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 Zaf  |
Hello. I got a question about how gen files and sprite files works together. I know there is a gene in the gen file named Creature/appearance that controls which sprite is used for the creature in question. But if I look at pearlmaids, I can't see where or how the tails changes. Here is what I mean: When the pearlmaids reaches adult stage their beginner tail (the one they were born with) disappears (so does their feet) when they reaches old it changes again. Which gen file controls that? I can only find each Creature/appearance for each body part, but not the changes it does. Reason I ask, is that I would like to do so that the Pearlmaid's tail are connected with the tail part and not their feet (at the moment if the pearlmaids is a hybrid and has a different tail, the Pearlmaids tail will just be added instead of replacing the other tail, meaning they got 2 tails, which is what I would like to avoid. So far I can see the creature gets the pearlmaid tail if they have their feet, if they have the beginner tail they won't get the adult tail later on, has to be the feet and I would like to change that so if they get the beginner tail, then they'll get the tail) Anyone who can help with this? |
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 Peppery One Papriko |
No gene controls this at all. A single sprite file contains a single body part in all it's possible poses, but only for a single life stage. When creatures age, they automatically change the sprite file they use. This is mainly used to change to sprite files with bigger frames to give the impression of growing. So the answer is simple: no genes are involved at all, they simply have different tail sprites for various life stages. For the tail thing: when the tail is really connected to the feet (what would surprise me actually) try giving them pearl mermaid feet and ettin tails. Yes, ettins have tails, they are just invisible. All creatures have tails. That should solve your double tail problem. Lets play plants! Photosynthesis... Photosynthesis... Photosynthesis... |
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Zaf |
Papriko wrote: So the sprite files decides when to activate? Also, sadly it doesn't fix the double tail issue. I got a couple of pearlmaids hybrids with reef gliders and aquanorn tails, so it shows up as double tails. I am assuming you are suggesting going into each and single one of the creatures gen file and change it to ettin tails? |
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Peppery One Papriko |
Yes, the sprite files do the metamorphosis. They simply switch to invisible or differently looking frames when skipping from one life stage to the next. And no, I thought you eventually wanted to create your own genetic breed. Then you only had to do those changes once. Lets play plants! Photosynthesis... Photosynthesis... Photosynthesis... |
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Zaf |
I found the sprites that was controlling the tail. I tried to merge the sprite with the tail root, with the left/right thigh sprites as those were that tail ones at the correct age etc. Changed the body data so it could attached the tail in the correct position. All I ended up with was an invisible tail. The only tail part that showed up was the sprite picture it was originally, but even tho the other tail sprite were now in 1 file, it didn't work. I think its safe to assume I have no idea what I am doing lol. |
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 Code Monkey evolnemesis |
A single sprite file only has all the poses for one body part of a creature of one breed and sex, at one life stage... When the creature ages, its sprites switch automatically to new ones for the next life stage if they are there in the 'images' folder (if it doesn't find a sprite file for the next life stage, it just keeps the sprite it is using... Most breeds only have different sprites for baby,adolescent,adult,and old... some have less). You can find the file naming convention here. The naming convention should help you a lot in understanding what is going on with the sprites... the different frames inside each sprite file are just the images for that body part in all the various different facings and poses (for heads, the sprite file has many more frames than other parts, because it has an image for every different mood in every possible head pose)... As an example, let's say the sprites you want to change are the adult tail-root and tail-tip sprites for a breed which uses Norn Slot X... the files you would need to change would be: 'm04x.c16', 'm44x.c16', 'n04x.c16', and 'n44x.c16' 'm' and 'n' in the first char are the tail root and tail tip, respectively '0' and '4' in the second char are male norn and female norn, respectively '4' in the third character is the adult life stage 'x' in the last character is the breed slot (the letter in the appearance gene) And you would need to make sure ALL the frames in these files are showing the tail you want them to which, if you are trying to change that body part completely, means you'd need to change/replace all the frames... There are 16 frames in each non-head sprite, 4 poses for that body part in each of the 4 possible facing directions. But, it sounds like for what you want, you can probably just copy the new frames you want from other sprite files, or even just copy some existing sprite files over the names of the ones you want to change (I'd keep a backup of them just in case, of course). Also remember even if you change the adult sprites, they will still switch to the next set of sprites when they age to old, so you would need to fix the ones for old age too, if there are any, or else just remove the old age sprites for that part so they won't change from the adult sprites. "For small creatures such as we, the vastness is bearable only through love." "We are a way for the cosmos to know itself." - Carl Sagan |
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