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Optimal sprite loading

Started by massive-war Dec 21, 2005 at 4:01 PM 16 replies 850+ views

Original Post

Dec 21, 2005 at 4:01 PM

Ok, so my character can move in 8 directions: 1)North 2)NorthEast 3)East 4)SouthEast 5)South 6)SouthWest 7)West 8)NorthWest And each direction has different actions: 1)Attack 2)Stand 3)Run 4)Walk 5)Block And each action (each of the 5 listed above) has 8 - 12 bitmaps ~Averaged out that's roughly 400 bitmaps I have to load, just for the main player What's the optimal way to do this? I have to load them somehow, however, the memory constraints on what I have now are terrible. How am I supposed to do this? Massive-war

Red_falcon

Dec 21, 2005 at 4:03 PM

Pack them in one or two textures and then load.
Use texture coords to change the sprite

massive-war

Author

massive-war

Dec 21, 2005 at 4:08 PM

Damn, that reply was madly fast.... HOLY shit

What about groupings? Should I (cause I have to make one large images of separate sprites) group them by attribute: block, walk, run, attack?

Massive-war

massive-war

Author

massive-war

Dec 21, 2005 at 4:10 PM

Ok, and what about weapon and armor changes? Say the character gets a new piece of armor and wants to wear it?

What's the ideal thing to do with that? Should I load and blit the sprites to the screen in separate groups? (Armor, helmet, weapon) that always take the same location on the screen, so it looks like the character is weilding it?

Or should I go through and have a different bitmap for every possibility? - Mithril Axe with Iron top, steel helmet, hardened steel shield.... iron short sword with steel top, iron helmet, iron shield... etc... for every possibe outcome out there

Massive-war

Red_falcon

Dec 21, 2005 at 4:11 PM

That would be the best;)

edit: Have not seen your third post. I would draw the sprites for shields, armor etc. as they are. Then define snap points at your charachter sprite and then align your shield, armor on it.

massive-war

Author

massive-war

Dec 21, 2005 at 4:12 PM

Ok, thanks

Massive-war

Red_falcon

Dec 21, 2005 at 4:15 PM

Thats normally how its done. To draw sprites for all possible situations is not a fast and beutiful solution. What if you want to expand your possibilities i.e. add a bow or spear?

massive-war

Author

massive-war

Dec 21, 2005 at 4:15 PM

bitch work lol

Red_falcon

Dec 21, 2005 at 4:17 PM

I will do for my 2d shooter bone animation aka inverse kinematik bnut in 2d

i was impressed of soldat

the screenshot belongs to the interview with the developer and show his bone animator

http://www.gamedev.ru/articles/indust/20030401.jpg

massive-war

Author

massive-war

Dec 21, 2005 at 4:20 PM

Ok, so what about different directions?

What's the best way to re-draw a shield, for example, in 8 different directions? It has to be perfect looking to work. Is there any easy way to do that?

Massive-war

Red_falcon

Dec 21, 2005 at 4:21 PM

Take a 3d modeller and make a simple shield then apply the texture and render turned in all 8 directions

massive-war

Author

massive-war

Dec 21, 2005 at 4:23 PM

Ah... sorry that was before I saw your edit.

Sorry, I've never used a 3D modeller before. What file extensions can I save that would work in 2D? Can I save in bitmaps?

Massive-war

Red_falcon

Dec 21, 2005 at 4:25 PM

look here:

http://www.gamedev.net/reference/articles/article1911.asp

rendering means save as bitmap(tga,jpg,bmp,...) or film(avi,mpg,...)
try blender

www.blender3d.org

massive-war

Author

massive-war

Dec 21, 2005 at 4:26 PM

ahhhh... thank you sir

Massive-war

massive-war

Author

massive-war

Dec 21, 2005 at 4:41 PM

Hahahahah.... damnit

I can now see why games take so long to make. Just the art alone is enough to drive someone crazy

Massive-war

Red_falcon

Dec 21, 2005 at 4:43 PM

Just think of street fighter series or something equal
They are all animated per hand
Nowadays its a blessing to have 3d modeller and toon renders to make it look like drawn

massive-war

Author

massive-war

Dec 21, 2005 at 4:49 PM

What's the average time to learn blender?

I don't wanna spend weeks learning this thing when I could be writing actual game code. I'm not lazy, it's just that I certainly AM NOT an artist, and I'd have to learn the program AND learn how to use it to make art. I'm basically starting from scratch.

Damn, I just wish there was an easier way to make armor and such. I could always look for free art, but what are the possibilities that there will be 5 different kinds of armor, 22 weapons, etc. in 8 directions?

Massive-war

Red_falcon

Dec 21, 2005 at 4:54 PM

You don't need to be an artist for this.
There are plenty of tutorials on the web, but you need only basics to make the things you need, cause the details would come from texture. So you don't have to make hi-poly models, only some low polys and add different textures and render. The advantage to have separate armor from boots is to wear your character how you would like..

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