Castle Paradox

[Shadowiii]

What I was going to say before:

Why the standing NPC is good.

Ok, the standing NPC. I said in my little tutorial...thingy that I usually start with a standing NPC for up/down instead of a walking one, even though the standing one will never be used. Why is this? Because this is a very important one none-the-less. If you plan on using plotscripting to 'emotion' your NPC's, this little buddy will be critical. First, no one has one leg forward and one let back while standing. Unforutnatly, due to the way OHR walkarounds are set up, during the usualy game if the player stops teh walkaround going up and down, the walkaround is in an akward position. Sad, I know, but true. I'm still begging James to figure out three-frame-walking (right-leg left arm, standing, left-leg right arm), but its probably not goinng to happen.

Ok, back on topic. The standing guy is great for cutscenes. When a character is just standing, change the NPC sprite to this one. Now he looks like he his standing! Plus, you can edit this one so he has emotions when standing. Maybe he'll look down in dismay, laugh, shake his head, whatver. He wouldn't do this with one arm forward or one back, its just dumb.

*cough*

Now, a bit more detail on animations. Animating the NPC's isn't really something that can be taught...you'll have to look at other people's game and estimate by trial-and-error. But I'll still write some crap anyway:

Down: The first NPC I alwasy draw, simply because it shows the face. First, NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER just hit "backspace" and flip the guy. First, if they have ANY original hair pattern at all, you just killed it. Second, ANY UNBLANCE WILL SCREW IT UP. Please, for me, don't do this (unless of course your guy is the same on the pivit point, then go ahead. But he shouldn't, becuase that is BORING!) Anyway, the key to this (and the hard part) is to make the arms and legs look like they are going BACK and FORTH. I mean, when you walk, one leg goes forward, one hand goes forward, one leg goes back, one arm goes back. Duh. Drawing this can be a pain. I admit this is my major weakness; perspective on a really small pixilated sprite. But it can be done using...(you know its coming) BLACK! Yes black. Use it to make it seem that the arm is swinging backwards. Sorry, no further detail on this point.

Up: Once you finished your down, feel free to paste them into the UP. Then, add hair to the back of the head (unless he has eyes on the back of his head) and fix the back of his clothing (cape or whatever). IF the guy is wearing jeans and a shirt, you dont' have to change much. IF he's wearing a cape, then it may take a bit more work. With a cape remember that only a little of his feet are showing, and the cape will flap.

Side to Side: Ugh. Hate these, big time. First, take your pretty standing one. Then wish you hadn't drawn it so detailed. :p *cough* Anyway, you should probably first work on moving his legs. Don't move the NPC (taht is, capslock+arrow keys) anywyere. Erase the legs (aaah! The beautiful boots I spent 2 hours drawing! :p ) and then draw one leg forward the other back. Now, here is where you can get lenient. You dont' HAVE to shade the back leg a darker color. It actually works decently to have them be the same. Just make sure there is something (black pixel?) between the two legs, or that would be bad. Then, do the arms. Now, in your original, you probably had just one arm showing, unless your character was a bit 3/4 view (actually more of 2/3 view in one of my NPC's case; think Celes' "casting" sprite from FF6) and in that case a bit of the hidden hand will be showing. Anyway, the hand behind moves up jsut a bit. Remember, you PROBABLY can't see the rest of his arm, so just two pixels for the hand surrounded by black will probably do the trick. I mean, your arms dont' go flying around when you walk right? As for the other arm, send it back. Yay! Now, make the hair blow in the wind (but not too much; remember, the player can *stop* on this frame so it has to be self independent), add cool details, BWAHAHAHAAA! Done!

Final Note: If your character has, say, a sword on his back, don't screw it up by using backspace. In this case, copying and pasting your pics will work, but they'll have to be edited. If it crosses his back, notice where the tip is and the handle is. Some of the worst mistakes made are mis-use of the backspace key so the sword goes flying back and forth on the hero's back. Don't let that happen!

Good luck and happy spriteing...
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But enough talk, have at you!

[MultiColoredWizard]

Shadowiii, there ARE ways to make three framed walking animations. There's a plotscript out at moogle's old tutors.

[LeRoy_Leo]

They give very little pixel space guys... My legs end up stubby, and my head fat... Still looks alright. Kinda the same style as the FF sprites
No visual to offer you yet though... Did I remind you Shadowii? Was it the stubby leg?!?!?!? terherherher.

Back spaceing is not a dead end, actually. You simply have to manipulate the shading... Oh and the position of the objects that the Walkabout may be carrying... That is all...
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Planning Project Blood Summons, an MMORPG which will incinerate all of the others with it's sheer brilliance...

---msw188 ---
"Seriously James, you keep rolling out the awesome like gingerbread men on a horror-movie assembly line. "