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[Hinchy]

I've gotten so used to ActionScript 2 and the Flash IDE over the years that going to an all-code IDE and ActionScript 3 at the same time for Flixel is very, very jarring. I'm looking for some really good resources, preferably specifically help me "graduate" to Flash AS3. As far as moving from Flash Pro, the main things that really get to me are room/screen management and layout. I've already got C++ pretty down so I don't need a primer on general OOP, either.

[BlueSweatshirt]

All I can say is do a lot of experimenting and tinkering to help ease you in, get comfortable, and learn the nooks and crannies of pure-code development.

[roboprez]

Jakman4242's advice is spot on. If your used to the Flash IDE I would suggest tinkering with AS3in that first. Try porting over old projects.

[moi]

Get Flashdevellop, it makes half the coding for you.
As for flixel, well you can study the mode demo, that's how I learnt.
If you already know OOP it shouldn't be too difficult.

[raigan]

I agree with moi -- though I haven't tried Flashbuilder or Flex, that's because I'm totally happy with FlashDevelop: http://www.flashdevelop.org

[jotapeh]

Judging by the topic title, you already have quite a capable IDE (Flash Builder.)

First off, if you're new to AS3 but not ActionScript or OOP, you can check out Colin Moock's Lost Actionscript 3.0 Weekend:

http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596801526

This one is particularly good because he covers some ways you can integrate your Flash IDE experience with Flashbuilder (eg., SWC embedding.)

If you're more advanced and simply want a reference, his book "Essential Actionscript 3.0" is great too.

[Richard Kain]

The first thing to wrap your brain around when dealing with AS3 is that everything in your program is going to be an object. Some programming languages are procedurally based. Not AS3. AS3 is object-oriented out the wazoo. The .AS source files you write are all templates for objects.

Tip #1 - Every .AS file is a class
The general methodology is that each class you write in AS3 will occupy its own .AS file. This is a good practice to follow, as it helps to keep things organized properly. It is actually possible to write and use multiple classes in the same .as source file. But you have to be careful when attempting it, and there are several restrictions to follow. It's also not common for such a practice to be overly useful. So as a general rule of thumb, one source file, one class.

Tip #2 - Source file importing
the packaging system in AS3 helps you to organize your files. It is especially useful once your project is up and running, and you want to go back and optimize it up a bit. Importing source files into a class gives you access to all of the code in those source files. It will allow you to create an instance of a class within another class. One rule to remember is that you don't need to import a source file if it is in the same folder as the source file that you are calling it from. If all of your source files are in the same folder, you don't actually need to do any importing at all. You can just call those classes as you please.

Tip #3 - Extending classes
A useful feature of AS3 is class extension. Basically, you can create a class that extends an existing class. All of the code from the original class will be accessible to the new class. This is especially useful for creating "template" classes. Flixel uses class extension frequently, so understanding how this works can help you to work with it.

[levelbylevel]

Not sure if this would help any, but I made a simple flixel game template, which has the basic state layout for a game.

Preloader -> Splash -> Menu -> Play -> Gameover -> Menu etc.

If you're interested, the blog post and download link is at http://www.levelbylevel.com/blog/flixel-game-template/

I might be useful to at least see how using states for levels/menus works. Also has some text layout and a very simple animation loop.