Kongregate Launches Flash Tutorials For Indie Devs

Author: by Eric Caoili, Leigh Alexander

Social Flash gaming portal Kongregate launched Kongregate Labs, a community dedicated to teaching aspiring independent game developers how to create original games and upload them to Kongregate's site. Each week, the community will release release several development tutorials, nicknamed "shootorials," which will feature a tool set in association with car company sponsor Scion comprised of game art, sound effects, and a music mixer. "The series of nine tutorials takes [participants] step by step through creating a side-scrolling shooter, from downloading Flash to importing art, handling input events, creating a scrolling tiled background, writing AI, etc.," Kongregate co-founder and CEO Jim Greer told Gamasutra. "If these are well received, we may do other genres in the future, including more advanced tutorials." In addition to offering a chat channel and a dedicated forum for interacting with other developers, Kongregate Labs provides free step-by-step tutorials, tools, and assets to first-time developers. Though the initiative is limited to producing Flash-based games, the company says that it will likely later support other web game technologies. Scion and Kongregate will also host the Driving Creative Contest, awarding prizes to winning participants for the best new indie games created with Kongregate Labs. Three cash prizes will be given out for titles with the highest rankings from players. More information on Kongregate Labs and the Driving Creativity Contest can be found on Kongregate's official site for the program.