I'm started planning what kind of sprites I need for my fantasy rpg(!). I really want the characters, especially the main one, to look real and alive. However, I don't want to be buried under a mountain of art work. So I'm asking ye, what kind of sprites would be the most useful in as many situations as possible. Those I've come up with so far are these: Walking) Pretty obvious, I would say. Running) I want one of these. Should be able to use it for both slower running and sprinting. Crouching) Used for hiding, bowing and picking things up. Falling down) With or without blood, this should be used for fainting, tripping, death and whatnot. Perhaps you could combine the Crouching animation with this one to get a Lie Down animation? Attacking) Since there will be many, many attack options, I want an animation that could represent as many of them as possible in a somewhat realistic manner. I'm thinking of letting the arm move in an arc at about waist height. The weapon is animated independently, so this arm movement should be able to give nice spear thrusts, axe- and sword chops and punches. Pointing) Can't figure out a better word, but this one is for opening doors, activating levers and other general Use-button activities. But there are more actions I want represented, preferably in as few frames as possible. I want grapplings and tackles, off hand weapon attacks, kicks, jumps and leaps, climbing, etc. Any ideas on how to include them? EDIT: I realize I might be trying to bite of too much, but still. This is why I'm asking for help on how to ease the workload. [edited by - Kekko on March 23, 2004 3:25:07 PM]

Well, if your still just planning your sprites, it would probably be best if you stuck to only the most basic of animations. If you try to take them all on at once you may burn yourself out and eventually giveup. Save the more extravagant animations for later.

As for number of animated frames, it won''t take a huge number to make it look good (a jump frame can still look good even with one frame of animation look at Mario). But with the shear amount of actions you are trying for it could be a difficult task. Though it shouldn''t be a problem if you take it slow.

If you want a realistic looking sprite you could try a render of a 3d model(like Diablo). I''ve never tried it myself but i''m sure you would get "real and alive" results if you do it right.

one last tip for ya, you could try to find similar games to yours and see how they did their animations. Study the sprites movements and you''ll probably find that the movement is simple and only has two or three frames.

Thats it, I hope you find my answers satisfactory.

"Like the clouds, he has no place to go, and like the water, he never stops."

a fantasy rpg, LOL. i hope you realize what you are planning to do here .entering the kings class of gamedevelopment without experience is a bit heavy

such an rpg was one of my first projects when i was new to gamemaking. and , who wonders, the first one i cancelled

i needed three more years of experience before i started such a project again. it is development since one year. and sure will need one more

i am a hobbyist, and i am making prerendered sprites and tilesets since years. so i know what i am doing .and i still need between one and two weeks to create one ... so you have also to take your learning curve into account . learning how to create graphics needs time ´

my standard animations for enemies contains this :
stopped , walking, running, attack, talking, been hit, dying
townspeople only have stopped walking and talking in most cases.
and then there are the always necessary special animations for the one or the other case ...

i would say: start where every game starts. create a simple testengine to figure out the first details. create two sprites , one controlled by you, and one controlled by the pc .

now you have two sprites to play around with . play with the needed animations. do tests with them.

this will give you the taste of the further work. and you can decide what you need, what you have to change, and if it is worth the effort. as told: such an rpg project is one of the most advanced things in gamedevelopment ...



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