Ripping out enemy graphics: progress log and information (UPDATED 1/21/13)

UPDATE: 1/20/13: I have begun the arduous task of setting up the image speed for each sprite, as well as aligning them all. Due to a N00b error on my part, I am going to have align the sprites for each animation thru re-combining them into strips together, centering them, then breaking them into separate sprite files again. This will give me a few extra hours of work, but it’s not an earth shattering mistake.

UPDATE: 12/03/12: instead of using sprite strips for each enemy, I have begun instead making each frame of the enemies a separate sprite in itself. This actually saves disk space since I then do not have to waste space with having some frames in 5 or 6 different strips multiples times and allows me more control over the hitboxes for each frame. Those hitboxes are only used for collisions with the player and his/her weapons. A separate hitbox is also made for collision with tiles and solid objects for each enemy; most enemies have just one, some may have 2. I have also been ripping out ALL of the candles and breakable objects for each stage (with transparencies off) but those will not be listed in my progress log below. Each candle and light source is usually a different sprite too. I am also coding in most of the animation date for each enemy as I rip them. AI will be done later.

As I stated in my last post, I planned on focusing on level creation while I was at work, because it was something that I could do in my spare time there. However, before beginning on that, there was an even LARGER task that needed to be tackled: the task of ripping all of the necessary sprites from the game. This means all non-tile based sprites like explosions, enemies, projectiles, switches, barriers, effects, etc.

…………. and before some smart/dumb ass mentions “spriters-resource” or any such site, let me save you the suspense and tell you now that EVERY site I have seen either:

a)has them in pieces (a fucking waste)

b)is missing several sprites

or c)just plain has them incorrect in some way(usually color wise)

So rather than using stuff that is only half correct, I just choose to rip them myself from the game frame by frame. I will not bore you all to tears with how I do this, but I can assure you it is fast and simple to do, and that the animations I get are not only 100% correct, but so are the colors, the alignment of each sprite, as well as ensuring that I get ALL of the effects used. The other good news about this is that hopefully in my next release, I will also be able to include most (if not) all of the sprites and animations and release them to the community with it as well.

On a side note, I have to say how truly AMAZING it is the # of times this game uses the small and medium flame puffs (shown below) in this game for things from dust, to blood, to water splashes…. and yet each effect STILL looks AMAZING! It’s amazing how far a little scaling, rotation, additive, and subtractive blending can go (they also don’t double the # of frames by mirroring them they way they do for the flames; which is shown below).

Small:

Medium:

Progress Thus Far:

1/21/13: the following enemies have their animation code completed (including image speed for each frame) and all sprites for each animation aligned: merman, fishman, bat, zombie.

12/03/12: bone slinger, ouija table and marionette are completed. Marionette in particular required a little creativity on my part because of HOW she dies. In SOTN, there are 2 types of enemies: Normal 2d controlled ones who are tons of small pieces glued together to make each frame, and 3d controlled ones which are just tons of little pieces glued together and rotated, scaled, etc. They sound similar, but are quite different. The marionette is the ONLY 2d controlled sprite that actually has her pieces “unglued” in game when she dies. Suffice to say that figuring out how to reproduce this in GM without having to position each piece for 49 unique frames took a little creativity on my part. But I figured out a way.

11/17/12: completed fire warg, armored fire warg (now has biting and fire breath animations), warg rider (including one new animation), 3 new zombie palette swaps, bone scimitar palette swap, blue axe armor palette swap, and a NEW third axe armor palette swap. I got the fire warg’s fire breath sprite from the sheet on spriters-resource (I have no idea how the ripper got it). Though his palette was totally wrong (which I corrected), I would really love to know how this particular sprite was pulled out of the game.

10/31/12: Completed: Skeleton, blood skeleton, zombie (all 3 palettes), bat, warg, bone scimitar, spittle bone, axe armor, merman, fishman (both of their water splashes use the small flame above but with additive blending and recolored), bloody zombie (the blood splashes for him are a combo of each of the above 2 flames, but all red, angled, and scaled, and the smaller flame one is scaled vertically and rotated until sideways). An interesting one was the FISMAN, whose skin flakes off when he is killed. The skin pieces were actually each just 6 objects, who are created while colors were just erased from the sprite itself every few frames.

More to come soon………….. stay tuned.