Build/deploy process for a large Flash project?

Question

I am working in a large flash project (an online videogame) and we are not happy at all with our current build/deploy process: It is too manual, it takes too long and it is easy for us to make mistakes. We want to change to a simpler, faster and more automatic process.

The process we need to complete to build and deploy a new version of the project is this:

1. For each .FLA in the project (these FLA files contain the graphic assets of the game)
   1. Check if it has changed since it was last compiled (comparing modified dates, for instance)
   2. If it has changed, compile it, overwriting the old SWF
2. For each asset in the project (SWFs, XMLs and PNGs):
   1. Encrypt the file using our custom algorithm
   2. Write it's name, size and checksum into a txt file
3. Run a code obfuscator on the source code of the project
4. Compile the obfuscated code
5. Move the results of this process to a remote server (perhaps using rsync?)

I know it's a pretty complex process but we want to automate it as much as possible. We have been looking to several alternatives such as Sprouts, Rake, Maven and Ant but it's not being easy to achieve exactly what we want... What are your recommendations? If you have had similar experiences, how did you manage the build/deploy process?

Answer 1

Here's a number of ideas.

1. Use Grant Skinner's JSFL batch compiler to deal with the FLAs.

2. Use a combination of Thor () and Sprouts to iterate through directories and pick up each file and encrypt it.

3. Again, Thor to iterate and obfuscate.

4. Thor again to deploy. (I quite like Thor) But you can do the scripting in Python or a shell script.

If not, Capistrano?