I am making a flash game. And I want to know how big is too big for a swf file. Also, Ive been looking at my swf file and right now its at 38.2k. Is the swf file that gets created during debugging, is this the correct size for the file that will eventually be placed on the web.
thanks
Yes, the file is the same. A game of 38.2 kb is pretty small, if you go on Flash game sites they regularly run in the multiple of megabytes.
The SWF is slightly smaller in release mode. The size difference is essentially nothing.
As for a guideline size, this depends on who you are expecting to play your game.
Kilobytes is small stuff.
Anything less than a couple of megabytes is fine - once you get above that you might start worrying about loading times and keeping users interested during the preloader, but most portals accept files up to 10MB or so.
if you want your game to reach a very wide audience keep it as small as you possibly can. a game without any heavy animation , embedded assets like png files or sound will usually be small. a good discussion regarding Optimal swf size for flash games here at
The difference between debug and release builds is, according to my experience, some 30-40% in file size (debug version being bigger, of course), which is not insignificant.
Anyways, I think you're safe to assume that anything below 100kb is small enough to be considered an instant download, with no need to use preloaders. However, adding graphical and sound assets to the game will quickly push it up in size, at which point the preloader will probably be a good idea.