Looking back at the release of Flash MX

[senocular]

I remember when MX was coming out (at this point the name was unknown so it was just known as Flash 6). I managed to get myself a full final version and take a screen grab.

I just rediscovered this image when I found out today I still have a geocities account which I used for the sole purpose of displaying this image prior to the application's release :P

here it is:

http://www.geocities.com/senocular/

=)

[reverendflash]

I just recently have obtained a client, who is on Mac OS9, and AOL...

so, in order for her to view her own site, I had to re-AS the entire site to Flash 5 standards. I, of course, had to install the Flash 5 player to test it. Plus, she wanted dynamic text in one section, so I had to actually use Generator (I still run Gen2 on my server, just for these occasions), so I had to install the Gen2 extensions..

So, to make a long story short... I now have Flash 4, 5, 6, and 7 installed on my machine. I also have the Flash 5 and Flash 7 player installed as well...

My brain went thru all kinds of painful recollective excursions during this last weekend... :hangover:

Revhttp://aulman.com/rev.gif

[senocular]

yeah I have 4-7 at home. I think its actually a breach of the EULA to use prior versions when you upgraded to a new one though.

[eyezberg]

so if you buy a new model of your car, you have to stop using/sell the old one?! stupid eula again!

sen' you're a hacker! ever heard of matador/toreador..lol

[reverendflash]

for the amount of money I spent on Flash 5 Studio + Generator ($90,000 min license), I'd better be able to use them for my lifespan...

;)

Revhttp://aulman.com/rev.gif

[eilsoe]

90.000$....?

[comicGeek]

Thanks sen! Nice to reminisce! Bring tears to my eyes! The ol' Flash interface - when I started! :)

[senocular]

remember, Im claiming thats the Flash 6 interface :P (I actually got some warnings on posting that from higher-ups who didn't actually look at it)

[comicGeek]

Yeah! I know it's Flash 5 <-- where I started! :)

[senocular]

no, ITS 6! The titlebar says it all!

[comicGeek]

heheehehee ;P

[annexion]

Ironically the update for MX included an automatic hex editor to fix the foopahs of the designers of the application...

[norie]

i started on MX :P

[reverendflash]

Originally posted by eilsoe
90.000$....?

yup, and there was the "useage" fees, which were based on number of times a file got pulled, on top of that.

No wonder Generator never took off, Hun?

Revhttp://aulman.com/rev.gif

[eyezberg]

i really want to cry when looking at the Flash 4 GUI, so bad... no scripting almost, just tweens & workarounds... 5 got me hooked, MX (not 04) is still my baby :)

[senocular]

I think Flash 4 was a good place to jump in anc catch a ride on the Flash wave. The scripting was at its infancy still and the interface was simple enough to learn fairly easily enough on your own, yet powerful enough make some fun and interesting movies (in its time). With that background, learning the versions that followed became a lot easier. I can imagine it being right difficult coming in on MX04 right now. Seems like a lot of crap in there. And without the simple AS mode, it can be confusing methinks... then again I could be wrong. Its kind of hard to see myself in that position

[eyezberg]

no, you're right, "beginner mode" was really a help getting started, then you'd jump in and code in "expert", switch back, and if you had errors, it wouldn't let you, so you knew to fix your code..buggy sometimes, but very helpfull..
I liked the dot syntax in F5, i like still AS1 components, and the new features of 04 are really cool, but as you say, start learning all that in one app...hard!

[norie]

well, there is the behavior's panel for begginers, but.... i still think they should have kept the "beginner mode". I, myself, have never used the begginer mode, but that's because i was learning javascript while i was learning flash, so it wasn't that bad. When i started out, i was a major tween whore. Bad tweens at that. :P I think the best way to learn is to jump into a project of somekind and learn along the way, then after you finish the project, start all over and do it again, but better.