F.L.A.S.W.F

The ChatBot MegaHAL Ported to Flash

2011-09-28T21:46:00.000-07:00

Also: Have a Talk with MegaHAL on Kongregate.

When I first created a simple Chatbot, which just searches answers for user inputs from a predefined XML file, someone pointed me to MegaHAL as an example which can be trained from users' inputs.
MegaHAL is an advanced ChatBot, created by Jason Hutchens in 1998 and won the Loebner Prize Contest. MegaHAL is based on 4^th-order Markov models to construct the model of language, so it can learn from user's input. Thanks to Adobe Alchemy, porting MegaHAL is almost painless.

[1 HOW TO PLAY]

Click after the prompt ">" to get focus. Then type what you want to say after the prompt and press Enter key twice to sent your message to the Bot. Now you can get your reply. (The interface is command-like)
[Save the brains]: "right click" =>"#Save brain"
[Upload your brains]: "right click" =>"#Upload brain"=>browse for your save brain, it's a zip file=> type command "#brain user" to change the brain

[2 CHANGING PERSONALITIES]

Use MEGAHAL COMMAND “#brain YourBrainName”
{
Available Brains:
#brain aliens(Bishop from Aliens!)
#brain bill(Bill Clinton)
#brain caitsith(Cait Sith from FFVII)
#brain danish(Danish MegaHAL).
#brain dune(Alia from Dune!)
#brain ferris(Mr. Ferris Bueller himself!)
#brain german(German MegaHAL)
#brain manson(MegaMANSON, the Marylin Manson personality)#brain pulp(Marsellus Wallace from Pulp Fiction!)
#brain scream(Randy from Scream!)
#brain startrek(Data from Star Trek)
#brain starwars(Threepio from the Star Wars Trilogy)
}

I also created a forum for Flash MegaHAL, so you can upload and share your trained brains there:
http://flaswf.freeforums.org/flash-megahal-f25.html

Source Code of Flash MegaHAL:
In Game->Right Click->Download Source Code

MegaHAL Official Website:
http://megahal.alioth.debian.org/

To know more about one of the best ChatBots MegaHal:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MegaHAL

Paint Online with Chinese Water Color Brush

2011-09-24T21:09:00.000-07:00

I once tried to learn Chinese calligraphy and painting when I was in primary school. Unfortunately, I dropped them for lack of gifts. However, I'm still fond of these Chinese styles of art. So I have always wanted to create something to simulate the Chinese Brush and Chinese Painting in Flash.

This is a project I made for Baidu's APP contest. This toy use automata machine to simulate the dispersion of the ink, which is explained here.
A Chinese version of this toy can be found here: http://app.baidu.com/widget?appid=138371
You can share your art and suggestions at the Forum for this toy:
http://flaswf.freeforums.org/watercolorbrush-f33.html

Full Source Code of the Game - The Feeder Released!

2011-09-05T02:07:00.000-07:00

Description: Risk your life to feed those "lovely" hungry monsters. Feed all monsters in the level to go to next level. Be careful and good luck! It is a Wolfenstein3D like first person "shooting" game.
Objective: Feed all monsters in the level to go to next level. Enter key to view time, level, life and score.
Instructions:
W/up: move forward
S/down: move back
left arrow key: turn left
A: strafe left
right arrow key: turn right
D: strafe right
----------
Space: shoot
M: map
Enter: pause game/view game status
----------

The Feeder is the game I made for Stanford Hackathon 2011 flash game competition. It is a 2.5D "FPS" game using ray casting technology. Now I release the full source code of the game for you.

Source Code: In Game Menu, Right Click->Download Source Code.

Special Thanks to:
http://code.dawnofthegeeks.com/2009/05/05/c-lesson-37-wolf5k-making-it-better-part-1/
http://minimalcomps.com/
http://blog.ickydime.com/2011/01/flash-game-competition-stanford-adobe.html

Simple Ray Tracing Voxel Demo

2011-08-25T21:45:00.000-07:00

Raytracing Voxel - wonderfl build flash online

Just a simple demo using Ray Tracing to render Voxels.
I use a 1D array - voxelData[] to represent voxels/3D points with colors. It's easier for understanding if I use a 3D array, voxelData[x][y][z], where x, y, z is the position of the voxel in 3D space and the value of the array is color for that voxel. Note that voxelData[x][y][z] = voxelData[x<<16|y<<8|z] if the dimension is set to 256 at max.

The rendering idea is simple, since we want to fill the screen using colors, for each pixel in the screen, trace a ray, and march the ray in the voxel space, until the ray hit a voxel, then we get the color and write it to the screen. This is the so-called "first-hit" algorithm.

Ray tracing is slow, a fast way to render voxel is ray casting, such as the algorithm used in Bengine. But using ray tracing, you can easily add some reflection/shadow effect after calculate normal vectors of the voxels.

Source code: https://flaswf.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/RaytracingVoxel
(similar to the source code of the voxel ray tracing demo in my earlier post)

====================
Update: November, 27, 2011
====================

Ray Tracing Voxel Demo using 3D DDA/Bresenham's line algorithm

Raytracing Voxel Demo with 3D Bresenham's line algorithm - wonderfl build flash online

Source code: https://flaswf.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/RaytracingVoxel/3DDDA
More about Bresenham's line algorithm:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bresenham%27s_line_algorithm
http://www.cobrabytes.com/index.php?topic=1150.0
http://www.jonof.id.au/forum/index.php?topic=1338.msg9213;topicseen#msg9213

Use vLib.swc to manage flash project resources and protect swf assets

2011-08-19T00:32:00.000-07:00

vLib - the virtual library project, is a AS3 swc lib to handle your flash project resources, such as bitmaps, swfs, mp3 sounds, texts, xmls and binary files.
It will ease you from importing assets into your .fla's library, writing lots of Embed stuffs for the Flex project, and save your efforts of using lots of URLLoader and Loader codes.
Only need to write a XML file and markup the name and URL address for all flash resources, you can then access them using simple AS3 api provided by vLib.swc.

Tutorial of using vLib.swc, Step by Step:

Step 1[Prepare the test resources files]:
Create a folder and put all the resources(such as Binary files, mp3 sounds, swfs, text files, xml files, .JPG and .PNG pictures) into it.

Step 2[Write the description xml]:
Write a xml file of the resources' names and URLs.
The XML must begin and end with

There're 6 kinds of resources, each kind has a tag, they're:

 for all text files

 for all picture files

 for all swf files

 for all mp3 files

 for all binary files

All resource files should be written into the corresponding tag of the format

The details of the description XML's format are showed in the example.
Example["vLib.xml" from vLib\examples\bin\DataFiles]:

Note: Due to formatting issues, the above xmls don't display correctly, all tag names should be in upper case in the first character, for details, please see the examples in the svn.

Step 3[Add the vLib.swc to library]:
Add the "vLib.swc" to your flash/flex project, so you can use it in your AS3 code.

Step 4[Initialize the virtual library]:
First declare an instance and provide the the description xml file "vLib.xml" to it.

import Lib.*;

var myLib:Lib = new Lib();

myLib.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, Libloaded);

myLib.init0("./DataFiles/Lib.xml");

function Libloaded(event:Event):void

{

//All Resources Loaded!

}

Step 5[Access resources from the virtual library]:
As showed in the code, once all resources are loaded, it will triger the callback function "Libloaded", that's the time you can use them.

function Libloaded(event:Event):void

{

//All Resources Loaded!

test();

}

function test():void

{

myLib.load(new DataFiles_Class());

addChild(myLib.getSwf("enemyfire"));

var test = myLib.getSwf("enemydead");

addChild(test);

test.x = 100;



trace(myLib.getXML("Xmlfile_0"));

trace(myLib.getXML("Xmlfile_1"));

			

trace(myLib.getText("Textfile_0"));

trace(myLib.getText("Textfile_1"));

			

trace(myLib.getBin("Binaryfile_0"));

trace(myLib.getBin("Binaryfile_1").length);

			

addChild(new Bitmap(myLib.getBitmapData("PNGfile")));

}//end of test

Step 6[Export Data files as compressed binary package]:
Export all resources as a single compressed binary file and protect your swf assets.
Add this line:

myLib.save("myLib.vLib");

in function "Libloaded".
You will get a binary file named "myLib.vLib" which contains all the resources.

Step 7[Use the compressed data file package]:

myLib.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, Libloaded);

myLib.init1("./DataFiles/myLib.vLib");

function Libloaded(event:Event):void

{

//All Resources Loaded!

test();

}

Or
Embed the file "myLib.vLib" as a binary asset:

[Embed(source="../bin/DataFiles/myLib.vLib",mimeType="application/octet-stream")]

private static const DataFiles_Class:Class;

myLib.load(new DataFiles_Class());

test();

You can use the data files directly after calling load().
If you Embed all resources using Embed tag or import them into .fla's library, all resources will be compiled into SWF tags. SWF decompilers can read those tags and extract the resources directly.
But in this step, because all resources are encoded into a single binary file, it's a good way to protect the swf assets.

Step 8[Export Data files as a .as class]:
Export .as Class with Embeds:

myLib.XML2AS("./DataFiles/Lib.xml", "myLibT" /*, "myPackageT"*/);

You will get a .as file named "myLibT.as" as follows:

package 

{

     import flash.display.*;

     import flash.media.*;

     import flash.text.*;

     import flash.utils.*;

//Export from vLib-v0.1 by Bruce Jawn (zhoubu1988@gmail.com)



     public class myLibT

     {

     [Embed(source="DataFiles/texts/Textfile_0.txt", mimeType="application/octet-stream")]

     private static const Textfile_0:Class;

     [Embed(source="DataFiles/texts/Textfile_1.txt", mimeType="application/octet-stream")]

     private static const Textfile_1:Class;

     [Embed(source="DataFiles/xmls/Xmlfile_0.xml", mimeType="application/octet-stream")]

     private static const Xmlfile_0:Class;

     [Embed(source="DataFiles/xmls/Xmlfile_1.xml", mimeType="application/octet-stream")]

     private static const Xmlfile_1:Class;

     [Embed(source="DataFiles/textures/JPGfile.JPG")]

     private static const JPGfile:Class;

     [Embed(source="DataFiles/textures/PNGfile.PNG")]

     private static const PNGfile:Class;

     [Embed(source="DataFiles/swfs/enemydead.swf")]

     private static const enemydead:Class;

     [Embed(source="DataFiles/swfs/enemyfire.swf")]

     private static const enemyfire:Class;

     [Embed(source="DataFiles/sounds/sound1.mp3")]

     private static const S0:Class;

     [Embed(source="DataFiles/sounds/sound2.mp3")]

     private static const S1:Class;

     [Embed(source="DataFiles/sounds/sound3.mp3")]

     private static const S2:Class;

     [Embed(source="DataFiles/bins/Binaryfile_0.bin", mimeType="application/octet-stream")]

     private static const Binaryfile_0:Class;

     [Embed(source="DataFiles/bins/Binaryfile_1.bin", mimeType="application/octet-stream")]

     private static const Binaryfile_1:Class;



        private function getClass(name:String):Class

        {

            var ClassReference:Class = getDefinitionByName("myLibT_"+name) as Class;

            return ClassReference;

        }      



		private function getInstance(name:String):Object

		{

			var ClassReference:Class = getClass(name);

			return new ClassReference();

		}

		public function getBin (name:String) : ByteArray

		{

			return ByteArray(getInstance(name));

		}

		

		public function getBitmapData (name:String) : BitmapData

		{

			return Bitmap(getInstance(name)).bitmapData;

		}



        public function getFont (name:String) : Class

		{

			return getClass(name);

			//return Font(getInstance(name));

			//Font.registerFont(EmbeddedFont); 

		}

		

		public function getSound (name:String) : Sound

		{

			return Sound(getInstance(name));

		}



		public function getSwf (name:String) : Sprite

		{

			return Sprite(getInstance(name));

		}



		public function getText (name:String) : String

		{

			return String(getInstance(name));

		}



		public function getXML (name:String) : XML

		{

			return XML(getInstance(name));

		}

	}//end of class	

}//end of package

Then you can import this class into your AS3 projects and compile everything into the final single SWF.

Links:
vLib.swc API references:
http://code.google.com/p/flaswf/wiki/vLib
vLib.swc v0.1 download:
http://flaswf.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/vLib/bin/
Source code of vLib.swc examples:
https://flaswf.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/vLib/examples

Porting lib FANN to Flash using Alchemy

2011-07-10T03:29:00.000-07:00

Test Environment: OS: Windows XP, Alchemy: Alchemy Toolkit Preview, Flash SDK: 3.2, Flash Player 10, FANN: 2.1.0, Cygwin,

Lib FANN(Fast Artificial Neural Network Library) is a free open source neural network library written in C. In this tutorial I will show you how to use Adobe Alchemy to port FANN to Flash, step by step.

1. Download the FANN library: http://leenissen.dk/fann/wp/download/ (fann-2.1.0beta.zip)

2. Unzip the source code to some folder("F:\alchemy\FANN\fann-2.1.0")

3. Run "Cygwin" and do the config for the source code:

cd /cygdrive/f/alchemy/FANN/fann-2.1.0

./configure

Now you should find the Makefile created in "F:\alchemy\FANN\fann-2.1.0\src"

4. First of all, as a simple test, let's compile the source code of FANN to exe:
cd src
make
ar rc libFANNLib.a doublefann.o fixedfann.o floatfann.o
ranlib libFANNLib.a
Copy the files "xor.data, xor_train.c, xor_test.c" from "examples" folder to "src" folder.

gcc -o xor_train xor_train.c -Iinclude libFANNLib.a
gcc -o xor_test xor_test.c -Iinclude libFANNLib.a
Now you can find the compiled exe "xor_train.exe, xor_test.exe" in the src folder.
Copy "cygwin1.dll" and click to run "xor_train.exe", it will created files "xor_fixed.data, xor_fixed.net, xor_float.net". Using the cmd to run "xor_test.exe": Windows Start -> run -> cmd -> cd F:\alchemy\FANN\fann-2.1.0\src
F:
xor_test.exe
And you will see the result.

5. Now let compile the lib using alchemy:
source /cygdrive/f/alchemy/alchemy-setup
alc-on
make

6. A quick test to compile "xor_test.c" to swfs:
(Since ar rc libFANNLib.a doublefann.o fixedfann.o floatfann.o will throw link errors"$ gcc xor_test.c -Iinclude libFANNLibfx.a libFANNLibfl.a libFANNLibdb.a -swf -O3 -Wall -o xor_test.swf
llvm-ld: error: Cannot link file 'FANNLibfl.l.bc': Linking globals named 'fann_default_error_log': symbol multiply defined!",
I will do it this way:)
ar rc libFANNLibfx.a fixedfann.o
ranlib libFANNLibfx.a
gcc xor_train.c -Iinclude libFANNLibfx.a -swf -O3 -Wall -o xor_train_fx.swf
gcc xor_test.c -Iinclude libFANNLibfx.a -swf -O3 -Wall -o xor_test_fx.swf

ar rc libFANNLibfl.a floatfann.o
ranlib libFANNLibfl.a
gcc xor_train.c -Iinclude libFANNLibfl.a -swf -O3 -Wall -o xor_train_fl.swf
gcc xor_test.c -Iinclude libFANNLibfl.a -swf -O3 -Wall -o xor_test_fl.swf

ar rc libFANNLibdb.a doublefann.o
ranlib libFANNLibdb.a
gcc xor_train.c -Iinclude libFANNLibdb.a -swf -O3 -Wall -o xor_train_db.swf
gcc xor_test.c -Iinclude libFANNLibdb.a -swf -O3 -Wall -o xor_test_db.swf

Now make sure the compiled swfs and the files "xor.data, xor_fixed.data, xor_fixed.net, xor_float.net" are in the same folder.
run the xor_train_fx.swf, the result:
FANN Error 2: Unable to open configuration file "xor_float.net" for writing.
FANN Error 2: Unable to open configuration file "xor_fixed.net" for writing.
FANN Error 8: Unable to open train data file "xor_fixed.data" for writing.
Creating network.
Training network.
Testing network. 0.000000
XOR test (nan,nan) -> 0.000000, should be nan, difference=nan
XOR test (nan,0.000000) -> 0.000000, should be 0.000000, difference=0.000000
XOR test (0.000000,nan) -> 0.000000, should be 0.000000, difference=0.000000
XOR test (0.000000,0.000000) -> 0.000000, should be nan, difference=nan
Saving network.
Cleaning up.

run the xor_test_fx.swf, the result:
FANN Error 3: Wrong version of configuration file, aborting read of configuration file "xor_float.net".
Creating network.
Error creating ann --- ABORTING.

run the xor_train_fl.swf, the result:
FANN Error 2: Unable to open configuration file "xor_float.net" for writing.
FANN Error 2: Unable to open configuration file "xor_fixed.net" for writing.
FANN Error 8: Unable to open train data file "xor_fixed.data" for writing.
Creating network.
Training network.
Max epochs     1000. Desired error: 0.0000000000.
Epochs            1. Current error: 0.2960163057. Bit fail 4.
Epochs           10. Current error: 0.0559476353. Bit fail 4.
Epochs           20. Current error: 0.0005034587. Bit fail 3.
Epochs           28. Current error: 0.0000435168. Bit fail 0.
Testing network. 0.000031
XOR test (-1.000000,-1.000000) -> -0.995960, should be -1.000000, difference=0.004040
XOR test (-1.000000,1.000000) -> 0.982892, should be 1.000000, difference=0.017108
XOR test (1.000000,-1.000000) -> 0.988707, should be 1.000000, difference=0.011293
XOR test (1.000000,1.000000) -> -0.992229, should be -1.000000, difference=0.007771
Saving network.
Cleaning up.

run the xor_test_fl.swf, the result:
Creating network.
Layer / Neuron 0123456
L   1 / N    4 ZZZ....
L   1 / N    5 ZZZ....
L   1 / N    6 .......
L   2 / N    7 ...ZZZZ
L   2 / N    8 .......
Input layer                          :   2 neurons, 1 bias
Hidden layer                       :   3 neurons, 1 bias
Output layer                         :   1 neurons
Total neurons and biases             :   8
Total connections                    : 13
Connection rate                      :   1.000
Network type                         :   FANN_NETTYPE_LAYER
Training algorithm                   :   FANN_TRAIN_RPROP
Training error function              :   FANN_ERRORFUNC_TANH
Training stop function               :   FANN_STOPFUNC_BIT
Bit fail limit                       :   0.000
Learning rate                        :   0.700
Learning momentum                    :   0.000
Quickprop decay                      : -0.000100
Quickprop mu                         :   1.750
RPROP increase factor                :   1.200
RPROP decrease factor                :   0.500
RPROP delta min                      :   0.000
RPROP delta max                      : 50.000
Cascade output change fraction       :   0.010000
Cascade candidate change fraction    :   0.010000
Cascade output stagnation epochs     : 12
Cascade candidate stagnation epochs : 12
Cascade max output epochs            : 150
Cascade max candidate epochs         : 150
Cascade weight multiplier            :   0.400
Cascade candidate limit              :1000.000
Cascade activation functions[0]      :   FANN_SIGMOID
Cascade activation functions[1]      :   FANN_SIGMOID_SYMMETRIC
Cascade activation functions[2]      :   FANN_GAUSSIAN
Cascade activation functions[3]      :   FANN_GAUSSIAN_SYMMETRIC
Cascade activation functions[4]      :   FANN_ELLIOT
Cascade activation functions[5]      :   FANN_ELLIOT_SYMMETRIC
Cascade activation functions[6]      :   FANN_SIN_SYMMETRIC
Cascade activation functions[7]      :   FANN_COS_SYMMETRIC
Cascade activation functions[8]      :   FANN_SIN
Cascade activation functions[9]      :   FANN_COS
Cascade activation steepnesses[0]    :   0.250
Cascade activation steepnesses[1]    :   0.500
Cascade activation steepnesses[2]    :   0.750
Cascade activation steepnesses[3]    :   1.000
Cascade candidate groups             :   2
Cascade no. of candidates            : 80
Testing network.
XOR test (-1.000000, -1.000000) -> 0.000000, should be -1.000000, difference=1.000000
XOR test (-1.000000, 1.000000) -> 0.000000, should be 1.000000, difference=1.000000
XOR test (1.000000, -1.000000) -> 0.000000, should be 1.000000, difference=1.000000
XOR test (1.000000, 1.000000) -> 0.000000, should be -1.000000, difference=1.000000
Cleaning up.

run the xor_train_db.swf, the result:
FANN Error 2: Unable to open configuration file "xor_float.net" for writing.
FANN Error 2: Unable to open configuration file "xor_fixed.net" for writing.
FANN Error 8: Unable to open train data file "xor_fixed.data" for writing.
Creating network.
Training network.
Max epochs     1000. Desired error: 0.0000000000.
Epochs            1. Current error: 0.2960163057. Bit fail 4.
Epochs           10. Current error: 0.0559476353. Bit fail 4.
Epochs           20. Current error: 0.0005034586. Bit fail 3.
Epochs           28. Current error: 0.0000435167. Bit fail 0.
Testing network. 0.000031
XOR test (0.000000,-1.875000) -> 0.000000, should be 0.000000, difference=0.000000
XOR test (0.000000,-1.875000) -> 67114963815632994304.000000, should be 0.000000, difference=67114963815632994304.000000
XOR test (0.000000,1.875000) -> 0.000146, should be 0.000000, difference=0.000146
XOR test (0.000000,1.875000) -> 0.000000, should be 0.000000, difference=0.000000
Saving network.
Cleaning up.

run the xor_test_db.swf, the result:
Creating network.
Layer / Neuron 0123456
L   1 / N    3 ZZZ....
L   1 / N    4 ZZZ....
L   1 / N    5 ZZZ....
L   1 / N    6 .......
L   2 / N    7 ...ZZZZ
L   2 / N    8 .......
Input layer                          :   2 neurons, 1 bias
Hidden layer                       :   3 neurons, 1 bias
Output layer                         :   1 neurons
Total neurons and biases             :   8
Total connections                    : 13
Connection rate                      :   1.000
Network type                         :   FANN_NETTYPE_LAYER
Training algorithm                   :   FANN_TRAIN_RPROP
Training error function              :   FANN_ERRORFUNC_TANH
Training stop function               :   FANN_STOPFUNC_BIT
Bit fail limit                       :   0.000
Learning rate                        :   0.700
Learning momentum                    :   0.000
Quickprop decay                      : -0.000100
Quickprop mu                         :   1.750
RPROP increase factor                :   1.200
RPROP decrease factor                :   0.500
RPROP delta min                      :   0.000
RPROP delta max                      : 50.000
Cascade output change fraction       :   0.010000
Cascade candidate change fraction    :   0.010000
Cascade output stagnation epochs     : 12
Cascade candidate stagnation epochs : 12
Cascade max output epochs            : 150
Cascade max candidate epochs         : 150
Cascade weight multiplier            :   0.400
Cascade candidate limit              :1000.000
Cascade activation functions[0]      :   FANN_SIGMOID
Cascade activation functions[1]      :   FANN_SIGMOID_SYMMETRIC
Cascade activation functions[2]      :   FANN_GAUSSIAN
Cascade activation functions[3]      :   FANN_GAUSSIAN_SYMMETRIC
Cascade activation functions[4]      :   FANN_ELLIOT
Cascade activation functions[5]      :   FANN_ELLIOT_SYMMETRIC
Cascade activation functions[6]      :   FANN_SIN_SYMMETRIC
Cascade activation functions[7]      :   FANN_COS_SYMMETRIC
Cascade activation functions[8]      :   FANN_SIN
Cascade activation functions[9]      :   FANN_COS
Cascade activation steepnesses[0]    :   0.250
Cascade activation steepnesses[1]    :   0.500
Cascade activation steepnesses[2]    :   0.750
Cascade activation steepnesses[3]    :   1.000
Cascade candidate groups             :   2
Cascade no. of candidates            : 80
Testing network.
XOR test (0.000000, -1.875000) -> 0.000000, should be 0.000000, difference=0.000000
XOR test (0.000000, -1.875000) -> 0.000000, should be 0.000000, difference=0.000000
XOR test (0.000000, 1.875000) -> 0.000000, should be 0.000000, difference=0.000000
XOR test (0.000000, 1.875000) -> 0.000000, should be 0.000000, difference=0.000000
Cleaning up.

Well, still buggy, but from the prints we see that the lib works. The errors are partially caused by that it can't find the needed files, and some linking errors, too. A better way to make the port useful is to write some wrapper functions using the Alchemy API and compile everything to a swc.

Finally, the Compiled SWFs: https://flaswf.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/flaswfblog/Tutorials/ALCFANN

Flash Bitmap Fonts

2011-07-04T04:45:00.000-07:00

Ported from Lazy Foo' SDL tutorial: http://lazyfoo.net/SDL_tutorials/lesson30/index.php
Bitmap Font by Lazy Foo: http://lazyfoo.net
Source Code: http://flaswf.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/BitmapFont/En/

Bitmap Fonts - wonderfl build flash online

Convert 32-Bit Bitmap to 8-Bit

2011-07-03T03:55:00.000-07:00

Ported from http://www.codeproject.com/KB/graphics/Image_Bitdepth_Conversion.aspx
Source code: http://flaswf.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/Palette%20AS3/
Right Click to upload a different image!

32-Bit to 8-Bit - wonderfl build flash online

Simple Fast Bilinear Color Interpolation

2011-05-06T22:39:00.000-07:00

Simple Fast Bilinear Color Interpolation - wonderfl build flash online

Simple, fast implementation of bilinear color interpolation.
The purpose of this snippet is to fill a rectangle with smooth colors interpolated from the four vertices.
This snippet is ripped from my Bengine voxel raycaster, where it is used to scale a single voxel and fill the gap of screen. Color differences are calculated to avoid multiplies, so there are only adds in the for loop. Certainly, the code can be optimized further, I leave it what it is because it's easier for understanding the algorithm.
If you only want to interpolate one single pixel use its neighbours, like the height interpolation in a terrain raycaster, try to find the implementation in this code.
By the way, the simple maths behind the algorithm:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilinear_interpolation

Source Code:

https://flaswf.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/Snippets/SimpleFastBilinearColorInterpolation/

Donating One FDT 4 Pure License Key(expired)

2011-03-28T22:58:00.000-07:00

Everyone,

The license key has been sent to the lucky one. I wish I had more keys to share... Thanks for everyone who sents me emails. For the others, I suggest you to try the open source alternative Emacs and FlashDevelop.

Best Wishes!
Bruce
==========

As a participant of Stanford Hackathon 2011 flash game competition, I got one FDT 4 Pure license key donated by Bruno Fonzi of FDT ($129 value).

However, I have no plan to use this software since I work along well with Emacs and FlashDevelop. So I decide to donate this license key for who really needs it.

Just sent me a request email(you can find my email address in my blog profile) if you are interested in FDT. I will randomly sample one from those who send me emails and this one will get the license key for free!

I will stop accepting request emails after 2011 April 15, so be quick if you need it. Good luck!

More about FDT 4: (The Eclipse plugin for Flash/ActionScript/MXML)
http://www.fdt.powerflasher.com/developer-tools/fdt/features/

Update 2011/09/05: Full source code of my game for Stanford Hackathon 2011 flash game competition released!

Molehill with HaXe/HxSL

2011-03-28T19:49:00.000-07:00

Last update: Nov. 10, 2011, Upgraded to Flash Player 11.
Finally I decide to use HaXe, because it grants me what I can't reject-HxSL, the haXe Shader Language, which can let you write your shaders more efficiently.
First, follow the instructions to install HaXe for Flash Player 11:
http://haxe.org/doc/advanced/flash3d

Now some HaXe codes to get started(forked from the cube example):

/*
  Forked from http://haxe.org/doc/advanced/flash3d: Example 0 - Cube
  Nov. 10, 2011; BY Bruce Jawn
  [http://bruce-lab.blogspot.com]
*/
import format.agal.Tools;

typedef K = flash.ui.Keyboard;

class Shader extends format.hxsl.Shader {

  static var SRC = {
    var input : {
      /*input vertex format: 
 pos.x:float; pos.y:float; pos.z:float; color.r:float; color.g:float; color.b:float;
 should be consistent with the input vertexbuffer*/
    pos : Float3,/*vertex position as input*/
    col : Float3,/*vertex color as input*/
    };
    var color : Float3;/*temp color variable for output*/
    function vertex( mpos : M44, mproj : M44 ) {
      out = pos.xyzw * mpos * mproj;/*set vertex transformation*/
      color = col;/*set temp color as input color*/
    }
    function fragment() {
      out = color.xyzw;/*set output color*/
    }
  };

}

class Test {

  var stage : flash.display.Stage;
  var s : flash.display.Stage3D;
  var c : flash.display3D.Context3D;
  var shader : Shader;
  var pol : Polygon;
  var t : Float;
  var keys : Array;

  var camera : Camera;
  var vertexbuffer : flash.display3D.VertexBuffer3D;
  var indexbuffer : flash.display3D.IndexBuffer3D;
  function new() {
    t = 0;
    keys = [];
    stage = flash.Lib.current.stage;
    s = stage.stage3Ds[0];
    s.addEventListener( flash.events.Event.CONTEXT3D_CREATE, onReady );
    stage.addEventListener( flash.events.KeyboardEvent.KEY_DOWN, callback(onKey,true) );
    stage.addEventListener( flash.events.KeyboardEvent.KEY_UP, callback(onKey,false) );
    flash.Lib.current.addEventListener(flash.events.Event.ENTER_FRAME, update);
    s.requestContext3D();

    trace("Click the screen to get Focus!");
    trace("Arrow Keys: Rotation"); 
    trace("Z/X: Zoom in/out");   
  }//end of function new

  function onKey( down, e : flash.events.KeyboardEvent ) {
    keys[e.keyCode] = down;
  }//end of function onKey

  function onReady( _ ) {
    c = s.context3D;
    c.enableErrorChecking = true;
    c.configureBackBuffer( stage.stageWidth, stage.stageHeight, 0, true );

    shader = new Shader(c);
    camera = new Camera();
    /*
      Let's draw a plane, which contains 12 triangles:

      0------1------2------3
      |     /|     /|     /|
      | t0 / | t2 / | t4 / |
      |   /  |   /  |   /  |
      |  /   |  /   |  /   |
      | / t1 | / t3 | / t5 |
      |/     |/     |/     |
      4------5------6------7
      |     /|     /|     /|
      | t6 / | t8 / | t10/ |
      |   /  |   /  |   /  |
      |  /   |  /   |  /   |
      | / t7 | / t9 | / t11|
      |/     |/     |/     |
      8------9-----10-----11
      0-11: vertex index
      t0-t11: triangle index
    */
    vertexbuffer = c.createVertexBuffer(12,6);

    var myVertexes:flash.Vector = new flash.Vector(0,false);
    for(j in 0...3)
      for(i in 0...4)
 {
   //set the vertex's position
   myVertexes.push(i);//vertex.x
   myVertexes.push(j);//vertex.y
   myVertexes.push(0.0);//vertex.z
   //set the vertex's color(random)
   myVertexes.push(Math.random());//color.r
   myVertexes.push(Math.random());//color.g
   myVertexes.push(Math.random());//color.b
 }
    vertexbuffer.uploadFromVector(myVertexes,0,12);
    indexbuffer = c.createIndexBuffer(36);

    var myIndexes:flash.Vector = new flash.Vector(0,false);
    for(i in 0...2)
      for(j in 0...3)
 {
   //up:t0
   myIndexes.push(i*4+j);//triangle.a:0
   myIndexes.push(i*4+(j+1));//triangle.b:1
   myIndexes.push((i+1)*4+j);//triangle.c:4
   //down:t1
   myIndexes.push((i+1)*4+j);//triangle.a:4
   myIndexes.push(i*4+(j+1));//triangle.b:1
   myIndexes.push((i+1)*4+(j+1));//triangle.c:5
 }
    indexbuffer.uploadFromVector(myIndexes,0,36);

  }//end of function onReady

  function update(_) {
    if( c == null ) return;

    t += 0.01;

    c.clear(0, 0, 0, 1);
    c.setDepthTest( true, flash.display3D.Context3DCompareMode.LESS_EQUAL );
    c.setCulling(flash.display3D.Context3DTriangleFace.BACK);

    if( keys[K.UP] )
      camera.moveAxis(0,-0.1);
    if( keys[K.DOWN] )
      camera.moveAxis(0,0.1);
    if( keys[K.LEFT] )
      camera.moveAxis(-0.1,0);
    if( keys[K.RIGHT] )
      camera.moveAxis(0.1, 0);
    if( keys[88] )
      camera.zoom /= 1.05;
    if( keys[90] )
      camera.zoom *= 1.05;
    camera.update();

    var project = camera.m.toMatrix();
    var mpos = new flash.geom.Matrix3D();
    mpos.appendRotation(t * 10, flash.geom.Vector3D.Z_AXIS);

    shader.init(
  { mpos : mpos, mproj : project },
  {}
  );
    //draw the triangles  
    shader.bind(vertexbuffer);
    c.drawTriangles(indexbuffer,0,-1);
    c.present();
  }//end of function update

  static function main() {
    haxe.Log.setColor(0xFF0000);
    var inst = new Test();
  }//end of function main

}//end of class

Result:(Flash Player 11 needed!)

Source Code:

https://flaswf.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/flaswfblog/Tutorials/HaXeMolehillTest/

Links:

Announcing HxSL:
http://ncannasse.fr/blog/announcing_hxsl

Using Flash 3D API(lighting/texture examples):
http://haxe.org/doc/advanced/flash3d

HxSL Documentation:
http://haxe.org/manual/hxsl

Flash 11 API Doc:
http://www.flash3v.com/doc/flash11/

Quake3 has been ported to Flash!

2011-03-09T07:30:00.000-08:00

Update(2011/10/12):
===========================
Updated source code for Flash Player 11:
https://the-backup-project.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/quake3_flash/
===========================

I'm sure this will happen sooner or later, but never expected that it will be so quick.
Quake3 has already been ported to Flash!
This port use alchemy and molehill API and is fully playable.
More details & Play it online:
http://q3fl.impulse12.com/

And I uploaded everything, the compiled swf, source code from the author and quake3 demo data files, in a zip to rayfile,
you can download it here(144MB):
~~http://www.rayfile.com/en/files/ca1ad8fd-4a58-11e0-8ddb-0015c55db73d/~~
You may need
Flash Player Incubator Debugger Standalone Version(win32/EXE)
http://code.google.com/p/flaswf/downloads/detail?name=FlashPlayerIncubatorDebugger.exe

Pixel Bender, Molehill - Updates and Future Plans for Bengine

2011-02-23T00:50:00.000-08:00

The new low-level Flash 3D API Molehill is about to launch, I don't know what it means for Bengine. For Bengine's voxel rendering, I only need a fast way to push all Screen Buffer to the Screen, though, a fast rendering algorithm is more important. Here I want to share some new demos and plans for Bengine.

First, the game BengineRace. I added submit scores function, now you can submit three kind of scores: Best Racer for the time you spent to complete the game, High Scores for the total score you earn and Best Destructor estimate how many voxels you destroy or more specifically, voxels left in total. You must make through the game to submit scores for the first two and you can submit the score of voxels left in total at any time during the play. Press "X" to enter destroyer mode, energy required for destroying walls is limited. After you fell in holes or died, click "continue" to respawn, then voxels destroyed last time will still be contained in your final score.

Second, I made a 8-bit version of BengineRace and now have given up that idea. The advantage of 8-bit is that the screen looks "better" in a higher resolution because of fewer colors used, maybe it's more like a solid fill engine. Besides, less memory needed for storing the voxel data when you use a palette. The disadvantage is limited color choice and the trouble to design and make the palette. You can find the early build of the game in 8-bit here:
https://flaswf.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/Bengine/demo/8-bit/Bengine-8bit.swf
Some pictures:

Third, my attempt to render Voxelstein3D/Voxlap .vxl maps in Flash!
Bengine can render those maps in a low res at a slow speed.
Voxlap demo map:

demo:
https://flaswf.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/Bengine/demo/vxl/Bengine_voxlap.swf

Cave demo map:

demo:
https://flaswf.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/Bengine/demo/vxl/Bengine_cave.swf

Voxelstein3D map:

demo:
https://flaswf.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/Bengine/demo/vxl/Bengine_wolf.swf

And finally, new plan for Bengine. Bengine will be renamed to PBengine, which initially means PixelBender+Bengine but now represents for PreBengine(Editors)+PlayBengine(Game Core)+Benigne(Voxel Rendering Core)+PostBengine(PixelBender Post-Processing).
It will be a bigger project. I hope to exploit the advantage of Molehill through PixelBender in the future.
But what can PixelBender do with Bengine? Many many things, I have to say. I will mainly use PixelBender for various Post-Processing effects for Bengine. Here is a simple example showing what it will be like:
https://flaswf.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/PBengine/demo/water/PBengineWater_buggy.swf
Make sure try to interact with the water surface with your mouse.

In this demo, I use Bengine for rendering the voxels and PixelBender for the water effect. It is still buggy, the reflection is not correct. And it is terribly slow, only about 10fps in my test. I hope Molehill can make it faster. Optimazions of Post-Processing are needed, but it will be done when Molehill is available.

But how fast can Bengine be? I don't know. I'm still improving it. The rendering algorithm has been written for several times. In the past, after each written, I always thought may be it can not be faster any more. But I proved I'm wrong. Before I wrote this engine, I never expect a voxel engine like this can run at real time in flash, let alone making a playable game. So no one knows how fast it can be and how fast it will be. I will continue optimizing it. Here is the latest demo testing the rendering speed, with a slightly different rendering algorithm from BengineRace. In my laptop, it can render the same map from Bengine Race at/above 30fps.
The demo:
https://flaswf.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/Bengine/demo/speed-test/BengineSpeedTest.swf

PS: Controls for all demos mention above:
==========
W/up: move forward
S/down: move back/recharge speed
A/left: turn left
D/right: turn right
Q: look down
E: look up
----------
Z: max speed(speed*2)
X: max armor(to destroy walls)
C: max power(to fly)
----------
Space: fly
Enter: pause

[Adobe Alchemy Hacks] Compile *.as Source Files Assembly to SWF and SWC

2011-01-23T01:43:00.000-08:00

With alchemy, we can compile AS3 source files assembly, which means we can use some AVM2 inline assembly language in our AS3 source file. Here is the code snippet for using inline asm and accessing memory in AS3:

/*
[Adobe Alchemy Hacks]
AlchemyAD_hack.as
{Simple example for using inline asm and 
accessing memory in AS3}
By Bruce Jawn (January/23/2011)
[http://bruce-lab.blogspot.com]

To compile this source file with Alchemy: 
cd /cygdrive/f/alchemy/
java -Xms16M -Xmx196M -jar F:/alchemy/bin/asc.jar -AS3 -strict -import F:/alchemy/flashlibs/global.abc -import F:/alchemy/flashlibs/playerglobal.abc -config Alchemy::Debugger=false -config Alchemy::NoDebugger=true -config Alchemy::Shell=false -config Alchemy::NoShell=true -config Alchemy::LogLevel=0 -config Alchemy::Vector=true -config Alchemy::NoVector=false -config Alchemy::SetjmpAbuse=false -swf AlchemyAD_hack,800,600,60 AlchemyAD_hack.as
*/
package
{    
 import flash.display.Sprite;
 import flash.text.TextField;
 import flash.utils.ByteArray;
 import flash.utils.Endian;
 import flash.system.ApplicationDomain;
 public class AlchemyAD_hack extends Sprite{

public function AlchemyAD_hack () 
{ 
  /*Create the print shell*/
  var MyShell:TextField=new TextField();
  MyShell.height=600;
  addChild(MyShell);
  function print(output:*):void
  {
   MyShell.appendText(String(output));
   MyShell.appendText("\n");
  }
  
  /*Test Memory Write*/
  //ByteArray for the test
  var testData:ByteArray = new ByteArray();
  testData.endian = Endian.LITTLE_ENDIAN;
  testData.length=0xffff*4;
  //select testdata in memory
  ApplicationDomain.currentDomain.domainMemory=testData;
  var AdrInt:int=0;
  //the test value we will write into testData via memory
  var testValue:int=123;
  //write the testValue into testData
  ApplicationDomain.currentDomain.domainMemory[0] = testValue;
  //Check if testValue has been written into testData
  print(testData[0]);//should print 123
  
  /*Test Memory Read*/
  var readedValue:int=ApplicationDomain.currentDomain.domainMemory[0];
  print(readedValue);//should print 123 
  
  /*Test Inline ASM*/
  //label and jump
  __asm(jump, target('myLable'));
  print("not jumped!");//this line will be skipped
  __asm(label, lbl('myLable'));
  print("jumped!"); 
  //switch jump
  var myState:int=1;
  __asm(push(myState), switchjump('state0','state1','state2'));
  __asm(lbl('state0'));
  print("This is state0.");
  __asm(lbl('state1'));
  print("This is state1.");
  __asm(lbl('state2'));
  print("This is state2.");
  //iftrue jump
  var temp:int=1;
  __asm(push(temp!=0), iftrue, target('turejump'));
  print("iftrue not jumped!");//this line will be skipped
  __asm(label, lbl('turejump'));
  print("iftrue jumped!"); 
  
  /*Test Alchemy Memory Instructions*/
  //All memory opcodes listed here:
  /*
  Get a 32 bit value at the location addr and return as an int:
  _mr32(addr:int):int{ return __xasm(push(addr), op(0x37)); }

  Get a 16 bit unsigned value at the location addr and return as an int:. 
  _mru16(addr:int):int { return __xasm(push(addr), op(0x36)); }

  Get a 16 bit signed value at the location addr and return as an int: 
  _mrs16(addr:int):int { return __xasm(push(addr), op(0x36)); } // li16

  Get a 8 bit value at the location addr and return as an int:
  _mru8(addr:int):int { return __xasm(push(addr), op(0x35)); }
  
  Get a 8 bit value at the location addr and return as an int: 
  _mrs8(addr:int):int { return __xasm(push(addr), op(0x35)); }

  Get a float value at the location addr and return as an Number:
  _mrf(addr:int):Number { return __xasm(push(addr), op(0x38)); }

  Get a double value at the location addr and return as an Number:
  _mrd(addr:int):Number { return __xasm(push(addr), op(0x39)); }

  Write an int as a 32 bit value at the location addr: 
  _mw32(addr:int, val:int):void { __asm(push(val), push(addr), op(0x3c)); }

  Write an int as a 16 bit value at the location addr: 
  _mw16(addr:int, val:int):void { __asm(push(val), push(addr), op(0x3b)); }

  Write an int as a 8 bit value at the location addr: 
  _mw8(addr:int, val:int):void { __asm(push(val), push(addr), op(0x3a)); }

  Write a Number as a float at the location addr: 
  _mwf(addr:int, val:Number):void { __asm(push(val), push(addr), op(0x3d)); }

  Write a Number as a double at the location addr:
  _mwd(addr:int, val:Number):void { __asm(push(val), push(addr), op(0x3e)); }
  */
  
  //Write an int 654321 as a 32 bit value at the location 1000
  __asm(push(654321),push(1000),op(0x3c));
  //Trace the memory
  ApplicationDomain.currentDomain.domainMemory.position=1000;
  print(ApplicationDomain.currentDomain.domainMemory.readInt());//should print 654321
  //Get a 32 bit value at the location 1000 and return as an int
  var temp:int=__xasm(push(1000), op(0x37));
  print(temp);//should print 654321

  /*Test some AVM2 Instructions*/
  //More AVM2 Instructions can be found at:
  //http://www.anotherbigidea.com/javaswf/avm2/AVM2Instructions.html
  
  //test add: 0xA0 
  var var1:int=123;
  var var2:int=321;
  //write (var1+var2)=444 to testData[0] via memory
  //ApplicationDomain.currentDomain.domainMemory.position=AdrInt;
  //ApplicationDomain.currentDomain.domainMemory.writeInt(var1+var2);
  __asm(push(var1), push(var2), op(0xA0), push(AdrInt), op(0x3c));
  testData.position=0;
  print(testData.readInt());//should print 444
  
  //test subtract: 0xA1
  var result:int=__xasm(push(var1), push(var2), op(0xA1));//var result=var1-var2;
  print(result);//should print -198
  //write (var1-var2)=-198 to testData[1] via memory in a different way
  __asm(push(result),push(AdrInt+4),op(0x3c));
  testData.position=4;
  print(testData.readInt());//should print -198
  
}//end of function AlchemyAD_hack

}//end of class
}//end of pacakge
/*
References:
http://labs.adobe.com/wiki/index.php/Alchemy:Documentation:Developing_with_Alchemy:AS3_API
http://unitzeroone.com/blog/2009/05/22/another-scream-on-flash-alchemy-memory-and-compilers/
http://blog.frankula.com/?p=211
http://forums.adobe.com/message/2616985
http://forums.adobe.com/message/3001861
Special thanks to Bernd Paradies (http://forums.adobe.com/people/Bernd%20Paradies)
*/

======
Update: 20, Feb., 2011
All AVM2 Opcode names for Alchemy can be found here:(ASC source code)
http://opensource.adobe.com/svn/opensource/flex/sdk/trunk/modules/asc/src/java/macromedia/abc/Opcodes.java
so for example, the following code
var result:int=__xasm(push(var1), push(var2), op(0xA1));
can be also writen as
var result:int=__xasm(push(var1), push(var2), subtract);
======
The output:
123
123
jumped!
This is state2.
iftrue jumped!
654321
654321
444
-198
-198

And when we compile C/C++ code to swf or swc, we can manuly modify the *.as file generated during the compilation process, for optimization and then use Alchemy asc to compile the modified *.as to swf or swc. By default the temp *.as file will be deleted, to get that file, we can simply copy and paste that file before it deleted during the compilation, or modify the "gcc" file in "alchemy\achacks" folder, remove/commentize the last two lines:
# remove junk TODO failure leaves stuff around!
if(!$ENV{ACHACKS_TMPS})
{ sys("rm", "-f", <$$.achacks.*>) }
Now we have the generated *.as files from the compiler, something like "19048.achacks.as".
It's easy to compile the *.as to a swf, use the command in the code snippet above.

To compile the *.as to swc, there are several ways.
First way, you can compile the *.as to swf, unzip the swc compiled before and replace the "library.swf" with the new swf. I've tried this but there are some problems I haven't solved.
Second way, modify the gcc file, you can follow this post: http://blog.frankula.com/?p=211.
Third way, use the makefile from this project:
http://alchemy-hacks.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/tricks/
Fourth way, follow this post
http://unitzeroone.com/blog/2009/05/22/another-scream-on-flash-alchemy-memory-and-compilers/
Fifth way, mentioned by Bernd Paradies, can be found here: http://forums.adobe.com/message/3001861
Final way, this is what I recommend, use the wrapper by Ed McManus.
Ed McManus posted the script here: http://forums.adobe.com/message/2616985,
but there are some errors caused by the forum formatting. I fixed the errors,
one obvious error is extra spaces in "nbsp;", another big problem is when you try to use the compiled swc, flashdevelop will throw the error "Target Matching “[xX][mM][lL]” is Not Allowed", thanks to this post http://www.anujgakhar.com/2009/02/17/the-processing-instruction-target-matching-xxmmll-is-not-allowed/, I figure out this problem is caused by the spaces before
catalog.xml's header. I made changes to the script and now it works properly.

You can download the fixed version(alc-asc) here: http://flaswf.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/QuickAlchemy/Hack/SWC/
To use it, put it into your "alchemy/achacks" folder, go to cygwin use command
such as "alc-asc modifiedAlchemy.as outputLib.swc".

Links:
http://forums.adobe.com/message/2616985
http://forums.adobe.com/message/3001861
http://blog.frankula.com/?p=211
http://www.anujgakhar.com/2009/02/17/the-processing-instruction-target-matching-xxmmll-is-not-allowed/
http://unitzeroone.com/blog/2009/05/22/another-scream-on-flash-alchemy-memory-and-compilers/
And Ed McManus wrote some very good documents on Alchemy -
General Porting Tips:
https://github.com/emcmanus/flashsnes/blob/master/docs/General_Porting_Tips
Alchemy VM Architecture:
https://github.com/emcmanus/flashsnes/blob/master/docs/Alchemy_VM_Architecture.txt
Performance:
https://github.com/emcmanus/flashsnes/blob/master/docs/Performance

Adobe Alchemy Hacks - access memory and use inline asm in C

2011-01-13T06:39:00.000-08:00

It's not a short time since Alchemy emerged in 2008.
To my disapointment, scarcely any more great C projects ported to Flash after doom and quake.
And there is no updates for this great tool.I like alchemy and use it a lot because it allows you to do flash in C. Alchemy is much more than the new fast memory opcodes, it is a C virtual machine, which wraps the standard C lib for ActionScript. Do flash in C, makes porting C programs easy and also makes your flash program portable. Moreover, the gcc and llvm compilers can optimaize your code a lot. That's why although there are both powerful tools like apparat, yogda and handy tools like azoth which let you to use those alchemy memory opcodes in pure AS3, I'm still using alchemy. Actually, if there is no alchemy, I was already a Haxer in 2008.

The obvious disadvantage to use alchemy is this tool has lots of bugs and it is very hard to debug. As far as I know most bugs are with C++(broken string.h, can't use cin/cout, the class initialization function will never initialize), so don't try to port a C++ program with alchemy now unless you're ready to port the C++ program to C first. What's more, it lacks documentations and developing resources. Although the official forum is a good place to discuss alchemy, it' not easy to find some advanced and detailed things. There is no instructions for inline asm and memory manipulation which many people may be intereted in.
After some search, finally I got some useful things.
So I wrote this little code snippet, hope to help those who want to know more about how to use alchemy. I hope Adobe can give more emphasis on alchemy, update it, remove the bugs, make it stable and make the developing process easier. It is a great thing and should not only be an experimental project, which be played with for some moment, then thrown into some dark corner of the lab and let it decay. I even wish Adobe could make C/C++ an official alternative for ActionScript to develop flash.

/*
[Adobe Alchemy Hacks]
AlchemyVM_hack.c
{Simple example for using inline asm and 
accessing memory of Alchemy Virtual Machine in C}
By Bruce Jawn (January/14/2011)
[http://bruce-lab.blogspot.com]

To compile this source file with Alchemy: 
cd /cygdrive/f/alchemy/
source /cygdrive/f/alchemy/alchemy-setup
alc-on
gcc AlchemyVM_hack.c -O3 -Wall -swf -o AlchemyVM_hack.swf
*/
#include 
#include 
//get the Alchemy C Virtual Machine memory
//use asm to embed AS3 code
asm("var ALCVM_Memory:ByteArray = gstate.ds;");
int main () 
{ 
  /*Test Memory Write*/
  //array of int for the test
  int* testData = malloc(0xff * sizeof(int));
  //get the address of testdata in memory
  AS3_Val Adr=AS3_Ptr(testData);
  int AdrInt=AS3_IntValue(Adr);
  //the test value we will write into testData via memory
  int testValue=123;
  //write the testValue into testData
  //gcc AT&T inline assembly used here
  asm("ALCVM_Memory[%0] = %1;" : : "r"(AdrInt), "r"(testValue)); //ALCVM_Memory[AdrInt] = testValue;
  //Check if testValue has been written into testData
  printf("%d\n",testData[0]);//should print 123
  
  /*Test Memory Read*/
  int readedValue;
  asm("%0 ALCVM_Memory[%1];" : "=r"(readedValue) : "r"(AdrInt));
  printf("%d\n",readedValue);//should print 123
  
  /*Test Inline ASM*/
  //label and jump
  asm("__asm(jump, target('myLable'))");
  printf("%s\n","not jumped!");//this line will be skipped
  asm("__asm(label, lbl('myLable'))");
  printf("%s\n","jumped!"); 
  //switch jump
  asm("var myState:int=1;");
  asm("__asm(push(myState), switchjump('state0','state1','state2'));");
  asm("__asm(lbl('state0'))");
  printf("%s\n","This is state0.");
  asm("__asm(lbl('state1'))");
  printf("%s\n","This is state1.");
  asm("__asm(lbl('state2'))");
  printf("%s\n","This is state2.");
  //iftrue jump
  asm("var temp:int=1;");
  asm("__asm(push(temp!=0), iftrue, target('turejump'));");
  printf("%s\n","iftrue not jumped!");//this line will be skipped
  asm("__asm(label, lbl('turejump'))");
  printf("%s\n","iftrue jumped!"); 
  
  /*Test Alchemy Memory Instructions*/
  //All memory opcodes listed here:
  /*
  Get a 32 bit value at the location addr and return as an int:
  _mr32(addr:int):int{ return __xasm(push(addr), op(0x37)); }

  Get a 16 bit unsigned value at the location addr and return as an int:. 
  _mru16(addr:int):int { return __xasm(push(addr), op(0x36)); }

  Get a 16 bit signed value at the location addr and return as an int: 
  _mrs16(addr:int):int { return __xasm(push(addr), op(0x36)); } // li16

  Get a 8 bit value at the location addr and return as an int:
  _mru8(addr:int):int { return __xasm(push(addr), op(0x35)); }
  
  Get a 8 bit value at the location addr and return as an int: 
  _mrs8(addr:int):int { return __xasm(push(addr), op(0x35)); }

  Get a float value at the location addr and return as an Number:
  _mrf(addr:int):Number { return __xasm(push(addr), op(0x38)); }

  Get a double value at the location addr and return as an Number:
  _mrd(addr:int):Number { return __xasm(push(addr), op(0x39)); }

  Write an int as a 32 bit value at the location addr: 
  _mw32(addr:int, val:int):void { __asm(push(val), push(addr), op(0x3c)); }

  Write an int as a 16 bit value at the location addr: 
  _mw16(addr:int, val:int):void { __asm(push(val), push(addr), op(0x3b)); }

  Write an int as a 8 bit value at the location addr: 
  _mw8(addr:int, val:int):void { __asm(push(val), push(addr), op(0x3a)); }

  Write a Number as a float at the location addr: 
  _mwf(addr:int, val:Number):void { __asm(push(val), push(addr), op(0x3d)); }

  Write a Number as a double at the location addr:
  _mwd(addr:int, val:Number):void { __asm(push(val), push(addr), op(0x3e)); }
  */

  //Write an int 654321 as a 32 bit value at the location 1000
  asm("__asm(push(654321),push(1000),op(0x3c));");
  //Trace the memory
  asm("ALCVM_Memory.position=1000");
  asm("trace(ALCVM_Memory.readInt());");//should trace 654321 in flashlog.txt
  //Get a 32 bit value at the location 1000 and return as an int
  asm("var temp:int=__xasm(push(1000), op(0x37));");
  asm("trace(temp)");//should trace 654321 in flashlog.txt

  /*Test some AVM2 Instructions*/
  //More AVM2 Instructions can be found at:
  //http://www.anotherbigidea.com/javaswf/avm2/AVM2Instructions.html
  
  //test add: 0xA0 
  int var1=123;
  int var2=321;
  //write (var1+var2)=444 to testData[0] via memory
  //ALCVM_Memory.position=AdrInt;
  //ALCVM_Memory.writeInt(var1+var2);
  asm("__asm(push(%0), push(%1), op(0xA0), push(%2), op(0x3c))" : : "r"(var1), "r"(var2), "r"(AdrInt));
  printf("%d\n",testData[0]);//should print 444

  //test subtract: 0xA1  
  asm("var result:int=__xasm(push(%0), push(%1), op(0xA1));" : : "r"(var1), "r"(var2));//var result=var1-var2;
  //write (var1-var2)=-198 to testData[1] via memory in a different way
  asm("__asm(push(result),push(%0),op(0x3c));":: "r"(AdrInt+4));
  printf("%d\n",testData[1]);//should print -198

  return 0;
} 
/*
References:
http://labs.adobe.com/wiki/index.php/Alchemy:Documentation:Developing_with_Alchemy:AS3_API
http://blog.frankula.com/?p=211
http://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc/Extended-Asm.html
http://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc/Simple-Constraints.html
http://www.ibiblio.org/gferg/ldp/GCC-Inline-Assembly-HOWTO.html
Special thanks to zazzo9 (http://forums.adobe.com/people/zazzo9)
http://forums.adobe.com/thread/660099
http://forums.adobe.com/message/2101303
http://forums.adobe.com/message/1059161
http://forums.adobe.com/message/1915605
http://forums.adobe.com/message/2101405
http://forums.adobe.com/message/1914780
*/

The compiled swf will display:
123
123
jumped!
This is state2.
iftrue jumped!
444
-198
The flashlog(C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Application Data\Macromedia\Flash Player\Logs\flashlog.txt)
654321
654321
[object AlchemyExit]
at global/shellExit()
at cmodule.AlchemyVM_hack::CSystemLocal/exit()
at cmodule.AlchemyVM_hack::CRunner/work()
at ()
at flash.utils::Timer/_timerDispatch()
at flash.utils::Timer/tick

[Update 2012/Jan/06]
Alchemy GOODIES: The C and AS3 mixed syntax using ASM.
It is not a good habit to mix C code with AS3, but this can be handy sometimes:

//AS3 values to C
int myINT = 0;
asm("var ASvar1 = 1; var ASvar2 = 2;");//Embed AS3 code in C
asm("%0 ASvar1+ASvar2" : "=r"(myINT) : );//myINT=ASvar1+ASvar2;
AS3_Trace(AS3_String("myINT="));
AS3_Trace(AS3_Int(myINT));//will print 3

//C values to AS3
int myINT0 = 123456;
asm("var ASvar0:int;");
asm("ASvar0 = %0" :: "r" (myINT0) );
asm("trace('ASvar0=');");
asm("trace(ASvar0);");//will print 123456

Ken Silverman's GROUFST2 Terrain Raycaster Ported to AS3

2011-01-04T19:35:00.000-08:00

Ken Silverman's GROUFST2 Terrain Raycaster - wonderfl build flash online

Simple nice heightmap terrain raycaster, a good start for your own voxel engine.
Fork it here:
http://wonderfl.net/c/7d41
or
http://flaswf.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/GROUFST2/
==========
Update: April, 4，2011
GROUFST2 Ported to HaXe(Supporting targeting swf and cpp both):
Source Code: https://flaswf.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/GROUFST2/Groufst2HXNME
==========
Update: 11, 11，2011
Add HTML5 support:
Source Code: https://flaswf.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/GROUFST2/Groufst2HXNME/Groufst2NME_HTML5/
DEMO: https://flaswf.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/GROUFST2/Groufst2HXNME/Groufst2NME_HTML5/Export/html5/bin/index.html (Very, very slow.)
==========

Original source code can be found at Ken's website:
Qbasic: http://www.advsys.net/ken/voxlap.htm (GROUFST2.BAS)
EVALDRAW: http://www.advsys.net/ken/download.htm (evaldraw.zip\demos\groufst2b.kc)

And

Happy Coding 2011!

Bengine Race – the first game powered by Bengine released!

2010-09-26T07:49:00.000-07:00

Play the game here:

Objective: Drive to the destination as quickly as possible, be careful of holes on the ground and avoid crashes into the walls and road-blocks.

----------
Tips: You can use three skills when needed.

Max speed (key Z) can save your time by increasing your speed.

Max armor (key X) will let you destroy walls and create a short cut to the destination.

Max power (key C) can enable you to fly over blocks and holes.

Always remember to switch between these skills and you will find the game easier and more interesting.

And when the skills are used up, you can

move back to recharge speed,

hit the walls to exchange life for power,

and fly to gain armor.

----------

==========

Controls:

==========

W/up: move forward

S/down: move back/recharge speed

A/left: turn left

D/right: turn right

Q: look down

E: look up

----------

Z: max speed(speed*2)

X: max armor(to destroy walls)

C: max power(to fly)

----------

Space: fly

Enter: pause game

----------
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moAD_s8FlRo

It is an experimental game. A simple “proof of concept” demo. There are many bugs.
I didn’t spend much time on the game design because my time went to the engine.
I think the interesting part is to freely explore the voxel world. Yes, just forget the time meter and the objectives! Try to go to a higher place with the flying skill, or do some destructions using the max armor skill.

Well, I think I should thank Ken Silverman for his handy tools slab6 and poly2vox.
These tools are useful when I was editing my voxel game map.
And Ken’s voxlap engine is the inspiration and motivation for me to create Bengine.
Also, thanks to Bit101, you may realized, the game UI is created by his minimalcomps library.
Finally, flashkit and sfxr for the sound effect and many other free online resources/codes I used for the game!
Next time I will give you more details on the engine and plans for the next game power by Bengine v0.2 – Blaze.

Free SWF Decompilers!

2010-08-23T01:04:00.001-07:00

UPDATE 2011_8_16
https://sites.google.com/site/as3extractor/home
ActionScript Extractor
A free actionscript3 decompiler.

================================================
UPDATE 2011_6_19
http://www.swfwire.com/(Highly Recommended!)
https://github.com/magicalhobo/SWFWire

SWFWire Decompiler

An open source library written in ActionScript 3 for reading and writing swfs.

SWFWire Inspector

      "Easily view the contents of SWF files with this open source AIR app.      You can view images, shapes, and even syntax-highlighted ActionScript 3.

      See what parts of your code are taking up the most space.      Make sure sensitive data isn't being exposed.      Gain a deeper understanding of the file format.      You might even be impressed at how efficient Flash is."     

================================================
UPDATE 2010_2_09
http://code.google.com/p/asdec/(Highly Recommended!)

asdec: Open Source ActionScript decompiler written in Java
"JP ActionScript decompiler (ASDec) is program for decompiling ActionScript parts from flash SWF files. Program has also basic ability to edit (assemble) ActionScript."

Features:
Opening SWF files version 10 or older
Showing source code of ActionScript1/2 and ActionScript3. (See source limitations)
Exporting sources to file (at the moment only AS3)
Editing source code via modifying assembler source (See editing limitations)
Saving modified actionscript back to the file
Built-in proxy server for editing SWF files which come through i
================================================
ActionScript Decompiler

http://www.showmycode.com/

“Decompile flash ActionScript from the swf flash file. Use this online flash swf decompiler to get the source code of the swf file.”

HP SWFScan
~~www.hp.com/go/swfscan~~
http://h30499.www3.hp.com/t5/Following-the-White-Rabbit-A/SWFScan-FREE-Flash-decompiler/ba-p/5440167
“Decompiles applications built on the Adobe Flash platform to extract the ActionScript code and statically analyzes it to identify security issues such as information disclosure.”

Resource Extractor/Modifier

1. http://www.decompileflash.com/

(http://www.swfdecompiler.net)
“Decompile Flash Free Version is an outstanding SWF decompiling tool which allows you to convert flash between SWF and FLA format. Decompile Flash offers the powerful function of editing dynamic texts of flash movie and replacing images as your own easily and watch the edited result immediately. The easy-to-use interface helps you catch on to the system quickly.”

2.http://www.swfdecompiler.net/free_swf_decompiler/index.html

“SWF Decompiler Premium Free Version is a 100% freeware. It allows you to convert between swf and exe format, besides, the powerful function supports edit the dynamic texts and replace images. The player window is innovatively separated from the main panel, which enables users to drag and drop the window wherever they want it to be.”

3. http://www.swftools.org/

SWFDump “Prints out various informations about SWFs, like contained images/fonts/sounds, disassembly of contained code as well as cross-reference and bounding box data.”
SWFExtract “Allows to extract Movieclips, Sounds, Images etc. from SWF files.”

4. http://www.swfmodify.com/

“swfModify software is useful tool for edit , rebuild flash file, and it's free. It’s different from other edit tools. You need no experience of flash design, all you should do is click mouse button. You can replace virtual item in .swf file, and save as another flash file. In the future, we hope every user can upload your flash resources for the others.”

5. http://www.flashprobe.com/

“Flash Probe is a free online tool that can parse flash files and display text and images found within. The tool will create HTML versions of your flash websites. Some use it to see what part of their flash website will get indexed by search engines.”

6. http://www.swixkit.com/

“Easy to use XML-based editor for SWF debugging and updating; Decompiling of SWF into SWiX-format XML; Reassembly of SWiX-format XML into an SWF”

7. SWF To Image GUI

http://bytescout.com/products/developer/swftoimagesdk/swftoimagegui.html

“SWF To Image GUI is a freeware utility to convert flash movies (SWF) into JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP images”

Bytecode Disassembler

1. http://eval.hurlant.com/

“As3Eval is a library that packages the Tamarin ESC compiler to work within a run-of-the-mill flash player. You can also paste the output of hexdump -C on a swf to disassemble it within the UI.”

2. Nemo 440

www.docsultant.com/nemo440/

Advanced ActionScript 3/ABC2/Flex 2/Flex 3/Flex 4/AIR disassembler

3. http://segfaultlabs.com/swfutils

http://segfaultlabs.com/swf/abcflex/index.html

4. http://code.google.com/p/apparat/

apparat

A framework to optmize ABC, SWC and SWF files

5. http://www.yogda.com/
AVM2 Bytecode Assembler, Disassembler, also has the functions of editing(adding/removing) swf tags.

Unprotectors

1. SWF Decrypt

http://www.swfdecrypt.com/

“WF Decrypt will reverse and remove the few junk code these types of software add to your SWF file and charge you money for. The purpose of this software is to help you assess the protection solution that you have chosen. I hope it will also encourage the authors of SWF Encrypt and SWF Protector to either implement actual code obfuscation methods or discontinue their products and stop charging for junk.”

2. http://www.swf-reader.com
“SWF Reader Professional is first program to unprotect encrypted swf files.
Main features:

Remove/add tags.

Manipulate doABC structure (AS3).

Full unprotect AS2 files which are encrypted by SWF Encrypt 5 (http://www.amayeta.com/).

Unprotect AS3 files which are encrypted by SWF Encrypt 5 (http://www.amayeta.com/). There is not possible to recover names (class, vars, functions) because encrypter remove original names irretrievably.”
This one also has a nice memory dump tool/SWF vampire(File->Load from memory) for unpacking.

Miscellaneous Links:

http://www.nowrap.de/flasm.html

http://www.nowrap.de/flare.html

Dump Flash Decompiler

http://www.dcomsoft.com/download/dfdinstall.exe

Swf Picture Extractor

http://www.dcomsoft.com/download/swf_picture_extractor.exe

http://code.google.com/p/flash-decompiler/

http://www.deitte.com/archives/2008/03/randomcompiler.htm

http://blogs.adobe.com/gosmith/2008/02/disassembling_a_swf_with_swfdu_1.html

http://dougmccune.com/flex/FOTB_Decompiling_Doug_McCune.pdf

http://dougmccune.com/blog/2008/09/21/i-just-decompiled-a-decompiler-so-i-could-use-it-to-decompile-itself/

http://shigeru-nakagaki.com/index.cfm/2008/3/18/20080318-LibraryManager-Beta-is-released

http://flashpanoramas.com/blog/2007/07/02/swf-parser-air-application/

www.5etdemi.com/blog/archives/2007/01/as3-decompiler/

https://www.flashsec.org/wiki/Simple_AS3_Decompiler_Using_Tamarin

http://blog.reversing.com.ar/2010/02/debugging-actionscript-jited-code/
Extract SWF files from Flash Executables(EXE):
http://www.northcode.com/blog.php/2007/08/02/Extract-SWF-files-from-Flash-Executables

Libraries for reading/writing SWF and modifying ActionScript Bytecode:
http://www.flagstonesoftware.com/transform/ (Java)
https://github.com/CyberShadow/RABCDAsm (D)
http://www.libspark.org/wiki/yossy/swfassist (AS3)
http://segfaultlabs.com/swfdb (AS3)
https://github.com/magicalhobo/SWFWire (AS3)
https://github.com/laomoi/swfdiy (AS3)
http://sourceforge.net/projects/swfdotnet/ (C# .Net or VB.Net)
http://www.codeproject.com/KB/graphics/swfdotnet-decompiler.aspx
https://github.com/RintarouTW/SWFVisualizer(AS3)
https://github.com/RintarouTW/swfparser(C++)
https://github.com/junfenggeng/libswf/(C)

Pixel Bender .pbj files Decompiler:
http://www.kaourantin.net/2008/09/pixel-bender-pbj-files.html

AGAL ByteCode Decompiler:
DEMO: http://boycy.webs.com/Disassembler.swf
Source Code: http://boycy.webs.com/Disassembler.rar

SWF Cry v0.02 released, protect your swf for free!

2010-08-03T22:13:00.000-07:00

Update: August, 8, 2011

A minor version(v0.02fixed) maintenance update for SWF-Cry released!
Fixed several bugs.
Warning: this version maybe more buggy than the previous version(v0.02).
For backup purpose, you can find all old releases here:
https://flaswf.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/Swfcry/builds
A major version(v0.03) update, which has fewer bugs, more functions and better UI, will be available in the future.
==========

TUTORIAL - How to use it:

First of all, click to expand the "Advanced Configuration" window .

1. Choose your main swf to be encrypted

Press “Browse _SWF” button to upload your swf.

2. Choose your water mark swf

Press “Browse _WaterMark” button to upload your water mark.

If you don't need a water mark, uncheck “Use _WaterMark”.

You can set the water mark swf's x, y, scaleX, scaleY and alpha properties.

Change the “LinkTo” url to your sites and the final output swf will have a water mark navigates to your sites when you click it.

3. Obfuscate

Edit the names list there; add names that you wish to be changed to random strings.

Use comma (",") to separate names.

If you don't want to obfuscate, uncheck "Obfuscate".

4. Pack

Edit the name (default “uploadedswfname_CryOut.swf”) after “OutPut_SWF_Name”. That's the encrypted swf’s name. You can also change it after the encrypted swf is created.

If you don't want to pack your swf, uncheck “Pack”.

Notes: if you uncheck “Pack” and “Obfuscate” both, SWF Cry will do nothing. Make sure at least one is checked.

5. Save the encrypted swf

Press “Cry_and_Save” button to begin the encryption process, please wait a while till it's done and then you can save the encrypted swf.

6. Save your config

Press “Save_Config” button to save your current config, you can load your config by “Load_Config”. The saved config is an xml file, you can edit it manually.

7. Test your output swf, if you only see a blank swf, try unchecking “Pack”.

If the player throw errors such as “can't find definition...” check the obfuscate names list, make sure no as3 key words there!

KOWN ISSUES:

1. Only as3, AVM1 swfs (as2,as1) are not supported currently and won't be supported in the future.

2. Sometimes swfs access net files won't run on a local computer after Pack.
3. If your swf accesses stage, add code below in your main class's constructor function:

if(stage==null)

{this.addEventListener(Event.ADDED_TO_STAGE,onAdded);}

else {init();}

function onAdded(event:Event){init();}

function init(){}

Otherwise, the packed swf will throw errors. Go here (http://www.flashandmath.com/intermediate/swfload/docclass.html) for details.

4. Many other bugs...

Bugs, ideas, requirements, just drop a comment!

Links:

1.SWF-Cry v0.01:http://bruce-lab.blogspot.com/2010/05/swf-cry-free-online-swf.html

AS3 Eval Draw - Eval the AS3 drawing API!

2010-07-28T06:19:00.000-07:00

Inspired by Ken Silverman's EVALDRAW(http://www.advsys.net/ken/evaltut/evaldraw_tut.htm),
I made this little project, AS3 Eval Draw, used to quickly test the AS3 drawing API on the fly without compiling the AS3 code. Thanks to BISE Scripting Engine, an easy to learn and use but powerful scripting engine, making everything simple. The grammar of BISE Scripting Engine is similar to AS3 and makes it easy to export the eval scripts to AS3.
I use BIT-101’s MinimalComps for the UI and Atlas's syntax highlighter to highlight the code.

AS3 Eval Draw now supports very simple AS3 drawing API, mostly 2D graphics & Bitmapdata manipulation. I also implemented other basic functions, such as load/save code, screen print and export AS3.
It is not hard to make it support text displaying and the new AS3 3D drawing, sounds generation API. Another useful thing is loading function so we can play with picture assets and use them as textures. Supporting more AS3 events (like keyboard & mouse events) will be helpful too. We can then make some little games at run-time!
Now I just like it simple as this.
One limitation is speed. Luckily the Eval Draw script can easily be ported to AS3 (thanks to BISE Scripting Engine again!).

Full source code of the project:
http://flaswf.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/AS3_Evaldraw_En/
Feel free to use it and fork it!
Play it now:
Click "Eval" to run the example code, click "Canvas" to see the result in action.
More examples:
(thanks to Zevan Rosser - http://actionsnippet.com/)
http://flaswf.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/AS3_Evaldraw_En/Evaldraw_examples/

Links:
1. Ken Silverman's EVALDRAW
http://www.advsys.net/ken/evaltut/evaldraw_tut.htm
2. BISE Scripting Engine (AS3) by Yoshihiro Shindo and Sean Givan
http://kinsmangames.wordpress.com/bise-scripting-engine/
3. MinimalComps by Keith Peters (BIT-101)
http://www.minimalcomps.com/
4. Atlas's Syntax Highlighter
http://www.atlascs.co.uk/blog/2007/02/09/as3-syntax-highlighting-in-as3
5. http://actionsnippet.com/
6. A similar project using D.eval()
http://insideria.com/2008/03/try-out-the-drawing-api-withou.html

SWF Cry - A Free online swf Encryption/Obfuscation tool!

2010-05-15T22:02:00.001-07:00

================================================
UPDATE 2010_8_03
SWF Cry v0.02 released:
http://bruce-lab.blogspot.com/2010/08/swf-cry-v002-released-protect-your-swf.html
================================================

I wrote this simple swf Encryption/Obfuscation tool - SWF Cry, in about two weeks' spare time.

The UI is powered by minimalcomps (http://www.minimalcomps.com/).

It can obfuscate names of packages, classes, functions and variables (Thanks to makc3d!).

It can also pack your swf into a packer/shell to prevent your swf being decompiled directly.

The (un)encryption scripts are written in C via adobe alchemy so it's very hard to unpack it simply by decompile the packer.

SWF Cry is in a very primary status now (v0.01); this is only an unstable prerelease version. It has many bugs and other serious problems. It may do damage to your swf and even crash the browser or the flash player. Please backup your files before testing it. TRY IT AT YOUR OWN RISK!

(Possible) Features of the next release (v0.1):

1. Fewer bugs

2. Better UI

3. Better execution efficiency and lower memory usage

4. Domain lock

5. Junk code injection

6. Prevent swf being extracted from RAM

TUTORIAL - How to use it:

1. Choose your main swf to be encrypted

Press “Browse _SWF” button to upload your swf.

2. Choose your water mark swf

Press “Browse _WaterMark” button to upload your water mark.

If you don't need a water mark, uncheck “Use _WaterMark”.

You can set the water mark swf's x, y, scaleX, scaleY and alpha properties.

Change the “LinkTo” url to your sites and the final output swf will have a water mark navigates to your sites when you click it.

3. Obfuscate

Edit the names list there; add names that you wish to be changed to random strings.

Use comma (",") to separate names.

If you don't want to obfuscate, uncheck "Obfuscate".

4. Pack

Edit the name (default “CryOut.swf”) after “OutPut_SWF_Name”. That's the encrypted swf’s name. You can't change it after the encrypted swf is created.

If you don't want to pack your swf, uncheck “Pack”.

Notes: if you uncheck “Pack” and “Obfuscate” both, SWF Cry will do nothing. Make sure at least one is checked.

5. Save the encrypted swf

Press “Cry_and_Save” button to begin the encryption process, please wait a while till it's done and then you can save the encrypted swf.

6. Save your config

Press “Save_Config” button to save your current config, you can load your config by “Load_Config”. The saved config is an xml file, you can edit it manually.

7. Test your output swf, if you only see a blank swf, try unchecking “Pack”.

If the player throw errors such as “can't find definition...” check the obfuscate names list, make sure no as3 key words there!

8. Add a preloader for the encrypted swf (To-Do)

…

KOWN ISSUES:

1. Only as3, AVM1 swfs (as2,as1) are not fully supported currently. (But you can try your luck!)

2. Sometimes swfs access net files won't run on a local computer after Pack.

3. If your swf accesses stage, add code below in your main class's constructor function:

if(stage==null){this.addEventListener(Event.ADDED_TO_STAGE,onAdded);} else {init();}

function onAdded(event:Event){init();}function init(){}

Otherwise, the packed swf will throw errors.
Go here (http://www.flashandmath.com/intermediate/swfload/docclass.html) for details.

4. You can't rename the packed output swf anymore (the file name is protected)

5. Many other small bugs...

Bugs, ideas, requirements, just drop a comment!

Links:

1. Flash Protection Gold
Version 1.42 (Free / Full features) Now!
http://www.avimpeg.net/flash_protection.htm

2. http://makc3d.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/open-source-swf-obfuscator/

3. http://www.badsectoracula.com/projects/sob/

4. http://github.com/shapedbyregret/actionscript-3-obfuscator

5. http://active.tutsplus.com/tutorials/workflow/protect-your-flash-files-from-decompilers-by-using-encryption/

6. http://www.swfdecrypt.com/ Unprotect SWF Files

7. some SWF encryptors are worthless
8. http://flashfreeprotection.blogspot.com/ (A tool that protect your flash files from most of the decompilers, for free!)

Alchemy Ray Casting Engine source code released

2010-04-05T22:25:00.001-07:00

DEMO: http://flaswf.googlecode.com/files/Alchemy_RayCaster_DEMO.swf

SOURCE: http://flaswf.googlecode.com/files/ALC_Ray_Caster.zip

This is my first project using alchemy, porting a simple ray casting engine from this tutorial (http://www.student.kuleuven.be/~m0216922/CG/raycasting.html) to flash, and finished about half a year ago. Source code is just released because I’m too lazy to clean up the dirty code behind the first demo.

This engine is better than may other flash based ray caster because it can render ceil/floor and sprites. It’s not hard to make a Wolfenstein-like game using this engine but I’m not motivated to do that now.

We already have more powerful alchemy doom and alchemy quake engine now. There are many good game editors for these two engines; we can create a quake-like FPS even without programming now. But it’s strange that I haven’t seen any new game made.

(If you want to do this, here are tutorials:

http://bruce-lab.blogspot.com/2009/09/build-your-doom-in-flash-step-by-step.html

http://bruce-lab.blogspot.com/2009/12/simple-tutorial-for-using-alchemy-quake.html )

One reason is no LAN game play, hope someone can solve this problem. I think another reason is those engines are too complicated to deal with. This little engine is much simpler and can be used personally, hope you will like it.

I won’t develop it further because recently I’m focus on a totally new ray casting engine – BENGINE (http://flaswf.googlecode.com/files/Bengine_v01.swf ), a voxel based 2.5D/3D ray casting engine.

As to the source code of this alchemy ray caster, special thanks to Lode, the original author of the C++ code, and Ralph Hauwert (unitzeroone.com), I learned how to use alchemy from his source.

It is not well written, and maybe you won’t like my way of writing C code, I don’t use .h file, I prefer C to C++ (so the original C++ source is C now) and like to use include a lot.

Besides, there may be lots of bugs and many things can be optimized.

If you want to make it better, some ToDos (for you):

1. Use 1D screen buffer ([]) instead of 2D screen buffer ([][]) to speed up rendering.

2. Improve the sprite sorting function.

3. Use a lookup table to calculate rays instead of vectors (#1).

4. More controls: Strafe left/right, jump/crouch, run, look up/down (#1).

5. Some lighting effect (#1).

6. A better way to handle textures/sprites, doom wad like data/resources.

7. A better way to define a map, a map editor, import Wolfenstein map format.

8. Animated sprites.

9. Write a simple game.

#1 Another nice ray casting tutorial you may need:

http://www.permadi.com/tutorial/raycast/index.html

Games That Had Been Flashed - flash ports of well-known games

2010-02-22T07:30:00.001-08:00

1.Castlevania

http://www.flashkof.fr/castle/site/htm/news.htm

2.Doom

Doom*3 game-Doom Triple Pack (Doom, Heretic, and Hexen):

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/470460

P.S. doom2d http://www.codinsoft.de/doom2d.html

3. EA 2D’s Dragon Age Journeys

http://www.dragonagejourneys.com

4. Half-Life

http://web.archive.org/web/20070509125829/www.halflife2d.com/

5. Infamous

http://www.agame.com/game/Infamous.html?home_new

6. James Bond: Quantum of Solace

http://www.007.com/game/

7. Metal Gear VR Mission

Flash Gear Solid VR

http://www.mochimedia.com/games/flash-gear-solid-vr-the-nikita-missions/

8. Metal Slug

http://www.google.com/search?source=hp&q=metal+slug+flash

9. Mirror’s edge

http://mirrorsedge2d.com

10. Portal

http://portal.wecreatestuff.com

11. Price of Persia

http://www.gamespot.com/promos/princeofpersia-game/flash/

12. Quake

http://www.silvergames.com/game/quake-flash/

13. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

http://www.stalker-game.com/en/?page=archive_news&subpage=9

tymchenko.jrhdata.de

14. Spider-Man

http://www.sonypictures.com/homevideo/spider-man3/

15.Street Fighter 2

http://www.dotemu.com/sf2/

16. Super Mario

http://www.google.com/search?source=hp&q=super+mario+flash

17. Unreal Flash

http://armorgames.com/play/643/unreal-flash-2007

18. Witcher Versus

http://wiedzminversus.gry-online.pl/

http://versus.thewitcher.com/?link=http%3A%2F%2Fversus%2Ethewitcher%2Ecom

19. Wolfenstein3D

WolfenFlash 3D by Glen Rhodes(Flash ray engine)

http://www.glenrhodes.com/wolf/

P.S. Javascript Wolfenstein 3D

http://blog.nihilogic.dk/2008/04/javascript-wolfenstein-3d.html

20. Zombies vs. Plants

http://www.popcap.com/games/free/pvz/?mid=pvz_pcweb_en_full

==========update 2010, August, 20==========
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands
http://prince-of-persia.us.ubi.com/games/game-01.php

A simple tutorial for using Alchemy Quake Engine to create your own FPS game!

2009-12-03T08:06:00.001-08:00

(custom quake maps in flash)

PART 1 COMPILE THE SOURCE

1. Get the source code at http://github.com/mkr3142/QuakeFlash

using git and

2. Install alchemy.
If you don't know how to do that (step 1&2) check this tutorial (I wrote for alchemy doom).

3. Compile the source to a swc
Copy the source folder to “F:\alchemy\” (suppose you install alchemy into this folder)
First you need a simple modification of the C source of wiquak in the source folder “D:\alchemy\QuakeFlash\WinQuake”:
Open the file “common.c” by any text editor, find this line (by searching key words such as “use modified games”)
” Sys_Error ("You must have the registered version to use modified games");”
Just remove or add”//” before (commentize) that line.

This is important if you want to use the engine to run your mods or total conversions, that line will check if the game data “PAK0.pak” is original (not modified), and won’t let the game run if not.

Now let’s build the C source to a swc: (you may want to read "readme_QuakeFlash.txt" in your downloaded source folder first)

Run Cygwin go to the “F:\alchemy\QuakeFlash\quakeswf” folder and compile the source:

cd F:
cd alchemy/QuakeFlash/quakeswf
source /cygdrive/f/alchemy/alchemy-setup
alc-on
make -f makeswc

When it's done, check that "quake.swc” was created in “F:\alchemy\QuakeFlash\lib”

(if not, go to “F:\alchemy\QuakeFlash\quakeswf\Release”, copy "quake.swc " to “F:\alchemy\QuakeFlash\lib”)

4. get the game data PAK0.pak
Download the original quake game demo(DOS) from http://www.idsoftware.com/games/quake/quake/, you will get the file “quake106.zip”, unzip it and run “install.bat”,
go to the folder you installed your game such as "C:\QUAKE_SW",
copy the "PAK0.PAK" form "C:\QUAKE_SW\ID1" to
“F:\alchemy\QuakeFlash\quakeswf\embed”

5. compile the swf
Open the FlashDevelop project file “QuakeFlash.as3proj” in"F:\alchemy\QuakeFlash\quakeswf",
build the project you will get the “QuakeFlash.swf” in “F:\alchemy\QuakeFlash\quakeswf\bin”.
Run it, it will play the demos, press space key->NEW GAME, you can play the game now!

PART 2 MODS and TOTAL CONVERSIONS

1. choose one of your favorite quake editors

There’re lots of free & open source game editors for quake1.

Some of which I know are quark (quark.sourceforge.net, powerful for making total conversions, can create & modify maps, models, textures and sounds…), bspquakeeditor (http://www.bspquakeeditor.com/) and quakeED (http://www.celephais.net/board/view_thread.php?id=60225&end=25，unzip and put it in “C:\games\quake\tools”, you need to create that folder by yourself.) for levels (new maps), a light and useful tool PakExplorer(for creating & modifying PAK0.PAK, quark has a build in Pak Explorer too.).

2. I prefer quark, just learn how to use it to create & modify PAK0.Pak

to make your mods and TCs. There are docs and video tutorials online (quark.sourceforge.net) to help you.

P.S.For bspquakeeditor quakeED, the default quake level format is *.map, you need to compile the *.map to *.bsp (both editor can do that).

3. A quick start – test your first quake mod level in flash:

You created/downloaded a level and want to test it in the flash.

Use PakExplorer open PAK0.PAK, import (drag and drop) *.bsp into maps folder of PAK0.Pak, delete e1m1.bsp, rename your *.bsp to e1m1.bsp, save and recompile the flashproject. The first level of the game will be yours.

If you download a mod’s PAK0.PAK (here are some:http://www.quaketerminus.com), just open it and the original PAK0.PAK by PakExplorer, right click and copy any *.bsp from MOD.PAK’s map folder and paste it in the original one’s map folder, delete or rename “e1m1.bsp”, rename the mod’s .bsp to “e1m1.bsp”, save the PAK file, rebuilt the swf and the first level will be changed.

P.S. a tip for moders: compile the swf everytime when you want to test your level is time consuming, because the “Main.as” embed the “PAK0.PAK” file to get a standalone swf, modify Main.as, use Loader, let it load the "PAK0.PAK", so you won’t need to recompile the swf any more whenever you change the “PAK0.PAK”, (if you’re not clear of what I mean or how to do that, email me or leave a comment.)

A free (GPL) game data (PAK file) for quake1 is here: http://openquartz.sourceforge.net/index.html

download Game data in binary format, use PakExplorer open pak0~3.pak, copy all files in pak1~3.pak into pak0.pak, repalce what's in F:\alchemy\QuakeFlash\quakeswf\embed with"config.cfg" of openquartz and the newly created pak0.pak, compile the project, you will get something like this:

http://www.quake-1.com/docs/flashquake/OpenQuartz.swf

LINKS:

1. quake1 mods and tools: http://www.quaketerminus.com

2. free web client version of Quake: http://www.blogger.com/www.quakelive.com

3. Quake 2 for Papervision3D:http://code.google.com/p/paperquake2/

4. Flash quake/descent style renderer: http://board.flashkit.com/board/showthread.php?t=749263

source: http://esl.eng.ohio-state.edu/~rac/hobby.html

5. Quake 2’s Maps in Flash 10: http://blog.promethe.net/2009/10/01/load-and-display-quake-2s-maps-in-flash-10/

6. alternativa 3d quake: http://makc.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/flash/alternativa3d_quake/quake.swf

7. Quake2-based 3D renderer for flash using HaXe:

http://hxquake.appspot.com/html/index.html

http://code.google.com/p/hxquake/

Quake in flash using alchemy, source and swf available online now!

2009-11-28T07:53:00.001-08:00

Thanks to Michael Rennie,
Play the game online: http://www.silvergames.com/game/quake-flash/
Source Code: http://github.com/mkr3142/QuakeFlash
Great news!
Cheers!

Build your doom in flash step by step - Instructions for compile alchemy doom

2009-09-18T07:07:00.001-07:00

It is when I found this game I began to believe how useful adobe alchemy will be.

Finally, the classical doom was ported into flash player as an playable game!

Thanks to adobe alchemy and Mike(http://mike.newgrounds.com/), who made it and shared the source!

I am not an expert on doom , alchemy or even flash but I feel glad to share what I know about this project with those who like doom and flash.

This simple tutorial is the first step to build your doom in flash using Mike’s source, hope it can help.

PART 1 - COMPILE THE SOURCE

1. get the souce code

(1) simplely download this packge:

http://flaswf.googlecode.com/files/alchemy_linuxdoom-1.10_by_Mike.zip

(include Mike’s source(mybe outdated, try (2) to get the latest source) and my flashdevelop project file,

just open "my doom project.as3proj"(alchemy_linuxdoom-1.10\my doom project\.) and build it you will get the "doom.swf"(\bin\.).

no pre-loader in this package, if you want that, go to the project home or make your own.)

(2) gip http://github.com/Herschel/flash-doom/tree/master

1.download this sofeware Git-1.6.4-preview20090730.exe from

http://code.google.com/p/msysgit/downloads/list

install and run "Git bash":

git clone git://github.com/Herschel/flash-doom.git

when done go to

"C:\Documents and Settings\user\flash-doom" and find your source.

you can also download raw file directly one by one

(http://github.com/Herschel/flash-doom/blob/7fa25473c3285d3258d27818ec06d1ebc2fb87ed/src/as3/DoomGame.as

-click raw on the right of the title)

2. install alchemy

follow the instructions:

http://labs.adobe.com/wiki/index.php/Alchemy ocumentation:Getting_Started

P.S. you should install "make(Devel ) packages" when installing Cygwin.

3. compile the source code

Download the source files and copy them to D:\alchemy\(supposed you install alchemy into this folder)

Run Cygwin go to the alchemy_linuxdoom-1.10 folder and compile the source:

cd D:

cd alchemy/alchemy_linuxdoom-1.10)

source /cygdrive/d/alchemy/alchemy-setup

alc-on

make

It will take some time to finish compiling all c source files into a swc.

When you see this:

You can find lots of .o file in your swc folder, compilation is almost done,

it will now pause for a while, and then build all .o file into a swc:

When it is done, go to "swc" folder and copy the generated "doom.swc" to your project folder.

4.create your flashdevelop project

Create an flashdevelop project:

Copy "DoomGame.as" into "D:\alchemy\alchemy_linuxdoom-1.10\my build\src"

and "doom1.wad" into "D:\alchemy\alchemy_linuxdoom-1.10\my build\lib"

add the swc asset:

DoomGame.as - (right click) always compile

Properties - Output - platform target - flash player 10

Build your project now!

Finally find your "doom.swf" in bin folder

and Run it, Press space key - new game...

PART 2 - CREATE YOUR FLASH FPS GAME POWERED BY ALCHEMY DOOM ENGINE

1.create/add new levels – doom builder

http://www.doombuilder.com/

Doom Builder.exe-file-open map/new map-"doom1.wad"

Game Configuration-Doom

Add resourc-From WAD File-doom1.wad–ok

Now you need to learn how to use this software to make new levels by yourself.

When done:File-save map into-choose your wad.

2.make total conversations - XWE

http://www.doomworld.com/xwe/

Xwe.exe-file open-"doom1.wad"

Play with this powerful editor, you can create a totally different game!

Don't forget to replace the original "doom1.wad" with the new edited one when rebuilt your game!

Links:

1.some doom ports:

http://www.doomworld.com/classicdoom/ports/

2.the doom game:
http://www.idsoftware.com/games/doom/doom-final/

3.doomonline-A port of Doom for Flash by Max Herkender:
http://code.google.com/p/doomedonline/
http://blog.brokenfunction.com/2007/07/20/flash-plays-doom/

4.Ryan A. Chilton’s Flash doom & quake:

http://esl.eng.ohio-state.edu/~rac/hobby.html

5.doom 2d flash:

http://www.codinsoft.de/doom2d.html

6.game-Doom Triple Pack (Doom, Heretic, and Hexen):

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/470460

7.doom in java applet:

http://jpc.sourceforge.net/

Any question or problem please feel free to drop your comment!

Adobe Alchemy Ray Caster Port

2009-08-18T23:10:00.001-07:00

======== UPDATE 2010, April 5========
Source Code Released:
http://bruce-lab.blogspot.com/2010/04/alchemy-ray-casting-engine-source-code.html
======== UPDATE 2010, April 5========

Interested in ray casting, I once wanted to port this C++ code to as3.

Don't have much time for that and have little faith in as3's speed, I haven't done that yet.

Then I knew adobe alchemy, played Mike's Doom port and decided to have a try using Alchemy.

A Wolfenstein 3D is to complicated for me but this simple code is just fine. Not used to C/C++ programing any more, I got lots and lots of warnings when compiling my swc. Luckily, it works in the end.

I first tried no textures, then one texture and finally full textures.

The swf looks all right but it is a mess behind what you see. Lots of work need to be done with the source code.

DEMO:http://flaswf.googlecode.com/files/Alchemy_RayCaster_DEMO.swf

Besides this simple test, I also played with a voxel terrain engine (as3 port by me available here) and other old school effects using Alchemy.

Ray casting in Flash

2009-07-06T20:44:00.000-07:00

Ray casting is a technology used in many old ‘3D’ games such as Wolfenstein 3D，DOOM. Game engine use ray casting is also called a 2.5 D engine. The limitation of a simple ray casting engine in Wolfenstein 3D is that you can't look up or down – you can’t rotate X axis. Ray casting is fast and simple so before flash 10 which supports 3d, many people used this technology to make some 3D effect. Ray casting can easily create a maze-like world of walls. You can render terrains, too. Terrain rendering is much different from walls, it is also called voxel rendering.

Here are some information about voxel terrains and volume rendering:

http://bruce-lab.blogspot.com/2009/01/terrain-rendering-in-flash.html

Ray casting is different from mode7, mode7 is much more simple, good at rendering floors or grounds, but can’t do with walls.

I collected some good examples of flash based ray casting:

1.Wolfenstein 3D flash ported by Glen Rhodes

Flash ray engine

http://www.glenrhodes.com/wolf/

2. Andre Michelle’s ray caster(source available)

(1)AS3 version

http://lab.andre-michelle.com/raycaster-v3

(2)old as2 version

http://recycle.andre-michelle.com/as2/packages.zip

You can find the source in ‘fla/examples/pro/raycasting’

3.fast ray casting engine(source available)
http://git.runtimeterror.com/?p=rayfaster1.git;a=summary

http://gimme.badsectoracula.com/rayfaster/

4. half baked ray casting (source available)

very powerful but use c processor.

Demo:http://hbrc.sourceforge.net/

Source:http://sourceforge.net/projects/hbrc

5.Pixel raycasting engine (source available)

http://www.digital-ist-besser.de/tryouts/raycasting_pixelbased/ (Broken link)

as3 source

6.http://www.furi.dk/raycaster/

7. Strille’s ray caster(flash5)(source available)

http://www.strille.net/works/raycasting_v2.swf

http://www.strille.net/works/raycasting.swf (source available at flashkit)

8.Frédéric Heintz, aka FredH’s flash maze(source available)

http://www.fredheintz.com/sitefred/flash/maze/maze.html

Find the flash8 source at http://www.fredheintz.com

This one also has a simple editor.

9. doomedonline(source available)

A port of Doom for Flash by Max Herkender

http://code.google.com/p/doomedonline/

http://blog.brokenfunction.com/2007/07/20/flash-plays-doom/

10. Ryan A. Chilton’s Flash doom & quake(source available)

http://esl.eng.ohio-state.edu/~rac/hobby.html

11.Another simple as3 raycaster

http://www.signalsondisplay.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/as3/raycaster/Raycaster.html

12.http://peaceoutside.org/3d.php

13.ericlin’s 3d maze(source available)

http://ericlin2.tripod.com/f3d/maze3d5.html

http://www.gotoandplay.it/_articles/2004/07/el_maze3d.php

This one is not ray casting. It skews movieclips to create a perspective wall effect which is similar to raycasting.

====================

TUTORIALS

1. F. Permadi’s Ray-Casting Tutorial

http://www.permadi.com/tutorial/raycast/

java source:http://www.permadi.com/java/rayc/Rayc.java

2. Lode's Computer Graphics Tutorial-Raycasting (c++ source available)

http://www.student.kuleuven.be/~m0216922/CG/raycasting.html

3. Another Raycasting Engine Tutorial

http://www.iirc.net/petes/

4. Advanced raycasting techniques (Line based raycasting/Doom style, instead of cell based/Wolf style)

http://www.gamedev.net/page/resources/_/technical/graphics-programming-and-theory/advanced-raycasting-techniques-r872

====================

LINKS

1. id Software’s Wolfenstein3D source code

Find it here:ftp://ftp.idsoftware.com/idstuff/

2. A fast java raycaster like doom or wolfenstein 3D (source available)

http://www.shinelife.co.uk/java-maze/

3. Wolfenstein 3D in 20 lines of JavaScript by Mathieu 'p01' Henri (source available)http://www.p01.org/releases/20_lines_Castle_Wolfenstein/

4. JavaScript ray caster by Ben Joffe(source available)

http://www.benjoffe.com/code/demos/canvascape/textures

5.Flash AS3 Ray Casting Tutorial with example and source

http://www.rustyarcade.com/blog/read/33/Ray-Casting-Tutorial

=============================================

UPDATE(2009-12-4)

rayfaster 2 test:
http://www.badsectoracula.com/peponi/rayfaster2/

Image Binarization and Edge Tracing in Flash

2009-05-15T04:29:00.000-07:00

Image binarization and edge tracing are some old school image technologies.

Just played with them in as3 when I was trying to create a cartoon filter for flash.

Those techs are pixel level transformations, get/setPixel and get/setPixel32 can do that job,

it works slow, though.

The result,

original image:

Binarized image:

Edge:

Nothing new here. But if you need it, here are the codes:


/**
 *Simple Image Binarization and Edge Tracing Test in ActionScript3.0
 *May. 15, 2009
 *Bruce Jawn
 *http://bruce-lab.blogspot.com/
 *http://www.geocities.com/zhoubu1988
  
 *Feel Free To Use This Code!
 *Build this class file with FLEX or FlashDevelop 
 *OR Set Document Class in Flash IDE (9 and above)
 *OR just copy what between "TIMELINE CODES BEGIN<<"*">>TIMELINE CODES END"-
 *to Flash IDE TIMELINE and Press Ctrl+Enter.-
 *Don't forget to give your image a linkage-"SourceImage"-
 *and remove "//" before "var mytex:..."!
 **/
package {
 import flash.display.*;
 //[SWF(backgroundColor="#000000", frameRate="12", width="550", height="400")]
 public class IBET_Test_Timeline_Class extends Sprite {
  [Embed(source='Your_Image_URL_Here.jpg')]
  private var SourceImage:Class;
  public function IBET_Test_Timeline_Class():void {
   var mytex:BitmapData=(new SourceImage()).bitmapData;
   //------------------------------------------------
   //TIMELINE CODES BEGIN<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
   //var mytex:BitmapData=new SourceImage(0,0);
   var w:int=mytex.width;
   var h:int=mytex.height;
   var c:Array=new Array(256);

   function look(a:int,b:int):void {
    for (var i:int=0; i< a; i++) {
     c[i]=0x00ffffff;
    }
    for (var i:int=a; i< a+b-1; i++) {
     c[i]=0x00000000;
    }
    for (var i:int=a+b-1; i<=255; i++) {
     c[i]=0x00ffffff;
    }
   }//end of function look

   look(50,100);

   var outB:BitmapData=new BitmapData(w,h,false,0x000000);//Binarized Image

   //Graylize Source Image
   for (var i:int=w-1; i>=0; i--) {
    for (var j:int=0; j<=h-1; j++) {
     var pixelValue:uint=mytex.getPixel32(i,j);
     var alphaValue:uint=pixelValue>>24&0xFF;
     var red:uint=pixelValue>>16&0xFF;
     var green:uint=pixelValue>>8&0xFF;
     var blue:uint=pixelValue&0xFF;
     var color:uint=Math.round(0.3*red+0.59*green+0.11*blue);
     var cc:uint=c[color];
     if (cc>0) {
      color=0xffffff;
     } else {
      color=0x000000;
     }
     outB.setPixel(i,j,color);
    }//end of for0
   }//end of for1

   var outT:BitmapData=outB.clone();//Edge Image

   for (i=1; i<=w-1; i++) {
    for (j=1; j<=h-1; j++) {
     var pixelValue1:uint=outB.getPixel(i,j);
     if (pixelValue1==0) {
      var n1:uint=outB.getPixel(i+1,j);
      var n2:uint=outB.getPixel(i,j+1);
      var n3:uint=outB.getPixel(i-1,j);
      var n4:uint=outB.getPixel(i,j-1);
      var n5:uint=outB.getPixel(i-1,j-1);
      var n6:uint=outB.getPixel(i+1,j+1);
      var n7:uint=outB.getPixel(i+1,j-1);
      var n8:uint=outB.getPixel(i-1,j+1);
      if (n1+n2+n3+n4+n5+n6+n7+n8==0) {
       outT.setPixel(i,j,0xffffff);
      }//end of if (n1+n2+n3+n4+n5+n6+n7+n8==0)
     }//end of if (pixelValue1==0)
    }//end of for0
   }//end of for1

   addChild(new Bitmap(outB));
   addChild(new Bitmap(outT));
   this.getChildAt(0).y=h;
   //>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>TIMELINE CODES END
   //------------------------------------------------
  }//end of function IBET_Test_Timeline_Class
 }//end of class
}//end of package

================================================
UPDATA 2009_7_09
another cartoon filter (version B) using Image binarization and edge tracing:
original image:

result:

source file:http://flaswf.googlecode.com/files/CartoonFilter_B.as

Cartoonize Image by AS3.0 - Cartoon Filter

2009-04-19T04:32:00.000-07:00

Using Photoshop or Gimp, you can create lots of artistic pictures from photos like water painting, oil painting, sketch ..., by powerful filters there.

Actionscript provides some filters such as BlurFilter, DisplacementMapFilter... and two basic but useful filter ColorMatrixFilter and ConvolutionFilter. We can do many things using those two filter. Here are two tutorials explaining them:

http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flash/articles/matrix_transformations_01.html

http://docs.gimp.org/en/plug-in-convmatrix.html (ConvolutionFilter)

Once I want to convert a photo into a Chinese painting style pic but failed.

What inspired me recently is this free online app based on flash -Befunky Cartoonizer http://www.befunky.com/, which can convert your photo into a cartoon style pic.

I searched the Internet and found some tutorials on how to cartoonize your photo into cartoon

using some image processing software.

GIMP:ocaoimh.ie/2004/10/01/cartoonizing-photos-with-the-gimp/

(Now we have a cartoon filter in GIMP: http://docs.gimp.org/en/plug-in-cartoon.html)

PHOTOSHOP: http://prashantmullick.com/wlog/archives/2004/09/14/cartoonize/

I found that the only trick is to find edges of image, extract outline of shapes and set BelndMode to multiply! I think Actionscript can handle that, so did this little experiment.

Firstly, ConvolutionFilter can do edge detection. Secondly, we can use BitmapData.draw()

+BlendMode to set blend mode.

However, in my test, simple edge detection using ConvolutionFilter with 3*3 array

[ 0, -1, 0, -1, 4, -1, 0, -1, 0 ] or [1, 2, 1, 0 ,0, 0, -1, -2, -1] or [1, 0, -1, 2, 0, -2, 1, 0, -1]

wouldn't result a nice effect.

But thanks to this post:

http://www.kirupa.com/forum/showthread.php?p=2205469

I get a better way to extract outlines.

If you wants to know more about edge detection using AS3.0, here are two tutorials with source:

http://lukewalsh.co.uk/blog/2008/06/sobel-edge-detection-in-flash.html

http://www.kilometer0.com/edge_detection.php

And I found BlendMode.OVERLAY seems better than BlendMode.MULTIPLY.

This is the final result:

original picture:

edge detection:

BlendMode.MULTIPLY+Blur :
BlendMode.OVERLAY :
It doesn't look like a cartoon very much and may produce ugly things when using photos of human face but that's all I can do now.

In my test this is not suitable for real time rendering. 6*applyFilter()+3*draw()+2*threshold() eats too much CPU. I hope to find some better ways to do this. Hope some one could write a shader to do that work. If anyone knows a faster way to trace edges, please tell me. I do hope to make it run on the fly!

Source Code:

http://flaswf.googlecode.com/files/CartoonFilter.zip

================================================
UPDATE 2009_7_09
another cartoon filter (version B) using Image binarization and edge tracing:
http://bruce-lab.blogspot.com/2009/05/image-binarization-and-edge-tracing-in.html

Ray Tracing - Voxel Rendering in Flash

2009-04-17T08:04:00.000-07:00

I did some experiments on ray tracing in as3 before and I'm interested in this technology because it is simple but can create convincing 3D effects like shadows and reflections.
The problem is efficiency, real time rendering for complicated objects seems impossible for
hardware limitations nowadays.

Voxel rendering is another interesting thing, I once played with voxel terrains, you can find some work here:
http://bruce-lab.blogspot.com/2009/01/terrain-rendering-in-flash.html
http://bruce-lab.blogspot.com/2008/10/open-source-as30-voxel-terrain-engine.html

Voxel rendering for 3d objects -volume rendering is something a little different.
Mr doob gave us a very impressive demo(with source):http://www.mrdoob.com/blog/post/571
That swf load a confusing "data.v" file, at first I thought it is a Vista/Lipsia medical CT data format file, but now I think I was wrong. It is just a compressed bytearray data storing the voxel head data -x,y,z and colour values of voxels, please check the loading part of the source code for details. I don't know how they created such data file, maybe use some other software or mybe just by as3. That source is not very readable, what's more I can't figure out how to get those voxel data.

After I saw zevan's work http://shapevent.com/sketchbook/2008/12/28/voxel-play/

and this Isometric Voxels: http://actionsnippet.com/?p=431 (with code)

I decide to do something myself. I tried a simple way - create my own voxel data and use ray tracing to render it. Ray tracing is slow, so I give up real time. I can only create some simple voxel object - cube&sphere, I used six pictures as textures, five for cube and one for the sphere. I use 256*256*256 voxels to represent a simple scene - a sphere in a cube and stored the values in an array, convert and compress it into a bytearray and then save it as 'cube_sphere.vd'. The data file is still large - 3.23MB! The 'voxel_data_tracer.swf' loads this voxel data file and renders the voxels.

This is what I got:

You can download the demo here:
http://flaswf.googlecode.com/files/raytracing%20voxel%20rendering.zip
but it is NOT RECOMMEND, it is slow and eats too much, too much memory - about 200,000k when initing, cpu 50% and more than 120,000k memory needs while rendering.
~~Source code needs too much optimization so I can't put it here now.~~
[Update:2011/08/26] Source code for the demo:
http://bruce-lab.blogspot.com/2011/08/simple-ray-tracing-voxel-demo.html
--------------------------------------------
Ken Silverman created a fast cpu based voxel 3d engine -Voxlap using C and DirectX.
http://www.advsys.net/ken/voxlap/voxlap05.htm

The world of Voxlap is fully destructible, yes , you can destroy everything there!
That is the most exciting part of voxels!
Voxlap is open source, but God understands what those crazy codes mean!

An open source game using Voxlap is V O X E L S T E I N 3 D - a FPS game inspired by Wolfenstein 3D.
http://voxelstein3d.blogspot.com/
http://voxelstein3d.sourceforge.net/
Links:
A minecraft level render in flash:
http://liquify.eu/flash/MCExplorer
http://www.minecraftforum.net/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=96591

Z-Ground News opened

2009-03-13T07:35:00.000-07:00

I started a simple page for z-ground engine, you can find all news about the engine from now on.
Check it here:
~~http://zhoubu1988.googlepages.com/z-groundnews~~
http://bruce-lab.blogspot.com/p/z-ground.html

new demos of z-ground room & terrain

2009-02-12T05:19:00.000-08:00

The first one is a doom-like demo:

DEMO:http://flaswf.googlecode.com/files/z_ground_doom_style_room_test.swf

The second one is terrain generated by a heightmap and a texture map :

DEMO:http://flaswf.googlecode.com/files/z-ground_Terrain_new.swf

flash 10 drawTriangles test

2009-02-12T05:02:00.000-08:00

Test of flash 10's 3D API - drawTriangles.

terrain rendering in flash(draft)

2009-01-31T22:41:00.000-08:00

back later...
I do like playing with terrains.
Generally there are two ways of rendering terrains or landscapes, the first one is called voxel, the second one is using 3D triangles.
There are difference between the two ways, both in theory and the result.
Many flashers did some very impressive experiments about terrains by action script.
1.A great one was Electric Oyster 's flash flight simulator over the arctic.
The swf is based on their own 3D engine-Electric 3D engine using tiangles way to render the terrain.
Great texture and rendering speed!

a full screen version :
http://www.electricoyster.com/electric3d/index.html

P.S.Anyone who want an standalone (off-line) vision,just go to your Temporary Internet Files’ folder,copy the files ‘Main.swf’and‘data_lq.bin’ out, save them where you want.(don’t change the name of the second one,keep it ‘data_lq.bin’)-play ‘Main.swf’
for full screen version it will be 'data_hq.bin'
you may need to take care of flash player's security problems.
2. away 3D greenpalnt demo
http://www.closier.nl/playground/greenplanet.htmlmuch more than just landscape, very impressive!
3. Den Ivanov did lots of beautiful experiment on terrain.
The most famous one is his land craft simulator in flash 8.
http://lab.parkstudio.ru/terra/
He also did other simple voxel terrain with source their
Check:

TerrainAni :http://www.cleoag.ru/2007/05/13/sources-for-my-3d-voxel-terrain/(with source) TerrainAni2 http://www.cleoag.ru/2007/04/13/another-voxel-terrain-demo/ (with source)

MusicScape: http://www.cleoag.ru/2007/03/29/musicscape/

But PaperTerrain :http://www.cleoag.ru/2007/03/31/sources-for-papervision3d-terrain/is using another approach papervision 3D
And triangles.(with source)

an old work realtime 3D landscape:
https://flaswf.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/flaswfblog/realtime_3D_landscape_Y2K_onego.swf

(sorry, can't find the original link...)

We can easily see the difference of final result:
Voxel is much more month, on the other hand you can recognize the triangles
4.SWFZ TerrainLoadingTest http://www.swfzlab.com/swfz/terrain/TerrainLoadingTest.swf(broken link)

http://the-backup-project.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/3D/swfz/Terrain.swf (backup)

Based on Joho’s powerful flash 3D engine.
5.Unit Zero One 3d voxel landscapes http://www.unitzeroone.com/blog/2006/10/03/flash-9-example-3d-landscapes-voxel-engine/

6.isaac 's flash voxel engine:

http://isaacwilliams.net/2007/12/30/flash-voxel-engine/
http://isaacwilliams.net/2008/01/01/voxel-engine-update/

voxel land(with source)

http://isaacwilliams.net/2008/01/08/voxelland-source/

7.oaxoa's Real-time voxel landscape
http://blog.oaxoa.com/2008/08/28/actionscript-3-as3-real-time-voxel-landscape/

8.Voxelworld:

http://www.smart-page.net/blog/2008/11/01/voxelworld/

9.Kris Temmerman's Generated Landscape

http://www.neuroproductions.be/uploads/blog/perlinnoise.swf

10.Mike Johnson Flash 8 : Perlin Noise Landscaping(with source) http://mx.coldstorageonline.com/index.php?bid=42

11.http://www.polyaktiv.de/neu/swf/virtuallc.htm

http://www.polyaktiv.de/neu/swf/landscape2.htm

12.3D slice mountain

http://www.arseiam.com/
http://www.arseiam.com/fx/01.php

http://www.arseiam.com/fx/54.php

13.http://psyark.jp/?entry=20060719222011 (with source)

http://psyark.jp/archive/2006/07/19/sunkenworld.swf

14.3D Topographical Terrain
http://www.mattmaxwelldesign.com/mm3dengine/sample3.swf

15.iso terrain

http://blog.justgreat.nl/2008/03/25/game-tiles-experiment/

Simple terrain generator experiment

http://labs.justgreat.nl/exp070702.htm

16.Papervision Mesh3D Terrain Map Simplification - Proof of Concept http://www.overset.com/2007/09/04/papervision-mesh3d-terrain-map-simplification-proof-of-concept/

17.http://antonvolkov.com/flash/land3d/
This one shows how triangle works.

18.perlin terrain 3d study 1&2

http://lab.zupko.info/index2.html

19.mrdoob's

Terrain Raycaster

http://wonderfl.kayac.com/code/071aec946bbb1716d603b74f6877a58cefd06548

Desert Generator

http://wonderfl.kayac.com/code/9d2de22acc0df34bdd5eac0f861930b4393bd059

Cube world

http://wonderfl.kayac.com/code/dabc70c4044d20b1a3bdfad562123120ddaddc89

20.http://wonderwhy-er.deviantart.com/art/Voxel-Engine-Revamped-74141703
Voxel Engine Revamped by *wonderwhy-ER

21.joa-ebert's AS3 VoxelEngine

http://blog.joa-ebert.com/2006/05/01/as3-voxelengine/

22.http://weblog.cahlan.com/files/PerlinLandscape.html

23.http://davr.org/flash/

24.http://chrisbenjaminsen.com/show/mapdraw.swf

25.flashkit post -Pseudo 3d with bitmap as displacement for y-axis
http://board.flashkit.com/board/showthread.php?t=747849
slight's SaphuA's Space

http://board.flashkit.com/board/attachment.php?attachmentid=64099&d=1192793912

JerryScript voxel

http://board.flashkit.com/board/attachment.php?attachmentid=64124&d=1192906336 (source)3D Terrain & Object Positioning Via HeightMap & ColorMap Generated from PerlinNoise
http://www.geocities.com/webwizardsways/flash/prerender.html

http://www.geocities.com/webwizardsways/flash/render.html

slight's pseudo voxel

http://www.evilbastard.org/slight/pseudovox.swf

http://www.evilbastard.org/slight/pseudovox2.swf

26.terrain from 25-Line ActionScript Contest

all source can be found here: http://www.25lines.com/

2009-January 25 lines contest: Entry-008
Petri Leskinen's flight 25

http://www.25lines.com/finalists/0901/008.txt (source)http://www.25lines.com/finalists/0901/008.swf
2008-November / December 25 lines contest: Entry-068
oaxoa's voxel terrain
2008-November / December 25 lines contest: Entry-005

Paulo Afonso's DYNAMIC TERRAIN

2008-November / December 25 lines contest: Entry-027
Piergiorgio Niero's Random Terrain 3D Generator

2008-November / December 25 lines contest: Entry-064

Daniil Tutubalin's Bottle Glass Mountains(in Finalists)

27.bit-101's terrain

Spider Defense:

http://www.bit-101.com/blog/?p=1022

terrain 2d:

http://www.bit-101.com/content/020808.swf
http://www.bit-101.com/flafiles/020808.fla

lots of linescapes there!

http://www.artfromcode.com/?p=564

http://www.artfromcode.com/?cat=6
28.Andre Michelle's mode7 terrain:

https://flaswf.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/flaswfblog/am_mode7_place3d_terrain.swf
(can't find the original link...)

Tutorials:

1.Perlin Noise and Dynamic Terrain Generation

:http://www.onlinekarma.net/flash3d/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=16&Itemid=1 (with source)

LINKS:

1.Generating Random Fractal Terrain

http://gameprogrammer.com/fractal.html
2. Voxel terrain engine(tutorial with c++ source)

http://www.codermind.com/articles/Voxel-terrain-engine-building-the-terrain.html

MEMO:
My work 1 pixel style
2triangle perlin/3/color
Zground 3d slic/zground traingle
Voxel terrain
http://m-design.bg/terrain/ ?

Happy New Year !

2009-01-25T03:00:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year, Everyone !

Z-Ground Merry Christmas !

2008-12-24T05:02:00.000-08:00

A new demo of Z-Ground, pure code swf.

FEATURE:snow, tree and shadow.

CLICK HERE

z-ground goes 'real' 3D ! - z-ground FP10 preview

2008-12-10T17:12:00.000-08:00

This demo shows the future of z-ground engine. It combines flash 10's 3D API with the core of z-ground. Technically, z-ground engine is still independent of flash 10's 3D functions. What you see here can also be achieved by using some old pseudo 3D tricks in flash 9, such as what is done in Papervision 3D. But no doubt flash 10 is simple and much better! After the release of z-ground v0.1 FP9 (maybe in the first or second month in 2009), this is what I will be busy with. (flash player 10 required)

DEMO-v1:HERE

arrow keys-move

drag-look

wheel-change FOV

DEMO-v2:HERE