Setting up Feathers in IntelliJ IDEA (Starling version)

Let's create a Feathers and Starling project in IntelliJ IDEA.

These instructions apply to IntelliJ IDEA 12. Minor variations may exist between different versions of IntelliJ IDEA.

  1. Download the latest stable versions of Feathers and Starling Framework.

  2. In IDEA, select the File menu → New Project. A wizard will guide you through the creation process.

  3. Select Flash Module and enter your Project name. The default Project location is usually okay. The Module name and Module location will update automatically when you set values for your project, and the default values are usually okay. Click Next.

  4. In the next section, select the approporite Target platform (Web, Desktop, or Mobile) and select Pure ActionScript. For Output type, select Application. Select an appropriate Flex/AIR SDK (see below where to download the latest version of the AIR SDK). Then click Finish.

    You can download the latest Adobe AIR SDK and Compiler from Adobe's website. This SDK can be used to target both Adobe AIR and Adobe Flash Player in the browser. Check the Feathers README file to see the minimum required versions of Adobe AIR and Flash Player for the version of Feathers that you are using.

  5. Now that the project is created, you will need to add Feathers and Starling Framework to the project. Select the File menu → Project Structure, then under Project Settings choose Libraries. Click the + (plus sign) at the top. Next, select ActionScript/Flex and specify the location of starling.swc.

  6. Follow the same steps to add feathers.swc as a library.

  7. Follow this step if you are targeting Adobe AIR. Skip to the next step if you are targeting Adobe Flash Player instead.

    Let's create create the Adobe AIR application descriptor file. Select Modules in the same Project Structure window that should still be open from the previous step. Expand your new module in the tree and select the default build configuration with the module's name. For mobile AIR apps, you'll want to navigate to the Android tab. For desktop AIR apps, navigate to the AIR Package tab instead.

    Under Application descriptor, choose Custom template and click Create…. The default values for the application descriptor are usually okay, so simply click Create. You can open the application descriptor file later to make changes, if needed. For mobile apps, if IDEA asks if you want to use the created application descriptor template for both Android and iOS, click Yes. Click OK in the Project Structure window.

    Open your module's new -app.xml file. Inside the <initialWindow> section, add <renderMode>direct</renderMode> to enable Stage 3D.

    You may skip the next step and proceed to the conclusion.

  8. Follow this step if you are targeting Adobe Flash Player. Skip to the conclusion if you are targeting Adobe AIR instead.

    Open your modules index.template.html file in the html-template folder. Search for the following line of JavaScript:

    var params = {};

    Add the following line after it:

    params.wmode = "direct";

    Next, look for the <object> HTML elements near the bottom of the document. Add the following <param> element inside both <object> elements.

    <param name="wmode" value="direct" />

Conclusion

Your project is ready. If you're unsure how to proceed, start by using the code in the Create your Game section of the Starling First Steps Tutorial. Then, take a look at the Feathers Getting Started Tutorial.