This document provides an overview and instructions for an assignment on encapsulation and paper prototyping in an ActionScript 3.0 class. It discusses creating an intro screen, game play screen, and ending screen using frames in Flash, and connecting them with buttons. It also covers creating paper prototypes, using arrays to store and retrieve data, random number generation, and homework on arrays due for the next week.

1. ARTDM 170, Week 9:
Encapsulation and Paper
Prototypes
Gilbert Guerrero
gguerrero@dvc.edu
gilbertguerrero.com/blog/artdm-170

2. Homework
• Please put your files in a folder with
your last name and first initial
• Put the folder in my dropbox
• Example:
smith-h
MyAnimation.swf
MyProjectDescription.pdf

3. Open Flash
• Create a new ActionScript 3.0
document:
MyEncap.fla
• Create a new ActionScript file:
MyEncap.as

4. Encapsulation

5. Intro and Ending Screens
• To encapsulate a movie, use 3 frames
‣ 1st frame holds the intro screen and
a button
‣ 2nd frame holds the game or movie
‣ 3rd frame holds a game over screen
and a restart button

6. Flash Buttons
To create a button:
• Create a new symbol in the Library
• Symbol type: Button
• In a button, each frame is a button state:
‣ Up - no user interaction
‣ Over - user mouse hovers over
‣ Down - user clicks the button
‣ Hit - invisible shape defines whatʼs
clickable

7. Encapsulation: Frame 1
In the first frame:
• Add a button to the stage
• Name the instance of the button “play_btn”
• Select the first frame and add this script:
play_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK,startGame);
function startGame(event:MouseEvent) {
gotoAndStop("playgame");
}
stop();

8. Encapsulation: Frame 2
• Create a second frame
• In the Properties panel, label the frame
“playgame”
• Create a MovieClip symbol in the Library
• Right click on the symbol to open Properties...
‣ Click Export for Animation
‣ Enter your movieʼs class name in the class field,
e.g. MyAnimation
• Drop an instance of the symbol onto the stage and
place it at (0,0) in the upper left corner of the
stage

9. Encapsulation: Frame 3
In the third frame:
• Add a button to the stage
• Name the instance of the button “replay_btn”
• Select the first frame and add this script:
replay_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK,playAgain);
function playAgain(event:MouseEvent) {
gotoAndStop("playgame");
}
In a game, the final frame of the encapsulation
would be your Game Over screen.

10. Getting to the third frame
Your encapsulated movie needs to provide a way to load
the third frame.
• Create a variable in your ActionScript class
public var bounceCount:Number = 0;
• Add 1 to the variable each time an event occurs
bounceCount++;
• When the variable reaches its limit, send the movie to
the “gameover” frame (you must refer to the root movie)
if (bounceCount >= 10000) {
MovieClip(root).gotoAndStop("gameover");
}

11. Paper Prototypes

12. Building Paper Prototypes
• Cheap, easy, and effective
• Paper Prototyping on A List Apart

13. Arrays

14. Storing and Retrieving
• Arrays can be used to store data
fruits = {“apples”,“oranges”,“bananas”}
• Data can be retrieved from arrays
using the index numbers
trace(fruits[0]); //apples
trace(fruits[1]); //oranges
trace(fruits[2]); //bananas
// I like to eat apples and oranges.
trace("I like to eat "+fruits[0]+" and "+fruits[1]+".");
• More about Arrays next week...

15. Randomization
• Generate a random number between 0
and .999999
Math.random()
• Round down using Math.floor and to
multiply Math.random by a number
get a random integer between zero and
your number
//generates integers from 0 to 29
Math.floor(Math.random()*30)

16. Homework, due Oct 21
• Read Chapter 5: Arrays in the
ActionScript 3.0 Cookbook, p103-136.
• Be sure you learn about these
functions:
‣ array.push()
‣ array.splice()
‣ array.concat()
‣ and Looping through an Array (see
section 5.2)