How to animate own sprites[message #146924]
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Wed, 27 June 2007 04:42
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Stupid_Drunkard |
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Messages:31
Registered:June 2007 |
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I know this is supposed to be HARD work, I just wanted to try it, so, I'm asking how do I get the the game sprites and what programs do I use to edit/create my own?
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Private 1st Class
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Re: How to animate own sprites[message #146954]
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Wed, 27 June 2007 13:03
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the scorpion |
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Messages:1834
Registered:September 2004 Location: CH |
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unfortunately, as far as i know, there's no such thing like a proprietary programme for this. There's of course sti-edit, but this basicly only allows to import bmp files to an existing animation. you'd have to draw the bitmaps in a normal graphics programme.
you'd probably best extract some existing animations using the dragon unpacker or slf-explore. these animations can be found in anims.slf
using sti-edit or stiview, you can have a look or edit them. You can design new anims by replacing the existing pictures of an animation frame-by-frame
oh, also by changing individual picture coordinates you can use larger/ smaller pictures than the one previously used by the animation you'd overwrite.
(that's also what makes designing anims for ja2 time intensive)
as far as i remember, you can't design new .sti format animations from scratch, only normal mulitpages. these wouldn't necessarily work as animations.
so if you want to design a completely new animations, you'd have to keep the overall frame number and the key frames in mind. different existing animations have a different number of key frames and overall frames. certain animations also don't like black and almost black colors due to the palette.
if you have a look further down the board, in the 1.13 section, Thor has designed/ is designing a custom animation. you might get the necessary additional information there.
maybe Thor, mAN or Khor1255 have more sophisticated ways of doing this, maybe asking them could help as well.
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Sergeant Major
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Re: How to animate own sprites[message #155025]
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Thu, 30 August 2007 09:41
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CNC_gun |
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Messages:83
Registered:July 2007 Location: Moscow, RF |
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>I want my head explosions to have tiny eyeballs and jawbones.<
Strange idea... But, such an animation seems to be done by Sirtech as one of firsts! Cf. BOD_BLOW.STI in TILESETS.SLF!!! You surely have bleeding pieces of hands and legs... Not sure for eyeballs or even ordinary(?) balls - a bleeding PIXEL, probably...
As per Your own animation - there are two major ways of implementation inda game.
1. The unique one - The turning Yellow KEY in the map editor - the frames (8 in all) from the R_KEY.STI are put on screen under script control - the R_KEY.JSS file. Open it with NOTEPAD.EXE - it's simple and easy. There is also R_KEY.JSD file - a TYPE 1 one, just to allow the use of the .JSS script.
2. The standard way - most of animations are made under SOFTWARE control - frames are selected from .STI files in requested (and PROGRAMMED) order - this way You have the widest possibilities to combine very complex series of actions with a minimal set of frames - just control the "exposure" time. If code modif. is provided, You can even combine frames from DIFFERENT .STI files. Cf. the animation of autofire by both hands was done with 4 (FOUR!) frames only from standard doubleshot files - X_DB_PRN.STI, X(W)_DBLSHT.STI, X_C_DBLSHT.STI (X for F, M or S bodies) - You take frames in "fireR - recoilR" pairs (say) 5 times, then do the same with "fireL - recoilL" pairs.
You can ask Bugmonster for code modification opportunities to arrange new anim. series.
As per AKM like anims - You can start with minor modification of *_R_*.STI (from "aRmed") files - try to edit the rifle view. But it's a lot of (annoying) meticulous work!!!
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Corporal 1st Class
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Re: How to animate own sprites[message #155186]
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Fri, 31 August 2007 01:17
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CNC_gun |
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Messages:83
Registered:July 2007 Location: Moscow, RF |
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As You know and feel, JA2 was written by a group of near to genial people. In many aspects!
In the .STI graphics format they used a 256 indexed(!) colors or 8 bits (In fact, color "0" is "transparency", so 255 colors only, per .STI file).
But the game is a true 16 bits - it is done by dynamic palette control, and, when needed, by palette color substitution just before out to screen.
All .STI in anims.slf use a "poison light green" for pants, "poison light majenta" for shirt and "pull-out orange" for hair. Can't imagine a name for the skin color.
These four colors are substituted by those selected in prof.dat and etc. for all humans on the screen during output to it.
So, if You modify or draw a new animation, You MUST conserve these outrageous atrocious colors, using them for appropriate parts of "bodytype".
One more remark - all these four colours are non-printables!!! You can see them only on the screen - on the paper they will be "faded" to "grey-green" and "grey-violet". In other words such colours are unnatural, artificial - they are never meet in Nature.
If You are really "mordu" by animation for JA2, You can try a more sophisticated problem - How to wear/unwear a raincoat, how to put a kepi on the head and etc.
This is real and relatively simple, but You Must have a C programmer with You (if You aren't one Yourself).
In any way, You can count on my amical sustain, advices, schemae etc. But i really forgotten C for years ago.
[Updated on: Fri, 31 August 2007 01:20] by Moderator Report message to a moderator
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Corporal 1st Class
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Re: How to animate own sprites[message #155514]
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Sun, 02 September 2007 20:52
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CNC_gun |
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Messages:83
Registered:July 2007 Location: Moscow, RF |
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Sorry for delay - was a bit busy...
You can find many ways to do or edit STIs in russian sites http://www.ja2.ru & http://www.ja2.org. If you understand russian, ofcos!!! Hu-hu...
But, if not, You can try to ask help from the russian GURU of modmaking - VM the Great and Terrible!
Check http://www.vwstudio.com for e-mail.
Hope, some time later we shall translate all of the "Russian Stuff", especially a VM's topic on STI drawing with PS - but actually we adapt the IMPed (IMP editor for all JA2 editions and mods, exept 1.13) and the Script Editor for NPC and RPC actions modding.
The most stable and fastest way to draw any kind of STI is the (classic) Photoshop, armed with an extention (C++) and a script (Java or VBA) - to extract palette from STI and to load it in PS as indexed colours palette, then to load the picture itself as BMP.
This can be done by hands, with the options of STIedit - it can export palettes and BMPs from STIs.
In the same way, You draw in PS using 8-bit indexed palette, You save that palette, You save Your picture(s) as .BMPs and You import both in STIedit - and save all as .STI. Voila!
P.S. Always remember - sprites in JA2 are not in STI format! STI files are a "sort of Frame ROM" with random access to any frame in file thru software!!! With STI You have many more possibilities than with ordinary sprites.
[Updated on: Sun, 02 September 2007 21:00] by Moderator Report message to a moderator
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Corporal 1st Class
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Re: How to animate own sprites[message #155527]
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Sun, 02 September 2007 21:58
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Stupid_Drunkard |
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Messages:31
Registered:June 2007 |
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(Noted your added line)Well that's a relief, that means I can keep on editing in STI-edit
[Updated on: Sun, 02 September 2007 22:00] by Moderator Report message to a moderator
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Private 1st Class
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