ABSTRACT
When you are using Flash, the target platform for your game is usually the web. Your game will be seen in a browser. In order for your game to be available on the web it will need to reside on a server that can be accessed from the web. In most cases this will mean that the game is on a computer belonging to an ISP (Internet Service Provider). If you work for a big company then you may well have one or more servers that are accessible from the web, but for home and small business users this accessibility is usual provided by a third party. Once your game is accessible to the world via the Internet you may want your game to have several levels or you may want the ability to easily change the game monthly, weekly or daily. You may want the game to perform slightly differently for different users. To achieve these goals you may have the different versions of the game on the server or the behaviour of the game could be influenced using an external file. In this chapter we will look at using a simple text file containing variable data so that the game you have created behaves differently by using different configuration text files. Another popular method for setting the configuration data is to use ASP (Active Server Pages). ASP is often used to link to databases on the server. Using a link to the database, the game can be easily updated or made to have a unique configuration for the current user.
