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EDITING.md

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Template

Kart Builder uses a special layer layout to organize your racer's frames and rotations. You can copy the provided example/example.ase for a pre-configured template.

Layer Groups

Aseprite layer groups contain the layers of your racer, from top to bottom. The provided template comes with a head, body and kart layer group. You can have as many or few layer groups as you want. The kart layer group follows special rules for outputting frames outlined in Graphics.

Layers

The layers under each group correspond to the graphics of your racer. On export, Kart builder will merge the layers from bottom-to-top in the final graphic. Example: when outputting the STIN frames, Kart Builder will stack kart > STIN, body > STIN then head > STIN in that order. You are not limited to the layers provided in the template. Consult Graphics for a full list of usable layer names.

Frames

The frames in each layer correspond to the different angles for each graphic. Frames 1-8 correspond to angles 1-8 of the Doom graphic. If frames 6-8 are missing for all layers, that graphic will be treated as symmetrical. See ZDoom Wiki: Sprite for a full explanation.

Frames 9-16 and onward define different animation frames for each graphic. 9-16 define all the angles for animation frame 2, 17-24 correspond to animation frame 3, etc. These are typically only used for the wheel flashing animation, but you may define custom heads and bodies as well.

Slices

Aseprite slices are used to define the size and offset of your kart. You typically don't need to edit this unless you have resized your canvas.

Fallbacks

If a layer is missing for a graphic, Kart Builder will try to find a fallback layer to render instead. For example, if you were missing layer DRLN for layer group head, then Kart Builder will try to resolve DRLN > FSGR > SLGR > STGR > STIN in that order. See Graphics for a full list of these fallbacks.

If Kart Builder cannot find any fallbacks in the chain, it will skip outputting that layer group. This is common for the XTRA, DEAD, SIGN and SSIG layers. In the example template, these are only rendered in the body layer group and the rest of the layer groups are transparent. It is suggested you only define these in the body layer group.

Autofill

Autofill is a tool used to create new cels from existing ones. Most commonly it is used to paste and automatically offset head cels for glancing, turning and spinout sprites. Select one or more layers or cels, right-click a layer and select Kart Builder > Autofill.

After executing autofill rules you will need to manually adjust the offset of pasted heads to fit the body. This can be automated by specifying a list of autofill offsets for that layer beforehand. Right-click your layer > Properties > User Data and enter your list of offsets. These are a list of 8 comma-separated offsets in the format x,y x,y x,y x,y x,y x,y x,y x,y. Offsets can be negative (eg. -4,0) and the y-offset is optional (eg. 6 is equivalent to 6,0).

Browse the layers in the provided example.ase file to see how to configure your autofill offsets. For a full list of supported autofill rules, see Autofills.

Asymmetrize

If you have drawn angles 1-5 for a layer, you can auto-generate the flipped asymmetric frames for it. Select one or more layers or cels, right-click a layer and select Kart Builder > Asymmetrize.

Ignore Cels

Sometimes, it is useful to have a cel as a visual reference but not emit it in the final output. To mark a cel as ignored, right-click it and go to Cel Properties > User Data > Color and set the cel to be red. Cels marked as red will be ignored in asymmetrify, autofill and the final export.

In this example, frames 6-8 of the body and kart have been ignored. These can be used to help position the head without making the STIN animation asymmetrical.

Tips

  • Go to Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts > Menus and define a shortcut for File > Export > Export Kart for faster exporting. Ctrl+Shift+E is suggested.
  • The canvas can be resized for larger or smaller sprites. Make sure to update your slice's pivot point if you do so!
  • You can define more complicated animations than base game characters by specifying frames 9-16 for the head and body layers. An example would be a character with flowing hair or a different expression when moving quickly in FSTN.
  • To make simple joke characters with no animations, you can delete every layer except body > STIN and just define those 5 frames.
  • Kart Builder does not currently support some features like modded rivals or extra-large DEADA0 frames (like Eggman). You can always edit the output *.pk3 file in SLADE to make additional edits.
    • WARNING: Kart Builder will clear the contents of the *.pk3 on every export. Any manual edits you made will be reverted on next export!