[casual_games] app resolution

[Matthew Ford]

I have a related question: I want my "gamelike app" to be played in its own
Flash player window (because it's a social app and I expect people to want
to tab back to Messenger and email while they play it). I expect quite a few
people will have a screen res of 800*600 in which case I want my window to
take up just about all of the screen except for the Windows taskbar. To
accomplish that while making the most use of space, I've reckoned the Flash
stage should be 790*530. That 530 came from 600 minus one-line taskbar minus
window title bar. If they have a higher screen res, my app will still be
790*530, which is fine because it leaves more room for them to have other
apps hovering in the background.

Questions are:
--If someone is in 800*600 res, is it a good idea for the Flash app to be
790*530? Is this too big or does it fail to take up all available space?

--Am I right to expect to be able to launch my app *from* a web page, but
*as* a Flash player window? I don't want to imbed my app within a fully
rigged web browser because I'd lose a lot of space for web browser
navigation.

--What is a good source of data about the lowest screen res that a
substantial number of casual gamers tend to play in? Is 800*600 in fact too
low to be used by many casual users?

If it matters, to be precise, my app will attract an audience much like the
casual game audience (older average, less advanced computers, 50/50
male/female) but will include those who don't necessarily play other casual
games yet.

Any help will be much appreciated!