Hi everyone!

I'm Nick (@MSGhero16), and I'll be working for the HaxeFlixel community now. My goal is to drum up engagement with our favorite library by writing regular blog posts and creating new demos.

If you're new around these parts, here's a brief intro to what this is all about.

(Haxe)Flixel

HaxeFlixel is a free cross-platform, open-source library that makes your game-making easier. It's a modernized version of the original Flixel library for Flash, which was hugely popular back in the day for how easy it was to get started with.

(I'll be referring to HaxeFlixel as Flixel or HF)

To get started making your first game or your 30th prototype, check out the Getting Started page.

Me

I started coding with Flash about seven years ago, inspired by Newgrounds games like Super Chibi Knight and Castle Crashing the Beard. I made a few games that did pretty well overall, keeping the coding as a hobby for my spare time.

I moved on to Haxe when I learned I could get HTML5 and CPP builds for (almost) free. The transition from AS3 to OpenFL was as smooth as silk, and I quickly found and exclusively started using Flixel. I am currently working on a new game, Enki Adventures, in addition to numerous little demos and projects that may one day see the light of day.

Flixel is great for me because I no longer have to even think about updating and rendering. Input is taken care of; spritesheets are handled. Life is good.

I'm also helping with a UI library called HaxeUI that I'll be talking about in the future, specifically the Flixel backend (haxeui-flixel) that ties into the core library. Stay tuned for that one.

Short-term goals

People love this library; it's tied with its dependency as the most popular haxelib on GitHub. It's used in many Ludum Dare games, and lots of devs swear by it. It's rather easy to pick up, with all the demos highlighting each feature.

So as my first demo for the community, I'm thinking about making a game. Something simple, open-source (of course), fun, and kinda cool. I plan on publishing it as an HTML5 game on Newgrounds and on other portals. That way, the demo will get plenty of views outside of its typical audience. Even more if it's actually good and gets front-paged, but y'know, one step at a time.

At least on NG, I am seeing a lot of Flash anxiety from devs, especially from people who are just getting started with making games. Spreading the gospel of Flixel is something I am increasingly doing there, and the demo seems like a great next step. I believe that current and future devs can only benefit from giving Flixel a try.

Long-term goals

From the successful IndieGoGo campaign, it's clear that there is interest in seeing Flixel improve. Aside from that, however, contributions to the library as well as community management have been performed out of the infinite goodness of people's hearts.

Ultimately, we'd like to drum up support for our _ Patreon _, to give more people more reason to contribute. At the moment, the plan is to allocate funds to people who put in the hours on GitHub or in the general community, as well as positions to increase community size and support, like mine.

More people making more games with better versions of Flixel. That's what it's all about.

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