drop extras for the little details that the user might want to create on their own.

All I really need is the right software and learning how to use it.

[mellowdude]

According to that site's FAQ, it was made using Photoshop and Flash (I'm guessing drawn in Photoshop and interactivity added using Flash). I think that sort of style is doable in vector art. I'd recommend Inkscape (as it's free) but you could use any vector graphics editor.

You'll also need to learn some javascript to handle stuff like button presses and changes to the image resulting from those. I'll try to whip up a prototype/proof of concept to give you a decent starting point when I get some time.

[DemonessOfDeathValley]

That is so kind of you, thank you.

[mellowdude]

I messed around a little bit with inkscape, a text editor and a browser and managed to make this (I am not an artist or designer :P).

This was a rush job with very sloppy code, but I just wanted to assure you it could be done using nothing more than the above (though, you'll probably want something a little better than notepad as your text editor (I recommend Sublime Text but any text editor with code highlighting for html and javascript would help) ). I'll link a more polished version (codewise that is, my drawings aren't going to get much better than that :P) when I get more time.

In the meantime, find some tutorials on inkscape, html and javascript. If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask.

[DemonessOfDeathValley]

Oh my God! Thank you SO much. That was so incredibly kind of you. I will definitely check out Inkscape and the tutorials you suggested. I knew there was a way to do it!

[mellowdude]

Happy to help  ;D

Btw, I rescind my recommendation of Sublime Text. Apparently you're supposed to purchase it for continued use or something. Anyway, I'd suggest going with Adobe Brackets instead if you're looking for a text editor.

[DemonessOfDeathValley]

Adobe brackets? Is that part of the Adobe products that costs a fee? Would it be possible to use Gimp for text editing or am I way off?

[mellowdude]

Adobe Brackets is a completely free text editor. You can download it here.

GIMP is a raster graphics editor, so I doubt it can be used to create text files.

[AmberStarfire]

I use either Notepad (good for regular text) or Notepad++ (for codey things).
I haven't heard of Adobe brackets before but it sounds similar but with more support for graphics/pulling info out of PSDs. It shows a file tree too that Notepad++ doesn't.

[mellowdude]

The file tree is kinda handy. Brackets also has a 'live editing' feature where you can be editing a web page on brackets and have google chrome open on the side getting live updates. It's sort of like that thing Dreamweaver has where you can see the webpage while you're coding in one of the views, only brackets and chrome will be on separate windows.

Notepad++ is also pretty great. Demoness, you could try both (and any other text editors you hear about) and use whichever you prefer (or even change it up from time to time).

[AmberStarfire]

That sounds pretty good for free. I'm going to give it a try.