Difference between revisions of "Flashpoint"
Childishbeat (talk | contribs) m (Burster, TCL and VRML are now in Flashpoint, so the page has been updated to say this. Also, the possible Adobe Atmosphere support in the future is now mentioned.) |
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− | '''BlueMaxima’s Flashpoint''' is an ongoing [[Preservation projects|preservation effort]] for games designed in commercial web frameworks. Named after [[Flash]] (which Adobe says it will discontinue in 2020), the maintainers have preserved over 59,000 games and animations since its inception. The full list of games is available via the [http://bluemaxima.org/flashpoint/datahub/Game_Master_List "Game Master List"] on their wiki. Flashpoint covers games | + | '''BlueMaxima’s Flashpoint''' is an ongoing [[Preservation projects|preservation effort]] for games designed in commercial web frameworks. Named after [[Flash]] (which Adobe says it will discontinue in 2020), the maintainers have preserved over 59,000 games and animations since its inception. The full list of games is available via the [http://bluemaxima.org/flashpoint/datahub/Game_Master_List "Game Master List"] on their wiki. Flashpoint covers games, animations and tools developed in Adobe Flash, Adobe Shockwave, Unity Web Player, Java Applets, Microsoft Silverlight, ActiveX, 3DVIA Player, 3D Groove GX, PopCap Plugin, HTML5, Superscape Viscape, Vitalize!, Authorware, GoBit Games Plugin, ShiVa3D, Hypercosm, Pulse, Burster, TCL and VRML, with Adobe Atmosphere and (native) Scratch support possibly coming in the future. |
Flashpoint (and every game in it) was originally released as one gigantic download until a system was developed to download these games on-the-fly. The full download (which, upon completion, requires no further internet connection to use) has since been retroactively titled "Flashpoint Ultimate", and the "lite" version was given the name "Flashpoint Infinity". When the limitations of Launchbox started to show, a discrete launcher was developed. | Flashpoint (and every game in it) was originally released as one gigantic download until a system was developed to download these games on-the-fly. The full download (which, upon completion, requires no further internet connection to use) has since been retroactively titled "Flashpoint Ultimate", and the "lite" version was given the name "Flashpoint Infinity". When the limitations of Launchbox started to show, a discrete launcher was developed. | ||
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* <i>Flashpoint Ultimate</i> - The full package, ready for use offline. ~413 GiB download, ~480 GiB extracted. You'll want to use a download manager and the latest version of 7-Zip. | * <i>Flashpoint Ultimate</i> - The full package, ready for use offline. ~413 GiB download, ~480 GiB extracted. You'll want to use a download manager and the latest version of 7-Zip. | ||
* <i>Flashpoint Infinity</i> - 1.8 GiB extracted. Games download as you choose to play them. A minimalist build - not all games are available, only Flash games will work out-of-the-box, and logos and screenshots must be downloaded separately (they will be downloaded automatically when a game is selected). Use the Upgrades on the home tab to add the other tech and better images. | * <i>Flashpoint Infinity</i> - 1.8 GiB extracted. Games download as you choose to play them. A minimalist build - not all games are available, only Flash games will work out-of-the-box, and logos and screenshots must be downloaded separately (they will be downloaded automatically when a game is selected). Use the Upgrades on the home tab to add the other tech and better images. | ||
− | * <i>Flashpoint Core</i> - A lightweight copy of Flashpoint with one game per platform | + | * <i>Flashpoint Core</i> - A lightweight copy of Flashpoint with one game per platform designed for curation (preserving games). |
Revision as of 01:15, 13 October 2020
Developer(s) | BlueMaxima Flashpoint Team |
---|---|
Latest version | 13 "Dart Frog" |
Active | Yes |
Platform(s) | Windows Linux, Mac (experimental) |
Emulates | Web game servers |
Website | bluemaxima.org/flashpoint/ |
License | MIT (Launcher) |
Source code | GitHub (Launcher) |
BlueMaxima’s Flashpoint is an ongoing preservation effort for games designed in commercial web frameworks. Named after Flash (which Adobe says it will discontinue in 2020), the maintainers have preserved over 59,000 games and animations since its inception. The full list of games is available via the "Game Master List" on their wiki. Flashpoint covers games, animations and tools developed in Adobe Flash, Adobe Shockwave, Unity Web Player, Java Applets, Microsoft Silverlight, ActiveX, 3DVIA Player, 3D Groove GX, PopCap Plugin, HTML5, Superscape Viscape, Vitalize!, Authorware, GoBit Games Plugin, ShiVa3D, Hypercosm, Pulse, Burster, TCL and VRML, with Adobe Atmosphere and (native) Scratch support possibly coming in the future.
Flashpoint (and every game in it) was originally released as one gigantic download until a system was developed to download these games on-the-fly. The full download (which, upon completion, requires no further internet connection to use) has since been retroactively titled "Flashpoint Ultimate", and the "lite" version was given the name "Flashpoint Infinity". When the limitations of Launchbox started to show, a discrete launcher was developed.
Download
Official release Includes both Ultimate, Infinity and Core versions. Read our overview for details. | ||
Launcher Standalone builds of the launcher on GitHub | ||
Linux support Datahub page about Linux support. | ||
Mac support Datahub page about Mac support. |
Overview
Flashpoint began on December 26th, 2017, a little while after Adobe announced it was ending support for Flash at the end of 2020, as an attempt to preserve as many Flash games and applications from the early 2000s onward as possible before the cutoff point. The focus has since shifted to all web browser technologies as they face the same risk of obsoletion.
Flashpoint is not a conventional emulator; none of the frameworks it targets is being emulated which is why it requires users to have the original platforms these frameworks were on. (It's also why Linux doesn't have a lot of the frameworks that Windows does.) Many games also use some form of copy protection by connecting to a server to test if a game can be played, thus requiring an internet connection for it to work. Flashpoint is a server emulator that repeats and relays the responses and files that were originally captured at the time the game was preserved. This causes problems for Avast and AVG as they've detailed on the Datahub.
Flashpoint is available in several different versions:
- Flashpoint Ultimate - The full package, ready for use offline. ~413 GiB download, ~480 GiB extracted. You'll want to use a download manager and the latest version of 7-Zip.
- Flashpoint Infinity - 1.8 GiB extracted. Games download as you choose to play them. A minimalist build - not all games are available, only Flash games will work out-of-the-box, and logos and screenshots must be downloaded separately (they will be downloaded automatically when a game is selected). Use the Upgrades on the home tab to add the other tech and better images.
- Flashpoint Core - A lightweight copy of Flashpoint with one game per platform designed for curation (preserving games).
Resources
- BlueMaxima's articles:
- Discord
- Changelog
- The Datahub, their wiki
- instance_archive(); - A similar project for games made with GameMaker.
- Kahvibreak - Another project for J2ME games.