Mike at BrashMonkey

Hi everyone, I hope by now you've all seen the latest update with the release of the alpha version of the new cross platform version of Spriter. We had shown a quick video demonstrating the awesome new tweening features but didn't really explain how to use them. This video explains things in more detail:

Actually I spoke too soon. This text issue IS on my system as well, but had not been on a previois build, so its something that broke recently. I'm sure Edgar will sort it out quickly. Thanks again.

Thanks much for the concise bug reporting, Surefoot. Edgar is stomping out such issues at lightning speed. With the help of users like you it won't take long at all to get things rock-solid. Grouping is not yet implimented but is definately a high priority, besides general bug fixing and stability of course. May I ask what version of Windows you're on? Because Edgar and I both test on Windows and we've not seen this text issue and we'd love to get it fixed for the next build asap. cheers, Mike at BrashMonkey

Hi everyone, Sorry for the slight delay. We're still working on the update. It's 3:42 AM in Edgar's time zone and he's still pluging away at making this update the best it can be. Thanks for your patience and support, it should be just a couple more hours. Mike@BrashMonkey

Hi NateS, Thanks so much for the detailed and really well thought-out post! I'm just the artist of the team but I can assure you your suggestions will be carefully considered. Obviously our goal for finalizing this default data format for Spriter 1.0 is to make it accessible, understandable, and comfortable to work with for the majority of users. It's a very strong possibility that some day Spriter will export to several different formats, or at the very least there will be readily available tools to convert from this default format to others hand-tailored to specific platforms. Edgar and I had already discussed the likelihood of settings within Spriter to limit features and change which data is exported..this is also highly likely in the long run. Flexibility is a huge part of our philosophy for Spriter, so we are thrilled to hear it could be useful for creating animations for your bone animation system. cheers, Mike@BrashMonkey

Hi Qaz, To keep things simple we just expanded the free version to include exporting PNG's with alpha (which had been the only pro feature in the current beta). And because no other pro-specific features have been added yet there's just the one beta, which anyone can download from www.brashmonkey.com What the pre-order does is reserve a copy of Spriter Pro once it's released at this reduced pre-order price as a thanks for your support as an "early adopter". It also reserves any one first party plug-in (pro-version) or any one 1st party art-pack of your choice, once they become available of course. Our plan for all 1st party plug-ins is to release a free, reduced feature version and a fully featured commercial version (similar to Spriter), but because the Spriter data format is open, anyone can create plug-ins, and unless they make arrangements with us to become the official plug-in for that specific platform, they are not obligated to follow this model. I hope this clarifies things, Mike@BrashMonkey

Hi Qaz, Sorry if we're slow getting back to you..Edgar and I are really busy working on the new Spriter beta build and art packs, as well as all the business side of things..also, just approving of real posts and deleting/banning all the spam is in itself a lot of work..eventually we should recruit a community member or two to help moderate the forums. I'll also respond to your other post in just a bit. Thanks for your patience, Mike@Brashmonkey

I'm confused kirkieball...you pre-ordered what game? Do you mean you pre-ordered Spriter? The only game mentioned on BrashMonkey is Prophecies of Nnar, but there's no pre-order for it and theres a long time before there's any builds or copy availible. Some Kickstarter backers have access to information about its development through a private forum, but builds are a long time from now. Sorry Spriter crashes on your system.. There's a totally new and cross-platform build in the works..I'm guessing that one will work fine for you. cheers, Mike@BrashMonkey

Hi moscoquera, Sorry for the delayed response. Have you watched the "getting started with Spriter" video? I looks to me like you did not create a project folder with sub-folders with your images in them.. I looks like Spriter is looking somewhere where theres lots of folders, but non with images, or something like that. (it's a little blurry) You can watch the getting started video right here:

Sorry to hear youre having an issue wit hte current beta, moscoquera. Edgar's hard at work getting the totally overhauled UI and cross-platform beta of Spriter ready for release and therefore can't invest time to fix such anomilies for the soon to be obsolete beta. Your image link seems broken. Maybe if we could see the issue we might have an ideal to fix it... Have you tried running at a diferent resolution, compatibility modes etc? I hope we can get it working for you asap. cheers, Mike@BrashMonkey

Thanks for the kind words, JDuaneJ. We wont stop 'til Spriter is the best game animating tool on every platform. :) Mike@BrashMonkey

The animating has begun! More great work by artist Saika Fu:

I'd already posted this in the private Nnar development forums, but figure everyone should get a peak. Hi Everyone, I've commissioned accoplished 3d artist Saika Fu to begin creating fully rigged low poly 3d models of the cast of Characters from Prophecies of Nnar. To create the 2d animations for the game, 3d models will first be animated and then rendered out, to create guide frame images which will then be recreated in Spriter using hand "painted" body part images. NOTE: this is not intended as an actual animation for the game, its simply to demonstrate the quality of the model and rigging. This method not only leads to the highest quality animations in the lowest amount of time, but we'll also be able to render out the animations from other perspectives to quickly create Spriter art packs for overhead and isometric games such as classic Zelda titles. Also, These models are expertly done and optimized (low poly) so if we ever want to make an actual 3d Nnar title, we'll already have all the fully animated 3d characters ready to go! More characters and actual animations to come. Stay tuned!

Hi everyone, I'd like to share some thoughts about Spriter Art packs as a concept and what they will mean for game developers.... but because that would be a long read, here are my thoughts in video form: cheers, Mike@BrashMonkey

Great suggestions Blazah99. Thanks

Fantastic work Synje! Really beuatuful. Mike@BrashMonkey

Hi everyone, Things are starting to heat up here at BrashMonkey. Not only is the new cross-platform beta of Spriter shaping up nicely, but some great progress is being made on the art-pack front as well. Here's the details: The Platformer-Adventure art pack: This one will be big, really big. This art-pack ties in directly with our long-term game project “Prophecies of Nnar”. All the animations we need to create for the game will end up in this art-pack. Due to the huge scope of this one, its definitely going to take some time to finish..but fear not, we'll likely release it in parts, with updates and addendum packs as the art accumulates. The good news: In order to create the character animations, we're going to create 3d models of each character first, animate the 3d models, render out the frames to use as references, then recreate them with hand “painted” body part images in Spriter. The huge benefit for us to take these extra initial steps of pre-animating in 3d is that once the 3d characters are animated, we can render out guide animations from any perspective! This will allow us to quickly create additional art packs for overhead and isometric type games such as the classic Zelda titles! One final plus: We're working with a superb 3d artist (Saika Fu), who's creating these models for us as optimized low-poly models, perfect for when we eventually decide to make a 3d spin-off 'Nnar game! Take a look at the two models he's completed for us so far: The game effects basic Platformer art packs: The two art packs we're sure to finish first will be one with a huge assortment of special effects and “pick-ups” for games and another perfect for making Mario-esque platformers. Work has already begun on both... you can even get a sneak peak at them both by checking out the video below, but keep in mind, what you can see so far is the very crude beginnings, made with the beta version of Spriter and without tweening. Once the new beta of Spriter is a little further along and tweening is fully supported, all of these effect and character animations will be retooled and perfected to be silky smooth. Even better news: I'm working with a great artist (Renita Orellana, whom I originally recruited for help with some art for Nnar), to not only create more art for the basic Platformer art pack, but to actually create a huge “companion” art pack full of several beautiful sets of environment art (tiles, “sky-boxes”, and props) which will be the perfect compliment to the character animations art pack. How the deal worked: I agreed to offer artistic guidance and let her use/co-develop the basic platformer art pack to make her platformer game, and in return, she'll release all of her games environment art to be sold as this “companion” environment art pack. This works out great for everyone, I'd say..and we'll likely be doing the same for most of our art packs...'cause you can't just have characters and explosions with no backgrounds, right? ;) Here's the sneak peak at some of the effects, Platformer game animations, and environment art we've cooked up so far: One last note about the basic platformer art. If you aren't keen on MASSIVE heads, don't worry...the initial character art is designed with the biggest head someone might want..there will be character maps for several different head sizes, ranging from those giant melons, to almost normal size! Eventually there will be replacement “skins” to select from for all animation art packs to choose from a vast range of visual styles. Before I sign off for the day, please visit this new thread in our forums so you can partake in a conversation to help me perfect the list of animations needed for each of these art packs: http://www.brashmonkey.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=4 Stay tuned, folks, this is just the beginning. With your help, Spriter will revolutionize Indie game creation! Cheers, Mike@BrashMonkey

Hi everyone, Work has only just begun on what will be an enourmous art pack, filled with varying hero characters, npc characters, humanoid enemies, monsters, villiages, etc. All with char-maps and alternative art to change up their appearances. HUGE. It's far to early to make a remotely complete list of diferent animations that will end up in it, but I'll try and hit the basics anyway. Male hero 1: (based on Arthur from Nnar) idle in several states of fatigue walk run block with shield several loopable attacks with his sword block with sword dash attack with sword getting hit (several variations) simple speaking loop in several emotional states dieng jump fall special double jump uppercut attack with sword throw projectile There will also be several other humanoid hero characters with full sets of animations like the one mentioned above, but with very diferent physiques..such as a female warrior with throwing weapons, a monk with a staff, a large guy with axe or warhammer etc. A cast of villiagers of varient ages, all animated at idel, walking, and speaking in several emotional states...perhaps running in fear too Humanoid enemies with animation sets similar to the heroes. Hound like monsters with basic animations for combat. lots more..but we'd like to hear/see your suggestions too... Please let me know what you'd like to see in there as well. Ideally with links to video or image examples of the sort of thing you're talking about. cheers, Mike@BrashMonkey

Hi everyone, We're hard at work on a Spriter art pack which will be loaded all kinds of explosions, magic effects, energy projectiles, impact effects, pick-ups and grab effects etc. You can catch a sneak peek in the first part of this video: Please keep in mind, what you are seeing in the video are only key-frame animations..the final versions will look much smoother. Please post suggestions for effects or objects you'd like to see in this art-pack. Ideally, post links to videos or images of the type of thing you're speaking of for clear reference. thanks, Mike@BrashMonkey

Hi Everyone, We're hard at work on a basic platformer game animation art pack. You can catch a sneak peak toward the end of this video: Keep in mind, the animations you see are only key frame and are not yet tweened, so final animations will be much smoother. Also remember, any character in an art pack will have char-maps using alternate art..which will allow for a large variety of visual styles, and other artists can create alternate image packs that can work with these art packs, so the variety of possible visual styles is limitless.. Take the giant head-size you see on the characters in this video for example...there will be alternate art that can be swapped out for normal head-sizes as well. So, here's your chance to have influence on the types of things and animations end up in the art pack. For now we know for sure there will be: Player: idle walk run balance check at edge of platform hand from edge of platform pull up from edge of platform hard stomp attack block dash jump fall get hit (variation 1) get hit (variation 2) basic death (generic) throw projectile get bumped back duck crawl slide flip in the air slide down wall (for wall jumping) jump from wall basic (turtle-like) enemy: (several variations) idle walk get hit die respawn flying variation of basic (turtle-like enemy) fly respawn get hit die Big "humanoid-ish" boss (several variations) idle (looking angry) walk jump fall land breath fire (or shoot beams) get hit (variation 1) get hit (variation 2) die laugh tauntingly ape-like display of anger (chest beating) hopping basic enemy: idle (going to hop) hop fall get hit (variation 1) get hit (variation 2) die Please suggest the ones you'd like to see, and if possible like to vids of screenshots of examples of what you're talking about in existing games. cheers, Mike@Brashmonkey

Hi Everyone, We'll use this section to announce discuss, and showcase Animated Game Art Packs for Spriter. If you're an artist who plans on creating art packs for Spriter, feel free to post them here for feedback from the community as well. cheers, Mike@BrashMonkey

Hi Fabian Schempp, The silence is just because Edgar and I are so busy on the cross-platform version of Spriter and art packs and until the new file format is finalized real work on the full blown plug-ins can't really begin. We do have someone lined up to make the Construct2 plug-in, but he won't be able to start until that time, which should be fairly soon. Stay tuned for news from Edgar later today. cheers, Mike@BrashMonkey

Hi crazyheckman, I can't reproduce your bug.. to create a group I simply left click one sprite, then hold shift and start left clicking the others I want in the group one at a time, and to finish, while still holding shift, I right click on the Sprite (which I had already selected previously by left clicking). This creates the group, with the Sprite I just right clicked as the pivot point. Edgar is hard at work making a drastically improved Spriter build with the UI completely rebuilt and now running on PC, mac, and Linux. Its still going to be a while before this new build is ready to release though, so hopefully we can help you solve your issue before then. Any chance you could screen-record the bug in action so I can try and figure out the issue. thanks, Mike@Brashmonkey

I'll take care of that first thing in the morning. Thanks for the suggestion everyone. Mike@Brashmonkey

You can show off and discuss your game projects you'll be using Spriter for here.