The iRiver U10 is a new portable media player from Reigncom Ltd. whose entire user interface is implemented in Flash Lite 1.1. This means the player itself is embedded in the operating system. The device has the ability to play back Flash SWF files that you transfer to the device using the included USB cable.

The device's unique form factor and UI make it particularly well suited for simple Flash games. The device has a four-way navigational control built into the display screen. To press Up, Down, Left, or Right, you actually squeeze the edge of the screen, which produces a slight tactile click and sends a keyPress event to the Flash Lite player.

I created Launch Fighters to show how quickly I could build a game. My idea was to optimize the game file after I completed the project. In this case, it took only four days' development time from prototyping to finished game.

Below you can play launch_fighters.swf to see the game and its format. Bear in mind that the game performance in the desktop browser does not represent the performance of the game on the actual device.

Note: After you click once in the window to give it focus, use the arrow keys on your keyboard, not your mouse, to control game play. Press the Right arrow to activate a right-facing arrow on screen; press the Down arrow to activate a downward arrow on screen. Once you begin to play, move the ship left and right by pressing the Left and Right arrows, and make it shoot the oncoming enemy ships by pressing the Down arrow.

Play the movie: Launch Fighters

This is the beginning of a three-part series of articles that will cover creating and optimizing the Launch Fighters mobile game for the iRiver U10, as well as porting the game to another platform.

Requirements

To complete this tutorial you will need to install the following software and files:

Macromedia Flash Professional 8

• Try
• Buy

Tutorials and sample files:

• launch_fighters.zip (ZIP, 440K)

Prerequisite Knowledge

This article is intended for developers that are already familiar with Macromedia Flash and Flash ActionScript. Before reading this article, you should be familiar with the Macromedia Flash 8 authoring environment and scripting for Flash Lite 1.1. For information on getting starting with Flash Lite and mobile authoring using Flash 8, please refer to the Flash Lite Developer Center.

To use the source code and materials in this article, you will need Macromedia Flash 8 Professional. You can run the compiled game files in the Flash 8 mobile emulator or in the browser using the desktop player. To experience the actual game performance and user interaction, however, you will also need the iRiver U10.

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