Students: Develop Games in Flash CS5 for 74% Off
Adobe Flash is the best of the best. I almost always recommend it to students who ask me what they can do to start learning how to develop games.
It is one of the most popular forms of game development for students and indie developers on the web (and increasingly off the web as well). It’s easy to learn, highly flexible, and instantly deployable to many popular flash game sites, such as Kongregate or Newgrounds, where a one-man-game can be instantly seen by millions. It provides an easy to learn environment, but at the same time it’s deep enough to be worth of putting on a resume (unlike programs like Game Maker, which I don’t recommend for that very reason). Almost everyone has played some kind of game that runs in Flash, from action games like Canabalt to Facebook games like Farmville. The platform has done wonders to expand game development to many aspiring young game designers, engineers, and artists who before would have never had access.
Unfortunately, the development tools required to make Flash games definitely don’t come cheap. The most up to date version of Flash CS5 comes in at $699.00. Not exactly chump change, especially if you’re a student looking to sharpen your skills and break into the games industry on money from your summer job. I’ve met a lot of students who are interested in getting started in programming their own games, and I often mention Flash for the reasons listed above, but the cost is often prohibitive.
One site that I often recommend for students facing this dilemma is Studica which is a great website that allows high school and college students to receive incredibly deep discounts on premium software. Adobe Flash CS5 is available on their site for only $176.95
. These prices that students get often make them much more affordable for a game developer in-the-making. To qualify for the discount, all you need to do is prove that you are student by providing a photocopy of a student ID or other information. More info about qualifying can be found on their website. I’m glad I found it before I graduated college so that I could pick up some of their software.
If you’ve been using Game Maker to create your indie titles, have been doing downloadable games in C++ and want to take them to the web, or if you would just like to get started in indie game development, then Flash CS5 is the way to go. If you’re in college, be sure to pick up a copy before you graduate, because I doubt you’ll ever get a discount like this again.
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Although I am interested in buying Flash, this does read a lot like an advert – Did you get a free copy of Flash for this post? :-)
I have used Studica to get software before on my own (which is how I found it). I didn’t get a free copy, but yes, Studica does have a commission program where they partner with publishers to get the word out. :-) However, I would never post any ads or any commissioned articles that I didn’t think weren’t incredibly beneficial to TGP readers.