Adam "Atomic Saltsman, the developer behind recently featured Fathom and the Dr. Dobbs platformer/level editor, has posted Flixel, a free collection of Actionscript 3 files designed to help "organize, automate, and optimize Flash games."

According to Saltsman, it's an "object-oriented framework that lets anyone create original and complex games with thousands of objects on screen in just a few hours, without using any of the Flash libraries." Flixel features built-in retro game physics and effects, an improved version of the tech that powered Gravity Hook and Fathom, source code for a simple but complete game, and more.

The Flixel site also includes documentation for the framework and a forum for discussion among Flixel developers.