library
Orion 2.0 Preview
It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything project related. It’s not to say I haven’t been busy, quite the opposite. One of the projects I’m ready to debut is the next iteration of Orion. I posted earlier about some of my findings in loop optimizations and this is the project that I learned them on. This is just a glimpse for now, I’ll be updating Orion’s page with the source and more details. Below is a comparison of Orion 1.0 versus Orion 2.0.
Orion 1.0 – 8.6k running about 1500 – 3000 particles at 30fps
Orion 2.0 – 6.7k running about 100,000 – 130,000 particles at 30fps
Edit: (Sept 22nd 2009) Turned off scaling on the 1.0 demo, and made some updates to 2.0 (it’s still a work in progress after all)
Orion Particle Engine
- Compatibility: Flash Player 9 and later (ActionScript 3.0)
- File Size: About 2Mb
- Usage Size: 5.5kb+
Download Now (1.0.0)
What’s New
- Initial Release – Read below to find out more.
Description
Orion is an all around simple and flexible particle generator. I created Orion in order to have an easy method of creating and controlling particle effects. Orion is very fast and can handle thousands of particles and still keep frame rates high. It’s also very small weighing in at around 5.5kb.
TempoLite (AS3) – Small Efficient Media Library
- Compatibility: Flash Player 9 and later (ActionScript 3.0)
- File Size: About 8Kb – 33Kb
- Change Log
Download Now (3.0.4)
What’s New
- Updated NetStreamPlayer to 3.0.4
- Updated SoundPlayer to 3.0.4
- Updated ImagePlayer to 1.0.3
- API Change – currentPercent is now a number from 0 – 1
- API Change – seekPercent now accepts a number from 0 – 1
Description
TempoLite 3.0 is a complete refactoring of the code. I’ve finally made it modular enough that you can pick and choose which components you need at the time. If you only want to play an mp3, then just use the SoundPlayer. If you need to play a video use the NetStreamPlayer. If you’re not sure if you’re going to be loading an mp3 or a video, use TempoLite and it will play the media with the correct player. By using only what you need you can keep filesize down. TempoLite (1.0) is now the core of Tempo, with Tempo expanding upon TempoLite’s capabilities. With that said, TempoLite focuses on playing and managing media, nothing else. Any UI elements would be handled by the user or by Tempo.
TempoLite is no longer a component you drag into the library. It is now purely just a set of calsses you copy to your project folder. I’ve found this is simpler to test and update than needing to update something in the FLA constantly.
Competitors
This is a list of other known Flash media players currently out. While some media players may seem fancy or elaborate TempoLite’s goal is to be small, and efficient. Below is a list of comparable players with similar capabilities and file sizes:
- Wimpy Wasp 1.0.116 : 64kb – Plays only one video/song, no play list (Not Free)
- Wimpy Button 4.0.4 : 30kb – Plays only one song, no play list (Not Free)
- video.Maru 3.5b : 28kb
- TempoLite : 15kb