Before we begin, it is important that you have a basic foundation in the use of the Flash authoring tool. Chapter 1 will cover most of the basics, but if you have never used Flash before, it is important that you prepare for this book by working through some of the documentation built into Flash before beginning the first chapter. To access the built-in lessons, open the Flash MX authoring tool and select Lessons from the Help pull-down menu. Work through these lessons now, and when you have completed them, you should be ready to begin building games with this book. The lessons are quite simple and should provide some familiarity with the most basic Flash concepts.