Managing a large Flash project

Question

I work for a game development studio in London. We are prototyping using Autodesk Scaleform and building our game UI using Flash. We will need to be able to run a large project with a team of 3-4 artists and 10+ programmers. We use Perforce source control system for storage of all code and assets. We need to be able to manage a project with multiple shared resources and multiple people (artists & programmers) working on screens and controls.
Our problem is as follows:
We want to be able to create skinned graphical custom components, such as buttons, sliders, checkboxes as well as more complex controls such as tables and game specific elements.
We want to be able to share graphics assets in a single location and allow multiple artists and coders to work on shared components simultaneously. We need all of this to be stored in a Perforce source control repository.
For AS3 code this is all fairly straight forward. It works like any other codebase and we have set up FlashBuilder and FlashDevelop projects.
Now, the options seem to be as follows:
- Create a flash project or projects. The problem here is that all of the assets are copied into AuthortimeSharedAssts.fla. This means that, because FLA is a binary format, our source control cannot allow more than one person to edit any shared resource at the same time.
- Set up manual authortime sharing. This will allow work on multiple shared components because individuals can update a small discrete FLA file and this will automatically update a larger shared librar. The problem is that this does not allow sharing of graphics assets, which means that, if an artist updates a graphic, this does not filter down to individual flash files.
- Use the XFL format. This would allow us to merge files when checking in to source control as they are plain text and it saves out individual assets as separate files, which looks perfect. The problem is that I can't see how to make a project, which entirely uses XFL files (i.e. makes something like AuthortimeSharedAssets.xfl).
At the moment I can't see any obvious, sensible way of running a large project  in Flash. We cannot be the first to do this sort of thing though.
Can anyone help or explain how we should do it?

Answer 1

Just an $0.02 that is probably the hardest solution to implement, you really need a good project manager. You can't expect great results from tossing a bunch of autonomous bodies in motion on shared resources with no human control mechanism. Software can help but your format is ultimately binary, so outside Smart Objects (which haven't worked well in a networked multi-OS environment for me), you're not going to gain the benefits of traditional diff for source code.
Consider implementing either a project manager or even better, a project manager with decent project management software. It can be as cheap as Copper Project. You're given a hud with tasks and it's up to the Project Manager to assign the tasks so nothing overlaps and collisions are avoided from the start. It's even a large challenge in the binary world for a high quality Project Manager.
If you really need a garage level setup, you may simply have to employ locking network files that are in use. Anyone trying to use something won't be able to, it will stifle progress but you won't run into overlaps or impossible merges. It's just brute force and inefficient.