Spriter runtime features demo

[lucid]

Hi everyone, Though still in beta, Spriter is about to reach an important milestone, in that an authoring tool is on the verge of being among the first to offer truly complete Spriter file support.

As mentioned in previous update posts, the developers of the great 2d game authoring system called Construct2 are working with us to add full, native and highly intuitive Spriter support directly to their software. Needless to say, the direct involvement of the developers themselves ensures not only quick and thorough implementation, but also allows seamless and optimized integration.

Here is a new video showcasing some of the newest features supported by the Spriter (scml) plug-in for Construct2 :

You can actually play with the demo featured in the video here (Chrome or Firefox are highly recommend )

Here's a summary of some of the great new features about to be available for users of Spriter and Construct2:

1) Collision Rectangles: As many as you'd like, per key-frame...they can be scaled, rotated, assigned to bones, and will tween just like images. A fantastic way to control gameplay related data in an incredibly visual and intuitive way. Controlling collisions through named boxes, instead of per sprite is essential for games where complex characters made out of many parts require only a few large hit boxes per ship or character, like a fighting game, or a boss in a shmup.

2) Image Points: These are great for designating exact locations to either spawn bullets etc from or to anchor other sprites to the Spriter animation in the game engine. As many as you'd like can be placed per key-frame and also allow you to set an angle...perfect for telling your game engine not only where to shoot stuff from, but at what angle.

3) Sound Triggering: At any point in an animation you can trigger one or more sound effects, and set its initial volume.

4) Character Maps: This is the long awaited feature which makes visual character variation based on newly acquired armor, outfits, weapons, powers etc a breeze. Fast, Easy, and super flexible. Imagine creating a brawling game like Final Fight or Streets of Rage where every enemy that is generated is assigned multiple randomly selected Character Maps, controlling pants, shirt, hair type, tattoos etc, so that every last enemy in the game looks unique, or giving that same variety of possibility to the player to customize their character.

5) Animation Blending: Auto blend/tween one animation to the next while switching animations, and define the duration of the blend. In addition to automatically blending between animations, you will also be able to set two current animations and set the blend level at any given moment. For example, imagine creating several idle animations...one very healthy and rested, and another for an extremely tired and winded or damaged state, Now during game time, you could average the two together to any degree based on the level of damage or fatigue the character currently has. The possibilities are endless...and silky smooth.

We are in the final internal testing stage of this complete Spriter plug-in for Construct 2. Stay tuned for another update in the near future to announce its imminent release to the public.

It's our sincere hope and expectation that this fully featured Spriter plug-in will serve not only as a great example, but also as inspiration to other authoring system developers and communities to join with us in making sure Spriter is just as well supported in their own software.

After the (long overdue...thanks everyone for your continued patience and support) next build of Spriter is released, I'll take the time to finish the documentation explaining the complete Spriter data format, and once Spriter 1.0 is initially released, I'll switch focus on working with the developers and community members of all popular game authoring systems to help make sure Spriter is as well supported as possible.

And on a related note, for anyone who missed this recent post on our Facebook page, there is a great looking game being worked on, (successfully funded but still on-going Kickstarter campaign) which is being build with Construct 2 and will be moving from traditional frame by frame sprites to Spriter animation to improve all of its in-game animations, reduce its file-size, improve performance, and drastically improve the smoothness of the movements.

If you like what you see, please consider supporting their Kickstarter, and their Steam Greenlight campaigns

Thanks again everyone...expect a quick update on the status of the next Spriter build in the next few days.

Cheers,

Edgar at BrashMonkey