How do I convert my 100's of flash (actionscript 2.0) games to HTML5 now that swiffy is dead?

Report · Aug 27, 2016

I am glad HTML5 is replacing flash for games etc,... All of these new applications look great, and I'm excited to learn how to create games all over again in these new applications like animate cc etc,.... but that will take years because I am not good at understanding code. Right now, I have an emergency project of exporting my games to HTML5 as fast as possible before the time comes when adobe won't allow me to open or edit my actionscript 2.0 games at all anymore. Learning a whole new language (actionscript 3.0) will take me a few years. After years of studying actionscript 2.0, I still don't understand it on an expert level. Luckily, flash was versatile enough to support basic level programmers who wanted to create complex games.

Unfortunately I didn't know that swiffy was going to be killed until August. I have loads of educational games I built using flash with actionscript 2.0, and I have no idea now how to export them to HTML5 without swiffy. I am a teacher and can't afford to pay someone to convert my 100's of games for me. Swiffy was perfect! Has anyone found a solution? Does Adobe have a solution for us? The singular adobe video showing how to convert a very basic flash ad into HTML5 is no help to people who made beautiful, complex games using flash with actionscript 2.0.

I haven't seen adobe address this problem many folks are having, but I did find an app called flaexporter which only works on flash cc. I don't have flash cc, and it doesn't seem available to download as a 'past/old version' from my adobe creative download app. Is there a way to download this older flash cc app so I can export all my games to HTML5? I don't want to waste years of game development just because swiffy disappeared.

I have the full adobe cs with all the updated software apps including animate cc. Unfortunately, animate cc seems useless, because when I try to open up one of the games I put years of work into, it destroys that game completely. When I publish the game, it doesn't work at all.

I create games for education and had used swiffy and flash because they were easy for a designer like me to use. I am not a top level programmer, but I have always been able to create and modify flash.

1. Animate cc tells me that only a3.0 files can be imported and still work. So, how do I export actionscript 2.0 to actionscript 3.0 using the flash c6s that is still working on my laptop? I don't see the option to export to actionscript 3.0 in flash c6s, and I do not see the option to 'successfully' import actionscript 2.0 into animate cc. Is there something I'm missing here? Has anyone found a solution to this problem?

2. Instead of trying to figure out how to export a2.0 to a3.0, just so I can open it in animate cc and then export to HTML5, is there an easier way - similar to swiffy, which skipped all those time consuming steps?

If anyone has an answer, thank you!

Report · Aug 28, 2016

learning as3 won't help you much because the code's not converted in flash/animate when converting from as3 to html5. in addition, there's no good as2 to as3 converter.

you need to learn javascript and especially easeljs, CreateJS | A suite of JavaScript libraries and tools designed for working with HTML5 to code your html5 games.

Report · Aug 31, 2016

Thanks for the advice, I will look into learning those programming languages, but in the meantime I have to figure out how to convert my games.

Report · Aug 28, 2016

mcgrafx wrote:
Right now, I have an emergency project of exporting my games to HTML5 as fast as possible before the time comes when adobe won't allow me to open or edit my actionscript 2.0 games at all anymore.

That time is coming never. While it's true that Adobe has already dropped AS2 support from Animate CC, there is absolutely nothing stopping you from continuing with Flash CS6, which is still available from Adobe. They are almost certainly never going to drop AS2 support from the Flash player, so really, the only reason to worry about converting everything to HTML is if you want to make your content available on phones/tablets.

Report · Aug 31, 2016

Thanks Clay, I hope you're right, but we never know because when our software updates they change or previous versions get deleted. Right now, Adobe is saying "Flash is now being renamed as Animate" - so Flash c62 could disappear without much warning - just like swiffy. I am also debating installing flash cc because flaexporter says it only works with flash cc. I have no idea really, but I hope it works similarly to swiffy. I haven't figured out how to get it to work yet.

Report · Aug 30, 2016

Why has no one at Adobe created their own version of the SWIFFY program?

I chose Flash to AVOID having to learn code. SWIFFY solved the HTML conversion process

Report · Aug 30, 2016

it must be very difficult. otherwise, adobe would have done it.

clearly, adding as3 to html5 conversion would move flash/animate into a league of its own.

Report · Aug 30, 2016

It likely is NOT a difficulty problem but a copyright or patent problem as to the code used by the Google programmer to create the SWIFFY file.

My SWIFFY files still work on an iPad and a PC, but cannot be updated or modified.

I am having to generate a PC version of the files to have the updates implemented.

If it was software alone, surely someone at Adobe would have figured out a work-around as simple as SWIFFY.

I now have Animator CC, but have not figured out how to create iPad compatible files.

Report · Aug 30, 2016

No, Allen, it's a VERY difficult problem, because:

1) There are many things the Flash player can do that the HTML5 canvas element cannot.

2) AS2/AS3 and Canvas mode use completely different APIs.

Swiffy was a limited tool that only supported as much of Flash as necessary to translate banner ads.

Report · Aug 30, 2016

Clay,

Thank you for the explanation. Swiffy worked extremely well to generate the diagnostic files that would run on an iPad.

Swiffy Output

Those files (above) used a graphics generated rotating image.

The major vision test uses a Action script generated rotating image which would not let me generate a SWIFFY file.

DyopAcuity

That version is still in Flash, although I am working with an Animate version of it, I am also having one of my Associates try to replicate it in HTML5.

I had an opportunity to learn HTML 16 years ago and passed since it was something that I thought I would never need. HTML is now an essential computer skill sort of like learning how to swim.

Report · Aug 31, 2016

Yes, I agree... swiffy wasn't perfect, but it successfully exported most of my games without a hitch.

Report · Aug 31, 2016

Have any of you tried Fla Exporter?

I'm hoping it works similarly to swiffy, but I can't seem to get it t work yet.

Adobe used to be a company which supported artists and designers' creativity without forcing them to use code.
Now it seems they are moving closer and closer to a model which embraces coders and excludes artists and designers who don't code.
I think this is sad.

Report · Aug 31, 2016

i hadn't seen or heard of flaexporter before.

i just tested it and it worked. but it doesn't do anything significant (for me) because i'm mostly interested in actionscript conversion and flaexporter has very limited capabilities (play, stop, goto's and mouse handlers).

Report · Sep 01, 2016

Did you get it to work with Animate CC or Flash CC? I am very curious which application you used to test it out.

I have Animate CC and Flash C62. I cannot open any of my action script 2.0 games in Animate CC because Animate CC does not understand action script 2.0, only action script 3.0. I'm afraid that if I install Flash CC, it will delete my Flash C62. Currently, Flash C62 is the only application I have that can open, edit and publish my action script 2.0 games.

Thanks.

Report · Sep 01, 2016

you have to move the flaexporter jsfl files from C:\Users\<your name>\AppData\Local\Adobe\Animate CC 2015.2\en_US\Configuration\Commands to C:\Users\<your name>\AppData\Local\Adobe\Flash CS6\en_US\Configuration\Commands

Report · Sep 03, 2016

Thanks, I'm going to try this tonight & see if that will allow me to use it.

Report · Aug 31, 2016

So true!

I learned flash from the wonderful woman at Macromedia who created it. In all the years since Adobe bought Flash from Macromedia, it has hardly changed at all. Macromedia was so innovative!

I really don't understand why all the browsers are trying to kill flash. Flash is so very creative and easy for designers. Instead of killing flash, they could make it better.

Report · Aug 31, 2016

My sentiments exactly!