Post by YinYin on Jul 9, 2011 2:01:01 GMT 2
Full Guide
original post:
okay, this is not the state that i wanted to release this in, but harle is pushing me and it makes me think: meh
its not like anyone will steal and burn anything
so this is my lil dev guide for fast results - which is ultimatley supposed to lead to playable characters as fast as possible which can then be expanded on
i intended to have a fitting template sprite sheet and data for different progress levels aswell - but as im not even done with the guide
you get the point
feel free to post your own knowledge on frames - if i think it to be fitting and not in my mind yet it will be added with credits haha
original post:
okay, this is not the state that i wanted to release this in, but harle is pushing me and it makes me think: meh
its not like anyone will steal and burn anything
so this is my lil dev guide for fast results - which is ultimatley supposed to lead to playable characters as fast as possible which can then be expanded on
i intended to have a fitting template sprite sheet and data for different progress levels aswell - but as im not even done with the guide
you get the point
Standard 109 Frames
These are all the main frames used by Template and every
other character in game. They can be divided into movement,
attacking, hit and item frames.
I will give a few examples of how the needed frame count is
reduced from that template on the original characters and
also how you can reduce it even further without loosing
too much functionality on your own creation.
The purpose is to get an overview of what has to be done
during character development for LF2 and how to plan and reduce
the amount of work you will have to do.
The important premise of the whole thing is that you do not
have to brute force sprite over all the frames provieded on the
template sprite sheet. Some of them are not even used in the
Templates data and many are not even used on the original fighers.
<frame> 24 Movement Frames [-11=13]
This is all the general movement every character can
perform without using the attack button or getting hit.
Most of these are highly essential and should not be
missing in a character supposed to be on par with the
originals. I recommend working on these first.
4 Breathing bdy:
As soon as you have your single standing sprite done you can
do these. All you have to do is move or stretch the upper body
and arms by half a pixel. That means three of them are only a
variation of the first. As soon as you know how to create a
breathing animation this is basically just one frame to draw.
The action starts at frame 0 and can be activated by next: 999.
The following cycle and even the first frame can be placed
anywhere you like if you use the appropriate next values. You
are required to use state 0 or state 1 to allow the basic actions.
bdy_end:
4 Walking [-1] bdy:
If you were clever and one of the breathing sprites can already
fit into a walking animation you will only need to create 3 more
frames for this one. Otherwise I would recommend turning the body
a bit to be facing more forward.
(you can easily see that on all characters)
The frames of this action are fixed and you cannot change them.
The animation order is 5-6-7-8-7-6-...
You are required to use state 1. It will carry out the walking
distances and frequency from the header.
bdy_end:
4 Running [-1] bdy:
Even though it may not seem so on most sprite sheets the running
action consist of 4 frames and not only 3. Every character has a
frame displayed when he stops running. This frame can often be
merged with a frame from punching or broken defense, using it for
more than one purpose.
The frames of this action are fixed and you cannot change them.
The animation order is 9-10-11-10-...
You are required to use state 2. It will carry out the running
distances and frequency from the header.
bdy_end:
2 Defending [-1] bdy:
In general defending has two frames. One basic, the other one when
blocking a hit. I know this does not suit my definition of basic
movement frames (as you need to get hit for this one), but they
are so closely tied graphically that I kept it here.
Also as the character sprite will shake a lot when blocking a hit
it isn't too much of a loss if you only use one sprite for both
frames. Though once you are done with everything else you can
still complete your character by creating that second defense frame.
All you have to do is tilt the original sprite a little and change
the face (close eyes, show teeth).
The standard frame for this is 110. It will allow your character to
change direction and use 111 as a hit frame. If you use a different
frame state 7 will not give you these features. However the broken
defense frames at 112 will always work for state 7.
bdy_end:
3 Rolling [-3] bdy:
This action usually consists of 3 frames animating a simple
roll. But it could also be called evading as some characters
perform a different kind of action to evade (such as Rudolf).
The downside of these is that a chracter who does not touch
the ground with his hands in this action cannot pick up
weapons while he evades an attack.
Rolling is possibly the least important from all of the movement
frames. It is easy to drop it by replacing frame 102 with a copy
of frame 110 thus replacing this action with defending.
(used on Knight as such a huge and heavy character just can't roll)
If you do not want to delete this action completley but still
reduce your frame count you can simply use one or two frames for
a rudolf like dodge, turn this action into a low dash or recycle
other frames such as flipping and crouching for a differnt
evasion sequence.
The sequence starts at frame 102 with state 6, but other states
will work aswell.
bdy_end:
3 Jumping [-1] bdy:
This uses two different crouch frames that should display the character
going down before the jump and of course one simple in the air frame.
The crouch itself is highly essential to me as it looks weird if a character
can jump without ever bending his knees, but you can of course reduce
the crouching to one frame.
The sequence starts at frame 210 with the crouching and ends in 212.
212 requires state 4, allows direction change, and carrys out all
jump distances from the header.
bdy_end:
4 Dashing [-4] bdy:
This action has a dash sprite for dashing back and forwards. And two
relaxation sprites that get shown before landing again. One can do
without the relaxation sprites, reducing the frames required by two.
You can even reuse the jump sprite for every dash if it doesn't look
too akward. Julian does that.
The backward and forward dash starts at frame 213 and 214 and require
state 5. They allow to change between these frames through direction
keys. The frames 216 and 217 will do the same by leading you back to
213 and 214.
bdy_end:
<frame_end>
<frame> 20 Attack Frames [-6=14]
These attacks are the actions performed most by your character during a fight.
They will
4 Punching [-1] itr:
Punching normally requires 4 frames. One preparation and one hit frame
for each, left and right punch. You can reduce this by using only one
preparation frame for each.
The two sequences start at frame 60 and 65 and are randomly chosen.
itr_end:
3 Super Punch [-1] itr:
This should be a signature move for your character. The lowest reasonable
amount of frames is once again one preparation and one hit frame.
The action starts at frame 70.
itr_end:
3 Run Attack [-1] itr:
The lowest reasonable amount of frames is one preparation and one hit frame.
The action starts at frame 85.
itr_end:
2 Jump Attack itr:
For many characters this move already has the lowest amount of frames.
The action starts at frame 80.
itr_end:
2 Dash Attack [-2] itr:
If you are lucky you can reuse the jump attack frames here.
The action starts at frame 90.
itr_end:
4 Catching itr:
This action has one grab and pull frame, one holding frame and two
attacking frames. Sometimes you can reuse other attack frames for this.
Example: Dennis.
The action usually starts at frame 120 but it can be redefined in the
walking frames.
itr_end:
2 Throwing [-1] itr:
This action consists of only two frames, which are also used for throwing
heavy objects. For the preparation frame you can reuse the stop run frame.
itr_end:
<frame_end>
<frame> 35 Hit Frames
3 Caught cpoint:
cpoint_end:
4 Injured cpoint:
cpoint_end:
3 Dance of Pain cpoint:
cpoint_end:
3 Broken Defense cpoint:
cpoint_end:
12 Falling cpoint:
cpoint_end:
4 Flipping cpoint:
cpoint_end:
4 Burning cpoint:
cpoint_end:
2 Frozen cpoint:
cpoint_end:
<frame_end>
<frame> 30 Item Frames
1 Picking wpoint:
wpoint_end:
4 Heavy Walking wpoint:
wpoint_end:
4 Heavy Running wpoint:
wpoint_end:
3 Drinking wpoint:
wpoint_end:
Weapon Attack wpoint:
wpoint_end:
Weapon Throw wpoint:
wpoint_end:
Sky Weapon Attack wpoint:
wpoint_end:
Sky Weapon Throw wpoint:
wpoint_end:
Run Weapon Attack wpoint:
wpoint_end:
<frame_end>
<frame> 9 Historical Frames
Many mechanics and actions had been planned, sprited
and even appear in the data; But didn't make it into
the game. Some of them were relicts of LF1, others
were new concepts later dropped again. I disagreeumption
is that they were not only dropped because they didn't
feel right for the gameplay; They also weren'r worth
the effort compared to what difference they made.
Here is a list of what you will definitley never have
to sprite, unless you really want one of those mechanics
for your character:
1 Dash Defend bpoint:
was a new concept that was dropped again, frame 95
is still reserved for this action in the data.
It is questionable as to when a character was
supposed to use this. When dashing forward the
sprited position doesn't make sense. And a character
doesn't really have enough air time to properly
execute a block, let alone do it in a back dash.
bpoint_end:
2 Kicking bpoint:
was one of the basic attacks each character had in
LF1 (two punches, two kicks).
In favour of only two character specific normal attacks
and the jump attack normally being a single kick the
second kick for template had been dropped from the data.
bpoint_end:
3 Tired bpoint:
was the state characters went into when low on mana in
LF1. One couldn't move until the mana points were
regained to a certain level. Also jumping and running
used up mana, thus tiring the characters (this conecept
has been reintroduced in Hero Fighter as a stamina bar).
The data frame in template is 207 (and was probably meant
to be 208 and 209 aswell).
Having the fighters constantly getting tired just
breaks flow of gameplay.
bpoint_end:
1 Extra Flip bpoint:
This is just a third frame for templates flipping animation.
It is not in use and flipping only uses two frames in
each direction for all characters.
bpoint_end:
2 Old Drinking bpoint:
This is how LF1 characters drinking looked like. It has been
replaced with a new drinking animation later in the
development, which you can recognize due to the different
quality of the white lines.
bpoint_end:
2 Dash Weapon Attack bpoint:
This wasn't even sprited out on the template, it's just a copy
of the normal jump weapon attack. And that applies to
almost all the characters created in the early development
phase. As if they thought they'd eventually sprite them
later on. The only difference they have now is the damage
and timing they have due to the differnt data frames.
bpoint_end:
<frame_end>
feel free to post your own knowledge on frames - if i think it to be fitting and not in my mind yet it will be added with credits haha
