The "Metroidvania" genre is all but dead... these days, it's all about the "Castleroid" games.

In all seriousness, nice work. Be sure and keep us glued to our seats in anticipation of coming episodes.

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What most people don't understand about "enlightenment" is that it is not an end-goal; but where you find yourself just before taking a new "first step."

Whats the difference

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wzl's burrow

Between a game in the "metroidvania" styling and a "castleroid" type of game?

The fact that you have to ask that question reveals you as a n00b not worthy of cleaning up after Sonic the Hedgehog after a night of woofing down foot-long chili-cheese dogs.

(Nah, not really. They're the same thing, just with the order of the names swapped. )

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What most people don't understand about "enlightenment" is that it is not an end-goal; but where you find yourself just before taking a new "first step."

Castleroid sounds actually like the better name.

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Long pork is people!

wzl's burrow

I started building the sprite animation system.

If you wanna test it you can get it here
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/12237727/Softwa ... naught.zip

Arrowkeys to do stuff (be sure to check the idle animation, it's kinda cute )

If you check the sprite texture, you see i have the body and head seperately, so i can animate them better.

The way i chose this to work is having an AnimationFrame class with the Index within the sprite atlas, and a FrameTime that determines how long the frame will be shown before the next in the line is used. The AnimationSequence class holds a list/array of AnimationFrames and some helper methods like adding frames or batches of successive frames.
Then i have a sprite class which is assigned different AnimationSequences through the player object. I'm using different Sprites for the head and body, so i can have different animations played simultaneously. This way the player can look around while also walking (in a scripted sequence for instance).
This is so cool

I actually skipped 2D development entirely so far (well not quite completely, but i've only taken a little peak when i started programming) and went straight for 3D. Looks like i missed a lot of awesome fun stuff. Although i might not have been able to implement it as decently as this back then Just about 300 lines of code in total (disregarding the rendering which happens in my engine, just the animation and sprite lookup logic). I'm kind of proud about this

Finally, here's a little mockup i did. It's pretty bland, and the tiles look aweful. Not sure what kinda style i'm going to go for. The rusty shutter looks quite nice, but it doesnt go well with the cartoony style of the character. Gotta experiment a lot with this.

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You're coming along quite nicely, weezl! You're right -- skipping 2D stuff completely will cause one to miss out on a *whole* lot of fun. It's awesome that you've come around and have begun to see the error of your ways.

You have the animation system itself nailed down pretty well, though. The method you describe sounds like the one I've become accustomed to using, and it is quite effective.


That can be a fun idea to wantonly abuse. If you want some really smooth animation, and plan to use characters with somewhat realistic bodily proportion, you can have each independently moveable portion of the body be its own sprite. Draw sprites for the arms (shoulder, upper arm, forearm, hand), legs (hip, thigh, knee, shin, foot), and so on, and use trigonometry to manipulate all the parts individually (and perhaps add some ragdoll physics elements for some serious fun ).

I'm actually working on a similar animation system for WulaBugr -- except that (for now) I am using vector line-drawings for the character segments.

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What most people don't understand about "enlightenment" is that it is not an end-goal; but where you find yourself just before taking a new "first step."

I was actually working on a 2d skeletal animation earlier. I'd link a video, but you cannot watch it anyways
But it is a pain in the ass to maintain and setup and i'm not even sure if it will look good in the end. The seams along the joints where the limbs meet need some kind of connection so they don't look split apart. Also, while having a lot of freedom with this, you also restrict yourself quite a bit. Imagine a character standing in a T-pose, spining in circles. You cannot animate that with a system like this (in a side view). You'd need an approximation of a 3d skeleton or you can directly implement it in 3d and get rid of all the problems with it (have fun with implementing inverse kinematics in 3d, still one of my future endeavours).

So i'm quite glad that i will only be using (2)sprites for now.
I might make several versions of them thought so i can alter equipment, but i will not consider that until i need it since a palette swap might be working just as well


I've deliberately chosen a cutsie bigheaded style like this. This is because 1. in my dream it looked quite similar to what it looks like now (as far as i can tell ) and 2. it just looks adorable and it's quite easy to make poses and animations for it. So it is a good training for my animation and pixeling skills.

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There are ways to get around this issue. One of my favorites is to draw the segments sans-outline. When you outline a sprite -- as per traditional cartooning -- it causes huge problems. If you can get away with it, there is the option of just working with the color shading (leaving out any outlines). If that look doesn't suit you, and you must have outlines, there are a few tricks to remedy that. One is to pre-render the sprites onto a separate surface, blacken it (using compositing, or perhaps OpenGL-style vertex color blending), and use the result to create the "outline" (either by slightly scaling up the blackened sprites, or slightly scaling down the original "fill" sprites). One could also use a "baked-in" approach, where you have two separate sprite sheets for each character -- one for the blackened "outline" sprites, and a version with the colored/shaded "fill" sprites.

Another method uses a somewhat similar effect, and in fact can be used in conjunction with the above approach. If you have an area that is particularly susceptible to seaming, you can add a vector "joint" that is superimposed over the seam. In effect, it serves as a "band-aid" of sorts, obscuring any ugly seams.

That said, there are certain ways to plan and draw sprite segments to minimize any seams popping up in the first place. The main idea is to keep the viewer's focus away from the seams. So, a good rule-of-thumb here is to keep the detail level at and around certain joints (particular at the knees) to a somewhat minimal standard.

It is quite feasible to create a segmented 2D sprite without noticeable seams. Creating game art is similar to game code in some respects -- there are multiple ways to achieve any task. Not all of them will necessarily be a good fit when viewed within the context of whatever else is going on there, but if you can find just that *one* method that is a perfect fit, you have a winner.


Of course you can!

There is a fairly new concept with regard to 2D character animation techniques know simply as the "switch." The name is quite appropriate -- if your character's foot is pointing parallel to the viewport (i.e. you see it from the side), and you want them to take a particular stance in which the foot should be angled back a bit, as if it were pointing more toward the viewport, you literally *switch* the sprite of the "parallel" foot with the sprite depicting the foot pointed toward the viewport.

This concept is becoming more and more common -- I even have a software tool designed specifically for animating 2D characters, and it employs this technique via what it calls "switch layers." It appears just as any "normal" graphics layer, except that it is actually a group of layers that only allows one visible layer at a time, and the visible layer can very easily be switched for another at any given time.

Does it make things easier? Goodness no. Is it worth the extra effort? If done properly -- you can achieve some incredibly impressive results. If you take your idea of a 3D skeleton and applying it in 2D, take a step back... instead of using that "extra" dimension in a sense of perspective, use it as a parameter in determining the switch. If the rotation of the foot on the Y axis is within a certain range, use the appropriate image... if it is within another range, use another switch... and so on.


Yeah, better to take baby steps in this case. I'm just giving you something to look forward to is all.


Noted -- I was, as before, just giving you something to which you could look forward.

In any case, do carry on as you are -- you're doing just fine without any of my advice. Keep it at that for now, because if you follow my advice, you will spend the rest of your life working just on "perfecting" your character animation system.

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What most people don't understand about "enlightenment" is that it is not an end-goal; but where you find yourself just before taking a new "first step."

Switching images for different poses doesn't solve all the problems though. And also it again implements the weakness we'd try to get rid of through skeletal animations, namely fluid animation aka non choppy/swapped. You could make special cases for each and every animation, but you'll end up restricting yourself more and more. The system becomes more error prone and then it explodes in your face.
This is the reason i abandoned the 2d skeletal animations. It is just not working out for me. I thought of like doing awesome parkour animations with it, like dynamically grabbing edges and jumping over obstacles, but the resulting animations would just not look right due to the restictions you have when working in a 2d plane.

That's why i'd use a 3d skeleton even for 2d animations.

Another thing about connecting joints is even if you manage to get them relatively seamless or use an overlay like a knee protector, you still have pixels not aligning to the grid which can look very odd if you aim for a pixelated graphic style.


In my case it is more like something to look back on, as i considered the options we're discussion before, and partially went through different stages of implementation. For my needs it was not feasable. I can see that it is for others though.

That said, all hail for framebased animations

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Long pork is people!

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It doesn't solve all the problems, no -- but what single approach does solve all the problems of any situation? Look at it this way -- if you want a natural, "painterly" style of character graphics employed within your game, would the typical, relatively low-poly 3D game model solve that problem? There is a "give and take" involved with all solutions to all problems. If it doesn't fit your style, that's one thing, but if you are expecting a Swiss Army knife of perfection, you may want to take your expectations down a few notches before you'll be able to come across anything that seems acceptable.

If you get to the point where you are making special cases for "each and every" possible angle for every single segment to the accuracy of a single degree, or the system otherwise gets ready to explode in your face, then it is not the fault of the system -- it is the problem inherent in driving a nail using a circular saw.


And that is a perfectly good reason to not use 2D sprites. (And if you are referring about my comment about applying a 3D skeleton and using certain parameters to control switches, note that I was not implying that you couldn't use a 3D skeleton -- I was merely pointing out a different way in which one could be used.)


Um... why in the world would anyone want to use this sort of technique for a pixelated graphic style in the first place?

When it comes to pixelated graphics, you can get away with a method such as yours, where you have the head as a separate sprite from the sprite that represents the entire remainder of the character, since you don't need (or even want) affine rotation. It would never work for pixel graphics. The highly articulated figures would be for more "artsty" styles of presentation.


You have your own needs, and if the techniques I laid out don't work for you, that's cool. Just don't assume that because they don't suit your needs, they are "inferior" to any other method.

Sculptors all make sculptures. But some prefer stone... others, clay... then there is wood... And for each of those materials, different techniques and tools are used to achieve the same results. If one tries to "transfer" the methodology of working with one material and apply it, unaltered, toward a different material, the artist will have a difficult time approaching the level of success he had achieved while employing the method best-suited to his "usual" choice of material. It's not the method that is at fault, but the inappropriate application of such a method.

As for frame-based animation, just keep this in mind:

If you use the segmented character approach -- not for actual use in your game, but as a tool to aid in the preparation for the sprites you *do* plan to use -- that may be considered a "happy medium" between here and that place you don't want to go.

If you want to get your animations *just right* before committing to anything -- say, slightly adjusting just one part of a character that isn't in the right position for your tastes -- the segmented approach comes in handy. (I have been using a similar technique for close to a decade, now.) The difference is that instead of handling the animation via trigonometry, you pre-render each frame with the segmented character, and when you get the animation part of it to your liking, you can open the render in a standard graphics editor to remove any seams.

This gives you an easier way of adjusting the "big stuff" (the significant movements of individual body parts) *and* the "small stuff" (seams at joints). As I just mentioned, I've used this technique before with a high degree of success. Just you use a graphics editor with layer support, just stick one segment into each layer, and adjust the layers individually to assemble each frame. It *sounds* like a pain in the butt, but once you start using it, you will find the animation of non-trivial characters goes along *much* more quickly. It also yields better results than drawing each frame individually. And you can fine-tune any flaws you find along the way, such as seams.

Of course, that is a method I started using a decade ago. It has an update. There's a 2D animation tool I use nowadays called "Anime Studio Pro." Although it is marketed as a tool geared toward creating animated cartoon videos, it makes an incredibly adept character animation tool, as well. It uses a skeleton-based rigging system, and it has a LOT of handy utilitarian features (bitmap-to-vector conversion, animated sequence previews, and of course an option to output all (or some -- your choice) of the frames of animation you want in PNG format (and a host of other formats) as individual images with sequential filenames). If you decide to look into it, just do yourself a favor and don't even bother with the "debut" version, though.

All of this is meaningless unless you plan on creating graphics outside of the realms of pixel art, and 3D modeling, however.

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What most people don't understand about "enlightenment" is that it is not an end-goal; but where you find yourself just before taking a new "first step."

I might add more layers for arms and legs, but i probably wont. I really won't have that many or complex animations in this game. Most body animations will be around 8 frames, head animations around 4. If i'm lucky i can fit them all in the same tileset even. (although i want to add every helmet frame with a closed visor, so it might not fit).

Anyways, today there won't be an executable because it's very crude and unpolished.
I added basic levelediting and physics, paired with animations. I need to set up animation priorities, and queue them correctly, so there won't be a walking animation while jumping etc.

Here's a screenshot though

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Screen shot? Eh... OK. If you insist.

...

Now hurry up with that friggin' playable version!!!

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What most people don't understand about "enlightenment" is that it is not an end-goal; but where you find yourself just before taking a new "first step."

Wasn't able to fall asleep earlier so i got up again and fixed some stuff. Wooh!
The character controls are a bit snappier now. No infinite multijumps, correct jumping and falling animation (although somewhat faked, will run into problems later with the current solution).
Will fix the collisions tomorrow (actually save them in the map as opposed to re-adding them every run)
So i can spend most of tomorrow drawing more tilesets that might actually look good.

I'm still uncertain what this is gonna be.
Main emphasis is on adventuring. One thing all my games and prototypes i created so far actually missed the narrative. I imagine this might be a ton of fun creating dialoges and short stories.
Puzzle elements would be a good idea. Since i'm using box2d i could even utilize it to make some physic puzzles, and if it's just stacking crates.
Shooter elements would be kinda nice, but i don't think they will be a main priority at this point, although i have a bunch of interesting ideas.

Well, we'll see

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this looks really cool. kinda like tron. it needs lasers and robots and transporter pods and a massive weapon upgrade system.

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The path to hell is paved with clever code.

But most of all -- Olivia Wilde in skin-tight garb.

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What most people don't understand about "enlightenment" is that it is not an end-goal; but where you find yourself just before taking a new "first step."

nice work!

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"None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free."
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society."
"Hope is the first step on the road to dissapointment." -Jonah Orion
http://tankzgame.blogspot.com

Thanks guys

The tron-style tileset were only placeholder graphics. I don't think it was very appealing either.

As for barely clothed girls... mmhhhh maybe

Here's a screen of today's labor



I spent most of the day working on the tileset. This is just one area out of several i will be doing.
This is the maintenance part.
The next one will be a residential and a recreational area. Not sure if i manage to do them this week though.

Next feature will probably be moving platforms and ladders. possibly give those doors functionality to enter more rooms.
Gotta find some nice way to animate from within tilesets (both logic and ui). The editor needs more features too like creating prefabs for setting several tile spreading assets like the door in one click as opposed to select each tile individually.
Copy/paste/drag selection features are also very much needed when creating bigger levels.

Anyhow, here's a playable version!
Arrowkeys + z for jump

The controls are very very very very very very unpolished, so don't even mention them (and yes those stairs are more like slides)

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/12237727/Software/Astronaught.zip

Building this is so much fun \o/

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Olivia Wilde in the new Tron movie wasn't "barely clothed" by any stretch (see what I did there?!) -- she was fully clothed. But I must say that whoever poured her into her costume did a damn fine job of it.

Those screen shots are looking pretty sexy, too. Keep 'em coming!

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What most people don't understand about "enlightenment" is that it is not an end-goal; but where you find yourself just before taking a new "first step."

nicely done, weezl. Low-G platformer, thats kinda cool. I like the different leg position for ascending vs descending, that's a nice touch.
Keep it up!

You know, come to think of it, this "Astronaught" would integrate well into your "Into Beyond" project. Think about it: youve already got travelling across the galaxy, making planetfall with any planet you choose.. flying around that planet in 3d.. what if there were cities or secret bases on some of these planets that you could land at, hop out of your ship, and **paste "Astronaught" here** ?

food for thought!

_________________
"None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free."
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society."
"Hope is the first step on the road to dissapointment." -Jonah Orion
http://tankzgame.blogspot.com

Oooh -- something like Blaster Master from the NES/Famicom days

There are obvious differences (in Blaster Master, you drove a tank that could jump, rather than a space ship; also, the "cities or secret bases" bit were played from an overhead perspective, and not side-view), but still brings back fond memories.

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What most people don't understand about "enlightenment" is that it is not an end-goal; but where you find yourself just before taking a new "first step."