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delphi32
03-10-2008, 10:21 AM
Hi all,

I've been lurking around this site for some time now and read very usefull things.
I've only programmed the simplest of games (like a pacman-clone) without the use of game-engines or fancy graphics.

Now I think it's time for me to take the next step.
I want to make a simple 2D RPG to check where it will lead me.
For this I think I will have to start using a game-engine (like Andorra?).
But I registered mainly to ask a question which haunts me for a while.

How is the equipping (or evolving) of a sprite realised in 2D RPGs?
When I equip a sprite with a helmet the character gets a helmet, same goes for change of weapon.

How is this done? I don't believe all the different styles of sprites are animated. I believe there is a base sprite which gets equiped, but how?
How does a burning sword get attached to the correct position of a sprite? Is there some place where I can find a short tutorial on how to achieve this?

Edit: I've found something called spritesheets. Has anyone an example of how to work with moving sprites build out of a (or multiple) spritesheets?
Has an engine like Andorra support for the use of spritesheets in the sprite-engine?

greetings Fred.

Traveler
03-10-2008, 02:12 PM
Hi and welcome to PGD!

There are several routes you could take, to display your character(s) with different equipment. Probably the easiest is to create frames for every character in all possible combinations of clothing and equipment. The amount of frames would largely depend on how many characters and their motions you have and the various clothing and/or equipment each character can wear.

An alternative is to create frames for characters with their motions in default clothing/equipment and then create frames for all clothing and equipment separately. In the game you then need to combine these frames to form the character you want for any given action.

The first example is supported by most engines, whereas the second is not. So you'll most likely need to write the part of the code that combines frames, yourself.

Hope this helps,

wagenheimer
04-10-2008, 01:05 AM
Hi!

Asphyre engine does have an good example of how you can get this!

http://www.afterwarp.net/forum/search.php?searchid=98326

The version of this link is a bit old, but you can download the lastest release and the SpriteEngine and you will get an updated sample!

delphi32
06-10-2008, 09:27 AM
@Traveler:
I thougt of the second option and hoped there would be an engine which already supports this.
I read somewhere that for instance Diablo2 worked like this. I believe that writing it from scratch will cost me my private life...

@wagenheimer
Thank you for the info. I hope it suits my whishes.
I will check this out. I hoped there would be something like this.

cronodragon
06-10-2008, 02:43 PM
I believe that writing it from scratch will cost me my private life...

"How To Build a Game In A Week From Scratch With No Budget ":
http://www.gamedev.net/reference/articles/article2259.asp

Traveler
06-10-2008, 07:49 PM
You shouldn't aim for diablo like productions. Especially if you're a one man army. You could ask yourself is it truly necessary that the player has to see his newly found Hat of a Thousand Deaths? Perhaps it is enough if he can see it in his inventory.

See, the thing is. To me this sounds like a trivial thing. I can understand that you may want the player to see every new item that he finds, but to me it would be more important to see a nicely rendered environment, interesting gameplay and maybe some nice looking effects when characters are fighting each other.
"What are nice features to have for making maps?" "How do I load my animations in the game"", "What kind of characters are there going to be in my game?" "Do I already have a story". Those should but the things on your mind right now, which tbh are far more easier to answer and to realize than the one question you have right there.

delphi32
07-10-2008, 09:27 AM
@cronodragon I alread read that article. That type of articles give me the idea it will be possible for me to make a simple but nice little game.

@Traveler: You are right as to where my priorities have to ly at this moment.
As I have already mentioned, I a frequent visitor of this forum and know (from the countless unfinished projects) the danger of getting carried away in unrealistic thoughts.
I'am certainly not looking for a diablo like production. I only mentioned diablo as an example because I would like to know the technique behind the change of sprites.
I have read http://www.devmaster.net/articles/mmorpg-postmortem/part1.php, where the author says players don't like it when they don't see the changes of their character.
I am not going for a mmorpg, but for a 2D singleplayer rpg. I already have a story, characters and objects for the game. Now I'm looking for the techniques I will use.

For the moment I am searching for info on the paperdoll technique.
I didn't have time to look at the Asphyre engine jet, but a search at the forum gave me this http://www.afterwarp.net/forum/showthread.php?t=1419.
The third post is a demo for paperdoll in the Asphyre engine. I think this engine is going to suit me just fine.

When someone here has already worked on a 2d RPG and can share their findings it would be very nice.