once upon a time I played with Flash. Now I prefer to use the end result. Sadly, I never got into ActionScript programming for Flash, but I know that you put pretty pieces into a pattern, click a time line and voila, stuff moves. But that's about the equivalent to Atari 2600 programming.
I wish I could help, but I wish ya the best at getting the help you need! Sounds fun, as I get addicted to many 2D games. <hides the facebook apps hiding in another browser tab>