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 SpringRain   |
If I wanted to create an agent or a set of agents, what is the first thing I should do to go about it? I have read through and tried some of the tutorials on CreaturesCaves but I am just curious...how do you begin making your very first agent? Are there a series of steps to follow? Any feedback is much appreciated! ^_^ Thanks. SpringRain. I'm back again after being away a handful of years. 2026 Revamp, Baby! |
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 Officer-1BDI  |
I think it's different for every user. Personally, every time I've ever attempted to make an agent I've started with the sprites. If I can't gather enough enthusiasm to finish those, then I don't see a point in coding for the agent. That's just me, though, and it's a completely irrelevant scenario if you're not making your own images. You have to be honest with yourself when you are writing. If that leads to somewhere unexpected then perhaps you really needed to go there. -- Jim Adkins |
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 Malkin Manager |
Make sure you have a folder on your computer called "Creatures Development" to keep all your files in.  Be prepared for a lot of trial and error. If you've ever studied a language, I know I've found it helpful to imagine the CAOS language as just another language to translate into English - the caos help manual is like a dictionary, and tutorials are a little like grammar books.  My TCR Norns |
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SpringRain |
Thank you guys. ^_^ Much appreciated! I just wasn't sure how to begin. What I want to make is a shower agent and a set of beauty agents to go with it but I am having a little trouble understanding everything. Lol. I'm back again after being away a handful of years. 2026 Revamp, Baby! |
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 Tea Queen Laura |
Does this mean our Norns will be able to get pampered with their luxurious shower accessories? Go for it! Those designs of yours look like they'll be fun to turn into sprites - looking forward to seeing the result if you do create them. |
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Malkin Manager |
Oooh, these ones?  I think the Shampoo and Conditioner sound like the easiest to start with. My TCR Norns |
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 Prodigal Sock Ghosthande |
That'll be neat! I'm glad you're still working on this project. Officer's right about starting with the sprites. It's much more difficult to code an agent if you don't already have the sprites, since they are what you see and interact with in-game. Except for the comb everything you've mentioned looks pretty straightforward, but let me know if you need any help getting things to work, I'd be happy to help.  |
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SpringRain |
@Laura: Hopefully, yes! ^_^ At least, that's what I'm aiming for. And thank you. I am trying to work out how to draw them so that it keeps the basic shape of the original picture from one frame to the next but only parts of it 'animate'. I remember Charles the Cheese so I'm trying to use something like that. Simple and neat. @Malkin: Yes, those ones. Lol. I decided to take your advice and start with the shampoo bottles. @Ghosthande: Okay, I will work on the sprites first and see how I go with those. How do you guys do sprites when you draw them yourselves? I know there must be something that helps make it easier...right? Like, to make sure that the agent looks the same but different when activated...er...not sure how to explain. I'm back again after being away a handful of years. 2026 Revamp, Baby! |
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Prodigal Sock Ghosthande |
I think I know what you mean. What program are you using to make the sprites? If it's a simple program, like Paint, you can often copy one sprite and modify it to make the next. With programs like Photoshop (and I think GIMP too, although I've never tried it), you can put the parts that are going to be the same throughout the sprites on one layer or set of layers, and put changing parts on their own layers. So if, say, you're making a bowl of cat chow and you want one sprite to have food in it and another to show the bowl empty, you have the bowl itself on one layer, and the food is on a second layer. Then you can just turn the food layer on and off when you go to save the sprites. |
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SpringRain |
Yes, I would be using MS paint. Lol. Wow, that photoshop sounds really good. I have wanted it for a while now but I think I will have to save up for it. Alright then, I might be able to copy the basic picture and make adjustments for each picture then. That sounds like it would work. Thanks Ghosthande! :3 I'm back again after being away a handful of years. 2026 Revamp, Baby! |
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 Amaikokonut |
You might really consider learning to use GIMP if you haven't, it's free, and is leaps and bounds better than paint, though it does have a bit of a learning curve. And do feel free to pester the heck out of me when you get to the coding part if you need help   [Naturing :: Nurturing] |
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Prodigal Sock Ghosthande |
I agree with Amai. There are a lot of tutorials floating around for GIMP, too. |
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 Peppery One Papriko |
And the official documentation is available in lots of languages. You can also add many Plug-Ins. I am a big fan of GIMP. All my Avatars are made with GIMP (usually in about 5 minutes, some even less) and all pictures I posted here were cropped and/or edited with GIMP. Lets play plants! Photosynthesis... Photosynthesis... Photosynthesis... |
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Malkin Manager |
Pictures made in MS Paint can be really good too... it depends on the skill of the artist - and SpringRain's concept pictures are very pretty. My TCR Norns |
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Officer-1BDI |
Because I'm actually pretty terrible at drawing with my mouse/tablet, I hand-draw my pictures and then line/color them in Paint Shop Pro (which is the cheaper alternative to Photoshop, though not free like GIMP). There are lots of tutorials floating around for that program as well. The only problem I ran into when I started doing sprites in PSP was pixelation along the outline where the transparency starts, which is unfortunately apparent in my Shee Plushie despite numerous attempts to smooth the line(s) out. :/ I don't know if you'd run into the same issue with GIMP. You have to be honest with yourself when you are writing. If that leads to somewhere unexpected then perhaps you really needed to go there. -- Jim Adkins |
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Peppery One Papriko |
Smooth lines? Usually they are used for drawing in GIMP, but you can also use the pencil tool. It will prevent such ugly smooth lines that combinate with the background to very big outlines. Other tools like Cloning (drawing with textures and not with single colors) have a "hard edges" checkbox. Lets play plants! Photosynthesis... Photosynthesis... Photosynthesis... |
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SpringRain |
Well, I would love to download this GIMP thingy but unfortunately I am currently using my brother's laptop while I wait for my mum's computer to be repaired. (Which is the only one my C3 with DS worlds work on for some reason. And also the only one I can use the scanner with to scan in my artwork. Lol. I so hope it's back soon!) In any case, I was thinking about it and I decided I wanted my agent sprites to have a hand drawn (no pun intended. Sorry XD ) look to them. So I thought that: what if I use the method of darkening my original picture then somehow tracing it multiple times lightly with pencil, then making alterations to each tracing as I go and then colouring them all with coloured pencil and uploading the finished set of images after that. It's kind of a round about way to go about it though. I'm back again after being away a handful of years. 2026 Revamp, Baby! |
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 Wiimeiser |
There are unused sprites in C3, a beta Recycler (with some wrong frames but that's easily fixed) and Transporter pod. Hashikin ko Tyni Kong Taria Haju'Rumia'an Klodz'Proddi. Terdish oxen saur yessi atai Kongo Dolpik! |
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Prodigal Sock Ghosthande |
Sounds like a good strategy to me. |
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SpringRain |
Hey, can anyone answer this: I am drawing the pictures for my agents now but is there a certain way to draw them to be able to use them? I drew the picture of the agent, then what it would look like when clicked on, then what it would look like with shampoo coming out, then sparkles and bubbles appeared, then the picture of them moved to a slightly different position and then them moved again slightly, then the bubbles and sparkles fading and the lid going back up to normal. It's all on one line, next to each other. Is that how you draw agent pictures so that you can use them in the sprite program thing? *clueless* I'm back again after being away a handful of years. 2026 Revamp, Baby! |
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Malkin Manager |
Do you have a program for viewing C16s? Try opening a C16 with such a program (AquaShee's tutorial will tell you which one to use). Sarako's tutorial explains images better, but here goes: c16s work like a flipbook, or a library of images that an agent can choose from - save each 'frame' of the agent seperately as a .png, all the same size, and colour in the background pure black. My TCR Norns |
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Prodigal Sock Ghosthande |
Can SpriteBuilder even read .png's? I'm pretty sure they have to be .bmp format. |
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 EmergencyTowel |
Ugh. I hate bmps. So inefficent. In my nerd cave, nobody can hear you scream. Feed my pets: Shroomy and Glow! |
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Peppery One Papriko |
Yep, png is way better. Who wants big fat Bitmaps when you can have Portable Network Graphic? Lets play plants! Photosynthesis... Photosynthesis... Photosynthesis... |
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Prodigal Sock Ghosthande |
Who cares? Once you import it into SpriteBuilder it saves it as a .c16 anyways. |
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EmergencyTowel |
its the kind of think geeks care about. Anyway,how is the progress? In my nerd cave, nobody can hear you scream. Feed my pets: Shroomy and Glow! |
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SpringRain |
The progress of the drawing the pictures for the agents is going great! However, the progress for the using of the scanner to upload them is ... slow. Dang it. Lol. Mum's laptop's still getting repaired and I can only use the scanner with her computer. But, in the meantime I am going to finish drawing all the images. So far I have the comb and the shampoo bottle. Next is the conditioner and the shower (favourite one!) XD I'm back again after being away a handful of years. 2026 Revamp, Baby! |
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