HALF KAISER BATTLER PROJECT
03-25-2020, 04:36 AM
(This post was last modified: 10-14-2022, 07:26 PM by DerVVulfman.)
DEVELOPMENT LOGS
The logs contain breakdowns of posts made discussing artwork and tool development:
LOG 2020/09/29 to 2021/01/08
2020/09/29
KAISER RE-KINDLING
Completely retooled, the Half Kaiser Battler Project now contains fully shaded body templates. For both genders, there are eight different styles based on the hero's combat styles: Axe/Mace, Sword, Gunslinger and more.
Each template's frames are now larger to provide better animations or more space for larger weapons.
All of the templates have exactly matching palettes. Granted, there is only one skin tone right now, but future skin variations should be possible at later dates.
The original sideview templates had a blue-colored area on the battler's head, presumably to depict the battler's hairline. The revised battlers no longer have this area. However, the blue 'cap' is now available as a separate headware template resource.
Weapon templates are still available in a work-in-progress state, covering only the attack and skill attack poses. Currently, only a dagger, some bows, a pistol and a rudimentary spear WIP are present. These are not finished products in the least. But that's why they're called WIP, right?
REMEMBER! ANYONE CAN CONTRIBUTE!
2020/09/29
REQUIRED UPDATE
There were technical issues with the alignment of poses within all of the female templates. In each, the Hurt(#2), Woozy(#3), Defending(#4) and Item Use(#8) frames needed to be shifted a single pixel to the left. This simple repair ensured that the all the poses for the female templates were in alignment with the male templates.
Likewise, I had to readjust the blue cap resources to match.
Meanwhile, I just added new 'eye' resources, green ones for the Female characters and Aqua ones for the Male characters both Aqua and Green color schemes for both gender templates. And of these, there are two simple styles. Nearly identical, the 2nd style has a white pixel in place to simulate a reflected glint of light. And insofar as the actual colors, the color scheme used for these eyes are the same used by the old Half Kaiser Construction Project. There are still Blue, Brown, Indigo, Purple and Red to deal with. (Indigo looks more purple than purple...).
The shouts were heard
To TsunamiJurai: No zip files per-say. If changes are needed, the individually changed resource will be updated.
To themabus: There are differences between the Spear and Kung Fu ladies's caps. The kung fu character 'glides' to her target, so the cap actually stays in the same place in each frame. And there is a minor shift here/there during the idle pose. And obviously, there'd be changes in attack animations.
It may look odd, being made with RPGMaker XP, but that Tool in the 1st post really does work when testing alignment.
REMEMBER! ANYONE CAN CONTRIBUTE!
2020/10/07
To further the Half Kaiser Project, I began working upon a new editor of sorts:
(Screenshot removed)
The tool is in the beginning stages, but allows me to load a resource, choose what poses I want and in what order I want, and then save a final product. If I want the default block pose to be the Victory pose, I can do that... and below I did (talk to the hand).
THIS is really preliminary. Technically, it could work with OTHER template styles. But of course, I am designing it to work with this project.
The primary window allows you to move the cursor over any selection without difficulty, and double-click an item to bring up another window. This other window allows you to change the name of a slot for your personal preferences, choose what actual pose the slot would have (ie attack, item, idle), allow the addition of new slots or removal of slots. As such, a final product can be expanded or shrunk to your liking and design an output in whatever order you like.
This tool primarily mouse driven. And I have new scroll-bar using windows. If you have the mouse hovering over an item in a window, it will surely highlight the item. But accidental up/down scrolling will not occur within these windows. This has been a continual headache. Comically, a simple 'IN SCOPE' option I wrote kinda did the trick.
And yes, the actual render window has a scroll bar, so you can actually scroll up/down the entire spritesheet.
And yup, I have SAVED a WIP spritesheet made with this.
As yet, I do not have an option to save or load a work file which has stored values. But that should be no problem as I have very little to save right now and I can simply use the marshall load and save options built into RGSS. But I would want a better interface than what I've made before.
2020/10/10
Holder Wrote:Oh nice, that's looking brilliant. The old one was very compact.
So this shows the entire sheet now instead of animating one row?
When the system starts, you begin with 11 empty and undefined 'slots'... Which will be alterable in the INI later on.
The 'Organization' system lets you set your layout for your spritesheet, like setting the 1st slot to the READY pose, or setting it to the 'Charging/Running' pose. As long as you have a 'primary body' chosen, you will see a zoomed/animated version of that pose when setting them.
It's kinda awkward... until you choose a BODY first, you won't see the pose you're assigning to a slot. And until you set at least one slot, you won't see the body you're selecting in the spritesheet. I am planning 'defaults', but base mechanics do need to be worked out first.
Otherwise... Yep. You can use the vertical scrollbar system to go through all 11 (or more) slots you set.
The STYLE.INI.
The Half Kaiser resources will be in a half kaiser folder... with a Style.ini included, this Style.ini file sets the dimensions of the style, and the names of the Half Kaiser poses. Hehehe.... For a Holder template, it could be set to the size of Holder graphics and have a list of all Holder poses.
2020/10/13
The development continues...
(Screenshot removed)
As you can see, there is more to the tool this time. You have one area to handle your project and spritesheet output, a second section which allows you to set up the style of your spritesheet and choose the graphics, and a couple new windows that display the Style Template and primary body graphic in a couple of inset windows (currently Half Kaiser and Female_DerVV respectively).
You may notice that the Enter Slot Name is now a floating window. Yeah, looks better that way. Well, the Save Project entry is much the same.
The Style button lets you choose between different styles, though right now I am focusing on Half Kaisers (obviously). The Organize button lets you set up WHICH pose you want for slot 1, slot 2, etc... up to 11. And again, the Layers button brings up the individual layers like eyes, hair, armor, earrings, pumps, nose-rings.
The right-most area with arrow buttons is your animation control when you see a frame zoomed (like above). It handles how fast or slow it animates, or handles your personal choice of examining an individual frame for that pose. The top indicator shows the current frame whilst the bottom how fast/slow it is animating.
You may notice the 'ZOOM' button area. When assigning a pose to one of your slots (setting up your own spritesheet layout), zoom is on by default. But when you are choosing your layers... the hair or eyes, you might want a more close-up and personal shot. This ZOOM button and accompanying buttons handles that. Right now, it lets me go from one slot to another so it's not stuck showing just the IDLE slot zoomed. But I do intend to have an editable and controllable zoom factor.
Of course, I ran into some issues during development....
The input system I've been using was designed some time ago. Surprisingly, I didn't expect that the coder of the system forgot that a project using it MIGHT NOT HAVE RPGMAKER XP!!!! Yeah, he coded it to recognize Windows Registry values put in place by EnterBrain(less) and read customized keys you set if you hit the F1 button to change key layouts. But ... meh. I have a bypass in it now. If you don't have RMXP, it loads hard-coded basic keys. Glad I know this stuff....
I have an .Ini file read/write script. Well, I had a few. One that was cobbled together did okay, but it unfortunately didn't work all the time. THIS sucked when handling the 'height' of frames used when scrolling up/down a spritesheet. If it said there were NO height, it would cause a crash with a 'divide-by-zero' error in the scrolling window code. So, I had to make a new one based on what I know. Dang if it isn't shorter!
So what's next?
Well, I have to tie in the Zoom-size feature. I touched on that above, but setting up the system to control how much you zoom hasn't been set.
Personal Preferences. Nope, not yet set. How many slots/poses you prefer in a spritesheet and its lineup hasn't been set. Your preferred zoom size or animation speed... nope. So far, the only thing I have set up is a preferred style and main body segment. But nothing that updates the preferences for a later load.
Color. Hue adjustment is something intended. Keep the body untouched, but hue that golden hair to a darker red. Increase the hue of that golden blade and make it silver. It's not like I haven't done that before.
Saving. When you save an image, it brings up 'Done" on the screen. But it uses a default RGSS "popup" you get with the 'p' (or print) command. I want it to match the rest of the system.
2020/10/15
Okay, I just crossed TWO of those items off my list.
Zoom control now works when you are actively working with the system that lets you apply the individual layers to the spritesheet, these being the body, hair, armor, toothpick or whatever. Zoom goes as small as 1.5x normal (as 1x normal IS normal) and as big as 5x normal. Increments of 0.5 at a time. And zoom does affect the windows where you choose your individual poses for the pose/slot lineup, and if you hit the ZOOM button. Can I hear a "HELL YEAH!" ?
Both Depth and Hue adjustment function fine, and are keyed to the individual PART that you are handling at the time. If I wanted to adjust the hue of the body/skin, it doesn't affect the hue of the eyes or hair.
But also added is an OPACITY setting. This feature is connected to the above mentioned Depth and Hue features. You can set the opacity of individual layers like body, hair, armor... If that sword is made of glass.... It should be translucent!
But yeah, more work is needed. Not MUCH more, but it's almost there.
OH, and I just crafted (but not yet released) some poses: magic throwing (or whip?), two victory poses, a Kendo-Sword ready pose, and a couple more.
No one noticed in the above pic that slot #4 was assigned... "16) Attack - Bow" ? SIXTEEN?
2020/10/16
Crossed off some more stuff....!
The Zoom feature displayed here, is set to 3.5x zoom, and set to show the 2nd slot in my template.
Opacity, Depth and Hue is now toggled by a set of buttons on the left, this changing the increase/decrease buttons displayed under the body layer window (currently showing Body Template). And you're not seeing things, the hue is set to a rating of 250 of 255, making this character a bit ... purplish.
Under the Depth/Hue/Opacity buttons is a Global Opacity button. While each individual layer can have individual opacities, a full Global opacity setting can make an entire spritesheet set opaque or transparent, perfect for ghosts. This, in difference to having a character's glass armor be translucent while his actual body is solid. However, Global Opacity has not been set up. But it shouldn't take much effort to adjust the FINAL bitmap prior to saving
I may need to have a background image (solid palette or background image) to show better detail or translucency comparisons...
The load button shown here is darkened. Yes, I have worked out button controls so buttons and features are actually enabled or disabled under specific conditions. The Save File and Create Image buttons, for example, are disabled if no actual content has been made.
Newly added is a 'Save Prefs' button which saves preferred settings. This would be your slots, typically 1-11 and their names, and preferred overlapping layered depths. Said content is saved in the actual Game.ini file. Hehe... no problem using it. Might as well make it useful for something, right?
Essentially, it is nearly done. And it should work with virtually any graphic set that can be layered.
2020/10/18
Okay, the severely upgraded battler development tool is nearly finished. And as a tool, it will be posted separately from this thread. However, there will be a link within this thread to the tool itself. It kinda makes sense because this tool can work with more than just Half Kaisers. I've used it on SINGLE-SHEET RPGMaker 2003 format battlers, Holder 13-pose battlers and ... *gasp* Static RPGMaker battler (of the same size).
Note, I will be deleting and/or compressing a number of posts made regarding this tool's development. This is to be done as the dialog isn't specific to just Half Kaiser battlers.
PREFERENCES! Yep, I have them saved. User preferences are not saved in some random 'Config.txt' file, but the project's own INI file.... currently the Game.Ini file. If I named the Game.Exe to be "BattlerTool.exe", understand that the ini file would need to be "BattlerTool.ini" to match I kinda covered that in the Tips and Tricks thread.
Global Opacity! Well, you can set an individual layer (body, Hair, Boots) to have their own individual transparency settings, and/or set a global transparency for the whole spritesheet you're making. It woks just fine.
Enabled/Disabled buttons! Yeah, you will definitely see buttons that don't do anything now. If you don't have a STYLE of battler chosen, nothing works. If you don't have any graphics loaded and no pre-set layout for your battler, you can't Save anything as there's nothing to save. And if you aren't in the Layer choosing mode, you have no zoom! The buttons are darkened until they are available!
I had a little issue with the Pose selection system, a feature where you can decide if the 1st slot/row in your spritesheet is an idle pose or attack pose. I couldn't back out or hit ESC. Oops. That would suck if you already had a slot set and found you now had to re-choose... Not that I didn't have an indicator in the panel.
As to the Game.Ini, here's a little taste!
(Removed from DevLog)
The [Game] portion is the same as any other within a RPGMaker Game.ini. Nothing to see here, other than me erasing the value of RTP1. It won't be needed as all required resources will be packed into the .rgsaad file, even the audio thanks to Alysha's Cached Audio.
So everything else below is NEW to the .ini. I bet not many thought about adding new content to it.
The [Dialog] portion of the INI holds the actual text of the tool. This means that you, the end-user, can change the dialog to your tastes. It also means that .Ini files for non-English users may be made available, whether in Spanish, German, Italian or so forth. I'm not a linguist, but I do try to a degree. And this option shows I like to plan ahead.
This feature is yet to be implemented... one of the last features to tie in.
The [Layers] portion defines MUCH. It defines how many different types of resources you may have, bodies, eyes, faces, hair, armor pieces, shoes... and it defines the actual FOLDER for that particular resource, and a more relaxing bit of text for that resource for use in the editor itself IE: Layer1 has some text called 'Body Template' that will appear in the editor, and defines the Body folder as the folder that holds all male/female body graphics... this assumed within the Half Kaiser folder itself ( Half Kaiser/Body ).
What each Layer entry also has is the DEPTH/Hierarchy setting. Body is set to 1, Faces to 2, and so forth. This can be altered in the editor and saved using the Saved Prefs button.
In fact, everything mentioned below can also be saved to the .ini file with the Saved-Prefs button too.
The [Start] portion merely holds the preferred resource folder and preferred body template. Here, it is set to use a folder of Half Kaiser resources, and a generic Female body resource that I'm STILL working on. I could have this completely empty on distribution so the end-user (ie you) needs to choose the Folder and body when you start the engine, or leave it as a default.
Well, I'm not done with the body templates anyway.
The [Slots] portion defines the layout of YOUR spritesheet. The value marked 'number' is set to 11, so it is assuming that it is defining an 11-pose minkoff-styled spritesheet. And the entries from Slot1 to Slot11 are defining each. It is setting the name of the slots for your convenience, and the POSE from the resources you'll be using.
This too I can leave blank, so you will need to define this yourself.
Currently, I plan 32 different HALF KAISER poses. And of these, I only have 6 left? These are a couple 'magic/skill' poses, a ready/stance for heavy weapons (axe or hammer) and a couple defending poses to match.
But I have no problem if anyone offered to provide additional stances... I even have a Kendo-Sword style (or two-handed sword) ready pose!
2020/10/24
Holder Wrote:One issue I ran into when trying to set up individual graphics for each pose was for when a layer had to be sometimes above the main base then other frames it had to be below.
A couple of examples off the top of my head would be cape and weapon. I had to have two layers for a cape, sometimes it would have to be behind all other layers, but then say for an attack or turning it would be above all layers. When people have done a visual equipment script for my weapons I do two images per weapon. The complete image for behind the character and selected parts which would 100% be in front of anything else so no matter the character or equipment that holds the weapon it would still show and not clip behind.
I can see this sort of problem happening with say long hair, I don't know but would an above/behind folder help with per layer folder? Like Hair_Font Hair_Back, Cape_Front Cape_Back.
The Game.Ini (now LayeredBattler.Ini) is currently set to a handful of folder directories.... and their individual layer depths. It could be expanded for a couple items. Other than that, the depth can be altered to suit each spriteset you are designing.
Make that the LayeredBattler.ini. That's the planned exe and ini name. But before, I need to deal a bit more work on poses for the initial setup.
2020/10/27
I am currently re-crafting the body templates for the project. There have been some requests for alternate poses, one pose being a wand-usage pose as one may see in Harry Potter. This has been taking quite a bit of time as both male and female body templates must match.
The actual accumulation of poses is near complete. After that, they need to be compiled and given a very specific color palette so everything matches. Time consuming it is. But it will be well worth it. I mean, I still have some 'reactions' to deal with... eyes squinting n such... But it is coming along.
Hrm... no one has sent or posted any resources to match yet.
2020/10/31
Holder Wrote:That's one of the reasons why I moved onto having a base for each weapon type and then male and female.
It's taking some time to get each one done, but I'm trying to focus on at least one job type first then the opposite gender. Doubling up on weapon usage for some classes, like squires and knights can also wield axes for example.
![[Image: de4uoue-3270a277-c022-4b80-aee4-7ceadde8...eLqRHn-oec]](https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/a899382c-c199-4c55-8225-6d9efc1ff1fc/de4uoue-3270a277-c022-4b80-aee4-7ceadde8fc36.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3sicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvYTg5OTM4MmMtYzE5OS00YzU1LTgyMjUtNmQ5ZWZjMWZmMWZjXC9kZTR1b3VlLTMyNzBhMjc3LWMwMjItNGI4MC1hZWU0LTdjZWFkZGU4ZmMzNi5wbmcifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6ZmlsZS5kb3dubG9hZCJdfQ.PmD51uCzO3bKjRV9ADpxBC5nbjLtCMmibeLqRHn-oec)
For the HK Project, the actual development tool's resource spritesheet has all the 'JOBS' poses as you call them in one. So a resource file for bodies has more than one IDLE pose, and various 'ATTACK' poses in the single sheet as well.
2020/12/16
Minor news update.
I discovered that more work is necessary in relation to the female battler templates. To be more specific, the position/location of the female template hands need to be re-adjusted. This is needed so both male and female battlers may hold the same weapon sprites without requiring two sets, one for each gender.
Trust me. It is annoying. I am not a spriter... or at least, not an expert. Erm... Journeyman? Apprentice? At least I'm not a novice at this.
On the other hand, this re-adjustment is occurring the same time as I work upon the Dagger WIP template, a simple 2-color knife that both male and female templates may use. A fair number of poses have it working within reason, animation-wise. And if it wasn't for the work on the Dagger, I would not have realized work was necessary for the hand placement.
Oh, thankfully, the heads and feet should be no issue at all.
2020/12/21
Finished now is the Dagger WIP Template. It is a prototype spriteset, meant to be an example used by spriters to make their own custom blades, and not a final product. How bad is it? Well, the blade and the pommel is a dull pale blue, the guard is straight-up orange, adn the handle is a kinda ugly dull green. Like I said, not meant for a final product.
Yep, that means the placement of the dagger works with both male and female templates. In the words of Tony Stark..."Yippee!"
Now I'm working on another weapon template, the Gun WIP Template. And wow... the original black-powder pistol graphic I am using has only TWO colors. Black and Brown. Well, not including when the gun goes off. Hopefully, the Pistol WIP template comes out okay.
It does take time though. The original Minkoff templates this was based on only had the 'weapons' visible in the attack poses, and no others. This endeavor is to make the weapons visible in all of the available action poses... .and that's a lot of poses.... a lot of individual frames.
Especially when you're not a spriter.
2020/12/23
I am not a spriter.... I am a coder....
THANK GAWD!
Working on the GUN Template, the battler extends the gun a few pixels too far! As a result, the gun barrel clips into another animation cell. Immediate width expansion of the individual cels is in need!
Thank gawd I am a coder, because I have a spriteset manipulation script I can tweak. It is the converter script I posted ... like... half a year ago? A year ago? Well, I made some changes to it... Fixed how it sorts animation frames/cels for re-constitution, placed the configuration in the Game.Ini instead of in the script. Fun stuff.
Oh, and I do need to add a couple more 'action' poses.... blarg.
Well, the spriteset manipulator is primed, and I can begin the arduous job of dissection, inclusion, and re-constitution, all the while resizing every frame accordingly. Oh, the joy. You can hear the sarcasm there, right?
On the plus side, the gun template seems to be pretty much lined up with both male and female templates! Woot!
Holder Wrote:Is the gun itself within the sheet? You could leave room for variation by just having the hand itself and a visual equipment to overlay the weapon itself.
Well, I use a basic male/female template with a character on it and Draw/Paste the gun (or whatever weapon) in place. Then I erase the male/female template leaving the weapon behind. Just gotta make sure that I don't share 'exact' colors used for both. Otherwise, it's a **** to erase. However, I cannot have a hand in place if the end-user is using a body with different colored skin.
I had more to work on than I remembered... the goofball bluecaps for male and female templates, 6 different bodies (3 male and 3 female of different shades), roughly 20 eye sets, and the pre-cursor weapons (long bow, short bow, staff) before I do full application work. All of these needed a bit more resizing, so they all match.
Yeah, had a busy day re-sizing all the templates today. But it helps that I did script that spriteset manipulator. However, I had to re-convert each one back to a Palette format to save space. The spriteset manipulator saves everything back to RGB mode, and something as simple as a cheap dagger only needs 4 colors.
I'm not done with the Gun WIP Template, but I no longer have parts of the barre; cut off to show up in other frames.
2020/12/26
Holder Wrote:Well without placing a hand into the weapon graphic what I've done with visual equipment is have two weapon layers, the background one behind the player is in full. Then a second weapon graphic which only has parts which is 100% definitely to show no matter what the character graphic is.
So for the gun part of the handle would show. Also if the weapon is down by their side that would also show.
Hope this helps and I share your pain in getting things like this to work.
This tool is basically intended to be merely a generator. It is expected that the end user would have some need to do a little touch-up when needed. This especially given the differences in certain body parts. The female template has smaller hands and feet. She doesn't have "Man Hands" as it were. So weapon overlays may not EXACTLY match, though I am striving for them to be damn close. And I do have three different skin colorings, so applying hands into the weapons would cause issues... a caucasian base hand overlaid on a dark-skinned body.
Now if you were using this to make individual graphics for a game's initial Paperdoll system (the original name), a good system would allow custom guns/armor per individual... like how FRED and GINGER can use the same sword, but the graphic may be subtly changed depending on the user and his/her hands.
The GUN is coming along fine. Amazingly enough, quite a bit is aligned. However, serious tweaking and matching up between both gender templates will be needed. Cest la Vie. And I found need to widen the individual cells once again as the default gun template includes a series of bullets that extend a bit and crossed some cell-width boundaries. Thankfully, the new Spriteset Generator tool I had just posted can handle this issue with serious ease... Though it continually re-saves in RGB format and not the palette format I want them to be... gotta re-save back into 16palette (or smaller) each time.
2020/12/31
Yay! The basic GUN template has been done. But not only that, but the Shortbow and Longbow have been finished. Well, as finished as they are as these are prototype templates not intended as end-result graphics. I mean, who heard of a stark-orange bow with a steel gray string with a bright green arrow. Yeah, really meant for an artist to have fun altering/replacing.
Assuming the 'character' in the template is 5'9" or so, the longbow in the longbow template is roughly 5' tall. A decent size for a longbow and does kinda match other references. The shortbow is obviously not as tall, a mere 3 3/4" or so in length.
I could work on 'compound bows' with their EVIL PULLY SYSTEM.... I think that's cheating. And I could make a recurve bow... a nice progression from the short bow... but I gotta deal with another TYPE of weapon, right?
But for now, the templates for Dagger, Gun, Longbow and Shortbow are done.
2021/01/01
I said I was gonna make another type of weapon template... and I just did.
I made a pointy stick.
Actually, it's a rudimentary spear. But then again, isn't a spear a very long pointy stick? Granted, there's a little debate whether the Spear is the 'King' of weapons' or if it's nothing more than a pointed stick. No, really, there's a debate.
It took less time than my other templates. I mean it's nothing more than a STICK with a steel arrowhead tip. But I came up with a sorta copy/paste method, making a sheet of the weapon in various 15° angles facing both ways. Copy/paste and then superimpose and clean afterwards. Still, the spear is a lazy prototype 'template' that would need actual rework or touchup. I mean, it's nothing more than stock orange and a steel blue point with no shading or anything. Two colors alone.
My next endeavor is to be some weapon that utilizes brute force... a mace, warhammer or battleaxe. Fun stuff. But it'll be a few days. I need to relax from sprite sprinting...
2021/01/04
Pointy sticks were not enough
There is one more item added to the collection of prototype weapon templates, the double-bladed battleaxe. It is less of a prototype, having a little more color added to the item, but there is still no artistic shading. It is all flat colors unlike the actual body styles.
It actually looks wicked.
But the collection of templates cannot live by body and weapons alone. Eyes are included, true that. However, apparel needs to be made. To that end, I have begun working on footwear. It seems to take a bit more time... unfortunately.
2021/01/06
Okay, I got kinda done with a pair of boots... sorta. Based on the female template, these basic boots are merely the female feet with some of the legs, and later touched up and darkened. Though simplistic, they don't look bad in a Sherwood Forest sorta way.
The next step is to use the top edge of the boots to begin work on male boots. Getting the top edge is the fun part after-all. The rest is slice n dice and erasing the areas not needed. Um.. the boring part.
Oh, I had more work to do on the tool... And I had a little fun with it.
In the center block, the left side lets you zoom the spriteset to view an 'individual pose', and the screen shows it set at 3 times scale. Below the actual "Zoom" button (you can press), you have a '1' and 'Slot #1' entry.
Here, you can determine which pose (and the name of the pose) when using the [<] and [>] buttons if you go from pose to pose when zoomed. The 'name' of the pose was only recently added to the editor, this assuming you wish to name your chosen poses
In the center, you see the entry saying 'Body Template' and a '1' entry just beneath. This area lets you set the z-depth (or individual layers) system. The body is set to layer 1, so all graphics are drawn on top. The second layer is Face and set to 2, hair is 3rd... and so on.
You would think that these are fixed, but they can actually be adjusted. While you can select an individual layer with the [<] and [>] buttons on the sides of the layer's name, the the [-] and [+] buttons below the name lets you increase or decrease the depth of a layer. For example, increasing the depth of the Body Template by 1, it would become the new 2nd layer while the Face layer would be pushed down to 1. No two layers can have the same depth otherwise one replaces the other.
The Save Prefs button can save these changes. They get stored in the .ini file. OR you can just edit the Ini file in notepad if you want.
I figure Holder would like this because he could increase the depth of the body and related parts so a secondary cloak or weapon layer can appear behind the body. I've always had this, but I needed a bit of work on the layer shifting feature that was a bit buggy.
2021/01/08
Okay, men's boots are DONE! So I have the very basics of weapons and footwear, eyes and male/female body styles in three shades (dark, medium and pale). To celebrate, I made a tiny little animated gif... (in the main page).
I'm kinda proud of the battleaxe, and if you see a character with 'bluish' whites, that's the Fremen eye set (as in DUNE). The really weird eyes that are yellow with red are vampire eyes. Yeah, they need work. But hey, enjoy!
LOG 2021/01/13 to 2022/08/26
EXTREME OVERHAUL BUMP
The majority of the first page has gone through a serious change. Insofar as cosmetics, the initial first post appears the same, but now includes an animated gif 3x scaled in size to show half kaiser battlers in action. But in addition to this, the heading for Standard Conventions now relays that the individual frames within a battler spritesheet has been increased in size, and suggests to anyone interested to examine the templates to see how large the works are.
The second post merely provides links to tools that I used for the development of the graphics within. However, the Layered Battler tool described is one that permits end-users to use these graphics to make their own custom battler, mixing and adjusting as they see fit.
The third post contains a development log of sorts, containing text from posts made from late September 2020 up to early January 2021. With this log now present, I was able to delete two pages worth of posts no longer needed. Some screenshots may have been deleted, but such images were no longer necessary.
And finally, a number of new 'Reserved' posts were added to hold just below in order to hold any upcoming resources, be they armor, shields, shirts, pants, or the like. These could be for resources which I crafted, or works that YOU created.
Yes, you! I'm looking at you. You spriter you. You can contribute, remember?
YOU ARE FREE TO CONTIBUTE!!!!
2021/01/19
Resources and Design Bump
Hear ye! Hear ye! In the first page of the thread, not far from the list of Tools that were designed for, and used to make, the Half Kaiser resources, I now have a post with two lists: A list of folders and resource types for the project, and a list of the 40+ poses possible for any submitted resource.
Okay, guys. Not ever resource supplied must have every pose filled. I mean, if you're making a Japanese Kimono for a Samurai warrior, I'm pretty sure the Samurai won't be using a rifle... Some poses subject to ... um.. what you wanna make.
As towards resources, new ones are available.
New BODY templates are available for both genders and the three current skin tones. The difference is that there are no eyes nor ears appear within. As towards why, this is for the ability to create non-standard eye and/or ear resources. This in the event someone designs cyclops eyes or cat ears. Hell, even Mimbari ears (Babylon 5) are placed oddly.
And speaking of ears, there are three new sets of separate EAR graphics.. for both male and female characters AND of the three current skin tones. These ears are standard-human ears, elf ears (akin to anime elves like Deedlit*), and more sharply pointed Vulcan (or Tolkein elf) ears. There are no cat ears designed, but any cat ears made would be placed higher on the head.
*Deedlit: Character from Record of Lodoss Wars. (Img gone)
2021/01/21
GOTTA FACE UP TO THIS!!!
Yep, we gotta face up to this. All of the Half Kaiser battlers have the same facial contours. Fortunately, plans were in the works for this resource project and the Layered Battler Tool, to allow for a face resource.
SO WE NOW HAVE A NEW FACE RESOURCE!!!
Qapla'! tlhIngan maH! (Translation: Success! We have a Klingon face!)
Yes, if it looks a bit... Star Trek™ based, we now have 'Klingon' forehead ridges!! Included with this face, a slight subtleness was added to the brow where the eyes belong, and some very prominent indentation on either side of the head was added too.
As a face resource, it has no ears nor eyes as YOU fill those in with the available optional resources. But the resources are building.
Don't forget, you can supply and submit resources of your own.
2021/01/27
NO MORE KOJAK
Are you tired of having bald-headed battlers. If so, you now have access to a small selection of hair styles.
As of posting, there are merely five different female styles now available. They are based on a particular style from the HKCP (Half-Kaiser Construction Project) that used to be hosted at HBGames. Though the resource links at HBGames and Pixelcocktail hosted by HugeDomains.Com are now dead...
WARNING: While one may wish to acquire the original HKCP resources, be warned that Trojan viruses were encountered and blocked attempts at retrieval with the Wayback Machine (web.archive.org).
While the original versions had multiple custom recolors, only one colored version of each is present. Tone adjustment can help, but I do intend to make the multiple color variations which the original artists made available. Still, all five female hair styles from the HKCP have been represented. Original female hair artwork was produced by Venetia, KazeN, Akaire and Deebs, and it is 'required' to give due credit for their use.
These hair styles did require some extra editing to match the Half Kaiser animatics. The battler heads are wider, and the ear placement is roughly 3 pixels lower than the Half Kaiser charactersets by Showkaiser. So it does take some time to properly adjust each one.
However, more will be coming soon! I hope.
But hey, remember! YOU CAN MAKE SOME TOO!!!
EDIT: I added additional content above related to artists, all five female HKCP hair stiles available, and requirement for their specific use.
2021/02/02
BUH-BYE BAD HAIR DAYS
Not long ago, I posted that we have a small selection of hair based on styles from the HKCP (Half-Kaiser Construction Project). Well, that small selection has grown.
What was four or five hair styles has become a selection of 80. There are multiple color variations of five female hair styles and a large number of colored versions for men. And all of the recolors are based on the same recolors of the HKCP, this to be respectful towards the original works.
Along with that, I just created some... SHIELDS!
Yes, there are now two round wooden shields created by yours truly. :Happy And I think they came out just fine, even if I do say so myself. One of the wooden shields uses a bronze trim while the other a steel trim. I don't have any other shields as yet, though it didn't take THAT long to sprite.
Oh, and the main page's animated gif now sports some of the new resources, including the hair, ears and a shield.
Hey, remember! YOU CAN MAKE SOME TOO!!!
2021/02/07
Cover up those Bad Hair Days
PROTECT YOUR NOGGIN!!!
This week, three distinct medieval helms are now available within the Headwear Section of the thread. Along with the base Bluecap that was part of the original Half Kaiser resources, you now have actual helmets for your heroes or heroines to wear!
There is a classic, but basic, Knight's Templar Great Helm that covers the whole head. This being different in design and appearance of others that may sport accents on the face resembling a gold cross, or a Crusader helm that may have a conical section above the eyes.
There is a medieval nasal helm. Not far from what would be called a salad helm (shaped like a bowl), but with a fixed nose guard across the face.
And there is a basic viking helm. Though one would expect horns on the side, that would actually be a Norman Viking helmet. This classic helm is also based on a Salad helm style, but with a fixed protective mask to guard the wearer's eyes.*
* A variation of the Viking Helm was seen in Conan the Barbarian when guards arrested Conan and Valeria before being taken to King Osric. Though their protective masks were hinged.
The three styles were made with a basic grey metal color scheme, eye slits given a 50% darkness shade so eyes behind appear darker. And it wasn't too difficult as there are only four head positions used by the battler: Standard, struck-like, weakened, face-down-dead. So if anyone else wished to make helms, I would say "Go for it!"
HAPPY SPRITING!
2021/02/10
(From Holder)
You're becoming quite the spriter :) You'll be taking up colour theory next!
2021/02/10
The main helmets produced are steel workmanship. Granted, I opted for a grayscale-based palette as some helms like the Knights Templar cylindar helms were never anything but steel... with the exception of Crusader helms that have gold crosses across the face.
I can see recolors for the others, making them darker for a more worn effect, or perhaps a slightly dull orange spectrum for brassworked Barbute helms. A Barbute helm is a kind of classic style. You can see some semblance to it used by the Greeks in the movie TROY, or a more sci-fi conical style used by.... The Mandalorian. Laughing Granted, the face is covered by a solid black visor in that case.
And you can sprite stuff here too. Winking
2021/02/10
PROTECT YOURSELF! LEARN THE RIDDLE OF STEEL!
Okay, I'm crafting this post while listening to the Conan the Barbarian Soundtrack (Basil Poledouris). Big fan. Still, I am here to relay that two more pieces of protective gear have been created.
The Barbute helmet that I just mentioned the other day (above) is now within the Headwear post within this thread. An italian design of the 15th century, it has no actual visor. But it has a distinctive T or Y shaped opening for the eyes and mouth. Betcha didn't expect a history lesson, did ya?
Of the Barbute, there are some helms that have appeared even before the 15th century such as ghe Greek Corintian helms seen in the movies Troy or 300 are recalled. And while initially visorless, it is not too uncommon that someone hadn't fixed a protective guard at some point, even if but to protect the wearer's mouth. Oh, and then there's Boba Fett's helmet if you want a sci-fi spin.
The Tower shield is my newest shield which may be found within the Shields post. A tower shield is a large shield, sometimes referred to as a great shield, seen mainly of steel construction as this one is. However, there have been tower shields made of wood, fastened together and reinforced by steel, iron or bronze.
The design presented here is a basic steel tower shield with no accents or decoration other than the workmanship around the shield's edges. However, it would be quite common to see more workmanship such as extra steel forming pattern across the face, or a painted standard representing the bearer's allegiance to some lord, or the owner's own heraldry.
Painter Again, I do wish to point out that helmets are not so difficult to design as long as they bear no plumes or hackles to animate. Plumes, the feathered decoration on helmets, were meant to intimidate the enemy while giving the wearer a taller appearance. A trick-of-the-eyes as it were.
If a helmet requires no custom animation between frames, then it's actually quite easy. Having made four spritesheet resources for helmets, I can easily relay that you only need four individual frames used over and over throughout. A main sideview frame that is used over and over, a helmet angled to show the actor was struck, a helmet that appears to be facing the game player more, and one that actively doesn't show the face of the user as the actor is lying face-down dead.
Shields? Well... I use a few more as the bearer's arms move from side-to-side. I recommend multiple edits with 15° angles, and at least two that appear to be pressing forward (for a defense shield-use pose) and held back. And at least one set up to be lying on the ground would be good.
Remember. Anyone may contribute to this thread. I can clear space and reorder posts while YOU, the artist, can maintain the contents of your posted artwork.
And it would be so entertaining to have a collaborative package with various artists to release.
EDIT: The CD's done? Did I really listen to the entire CD while typing this? Sweat
2021/03/02
A minor update of sorts
As now I made some shorts.
It took some time
To make this rhyme
Now a Battler pirate can fight at the ports.
I'm definitely not a poet.
Yep, I began working on shorts, the first pairs now available for the male and female characters. Only denim now of course, and clean cut... no discolored white fringe at the bottom. And no male shorts ready as yet... yet.
You can find this within the Clothing - Lower Section of course.
2021/03/05
(to Holder) You basically have the main angles down
for a shield work resource!
This is my base before base pasting.
The work on that kite shield is pretty premium. I'd actually hate to mess it up IN combat. Well, I guess it's filename would be something akin to Shield-Kite02-Bronze-Holder, whereby the one I made will be rewritten Shield-Kite01-Steel-DerVV. Gotta have standards, eh?
When it has been fully prepped, your (above) post will be altered/moved to be directly under my Shields post in this thread. It being your SHIELD(s) post which you may still have editing permissions. And this post re-purposed and replaced with an official bump!
Yeah, I can do that.
Still, our content should still be visible for the week at least, so readers can see that detailwork. Dayum.
EDIT: I had to do a little editing as the shield angles side-to-side. Lighting on the proper side ya know.
The image of the shield on the top-right began with a horizontal flip. However, I had to edit the shading and highlights, and I admit that I'm not so much of a spriter like you. And the shield image at the very bottom left when the battler is holding it behind himself required some lighting tough-ups too.
I can work with this just fine, as my procedure is to use a 'translucent copy' of the image to find the best placement of the shield for every cel frame (yep, that's tedious), and then replace them with a final solid and opaque product. And I am beginning the translucent phase right now. If you can improve on what I did, hey, lemme know.
Again, Dayum!
EDIT: Dayum, you already did. Laughing
2021/03/05
(From Holder)
Took your template and altered mine to suit.
Pleased you like it.
There's a awful lot of frames in the entire sheet, originally I was going to set it up into the sheet, and yeah there was a lot.
There's a plate I was working, feel free to do all the bits and bobs to it.
2021/03/05
Another tower shield? Rather ornate!!! Oh, please... do the bits and bobs for an above WIP sheet. Be my guest!!
But as you can see below in the spoiler, I am done with phase 1, the transparency placement of the shield over a stock 2-color character.
(Spoiler with Transparent placement no longer saved in log)
And now, I begin working on the actual solid work and area removal now that this part has been accomplished. And making a simple handle for the one reverse angle frame that demands it.
OKay... I gotta take a break for lunch. THEN I'm gonna work on Phase2.
2021/03/11
The weather is changing and it may be getting warmer soon. So the discerning young woman may want more variety with her apparel. So this week, a new article of clothing was added....
The Tube Top!
This version comes in a nice violet, though one may have fun with hue adjustment. And like the shirts, this too is found in the Clothing Section.
Meanwhile, the denim pants for both Male and Female have been re-uploaded as the bottom trim of the legs have been re-bordered.
2021/07/05
Prepare yourself. Action battlers have taken a new step. Get ready to...
DIE HARD
The John McClane Tank Top!
Um, he is kinda bald nowadays too, right?
Yes, your action hero can now sport the tank top that some have referred to in the late 90s as the 'wife beater'... who comes up with these names? And it comes in a fairly lack-luster white. And as it is a shirt, you can find it and others within the Clothing Section.
2021/08/02
Sometimes, you just want to do something with style. And when it comes to style, Holder has it all with the latest addition to the Shields, his ornate Plate Shield!!!!
This heavy shield clearly makes a statement. And woe to those on the wrong side. As with his other, Premium Design Kite Shield, you can find it within a separate post set up for Holder's Shields.
2021/10/05
Now for a time of elegance....
Two new spritesheets of similar design are now available. Inspired by Holder who supplied an original design, a knee-length dress can now be found within our CLOTHING: One Piece Section, along with a strapless variant.
Currently, the dresses are of a single color, that of the image on the left. The strapless dress's color was hue adjusted. However, other color variations may come soon. And perhaps skirts for the Clothing: Lower section.
2021/10/06
Ah, well perhaps a dress might be too much...
Now available is a simple skirt, the skirt based upon the dress designs posted only just yesterday. Yes, indeed. It didn't take long to make such a garment, and it can be found within our CLOTHING: Lower Section with the denim pants and shorts. However, only a green variation is visible.
It doesn't look too bad, does it? You just need to be a fashion consultant. Laughing
2021/12/31
Release just before the New Year, a touch of the orient...
As of now, you can obtain an actual short-sleeved Kimono spritesheet for the ladies. Currently, the spritesheet only comes in rose pink, and not available for male battlers. Also, it is only the Kimono itself, not including the sash (called an Obi) worn about the waist. That will be a later addition, and meant to be separate for easier color handling options. For now, the Kimono itself can be found within our CLOTHING: One Piece Section.
2021/12/31
(From kyonides)
It certainly looks a lot like a pijama. Laughing
Thinking That reminds me if there will be a full pijama available any time soon. Just a friendly suggestion.
Happy with a sweat You never know when you'd be attacked by some feral monsters at midnight!
Is it possible to wear this kind of fedora hat?
![[Image: ?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.villagehatshop.com%...f=1&nofb=1]](https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.villagehatshop.com%2Fphotos%2Fproduct%2Fgiant%2F4511390S60025%2Fall-fedoras%2Fsize-xxl.jpg&f=1&nofb=1)
2021/01/01
Pajamas can be two pieces or one piece... and many variations per-say.
A fedora? Yep, possible. I prefer the suede fedora that Indiana wore. Feeling like doing some spriting?
And would you prefer the category being called 'onesies' ?
2021/01/01
A seamstress did a bit of work just now.
The Kimono spritesheet, while colorful and vibrant, had a few issues. First, some of the spritesheet frames had non-kimono arms. That is, the sleeves were not open and flowing, but were more that of the battler's own. Second, work was done on the rose kimono's color. Some of the colors were a bit muted than desired, and had to be intensified. And some ares were just not dark enough for shading principles.
Now, the rose kimono has been updated.
An Obi may be coming soon.
2021/01/04
Fine needlework was painstakingly done upon the silken threads again.
There were two more arms that were not reworked to give the open flow of the sleeves, and the bottom hem in some frames needed to be updated. However, the design of the woman's kimono has been complete.
But moreso, there are now other colors available.
The female kimono now comes in Sakura (or Cherry Blossom Pink), Peach, and Daffodil yellow. Other colors may come, but these light colors look quite nice if I say so myself.
2021/01/08
For the finest in oriental silks, one needs the finest in accessories to bring out their beauty. And so this week, we now present three styles of Obi, or sash-like belts that accompany the kimono. Currently, each are available in four pleasing colors.
Presented is the traditional Fukuro Obi, one that has the keeps the extensive length folded up as a bundle fixed along the back. Second is a basic obi that is tied in a knot along the front. And the third is another basic obi, but with the excess folded and wrapped-tucked along the front.
Neither actual clothing, armor or weapons, these are the selection's first accessories and can be found within the Accessories Section.
2021/04/20
(from JayRay)
Didnt you also have a big thread where the HKCP project was being reborn as well? (non-battlers)
2021/04/20
That's the CharGen Extended tool in ... um... Tools.
2021/07/19
Engarde!!!
At long last, the finest steel was smelted in the foundries of imagination and hammered and forged with great patience. For this week, the Half Kaiser Battler Project now has its first Sword Template!
As you can see, our kilt wearing hero is carrying a sturdy blade, not exactly a claymore but more along the line of a crusader sword with a straight cross guard, arounded pommel and fuller along the length of the blade.
It is the first blade of its type in the Half Kaiser Battler Project, but surely will not be the last. And this base template for swords can be found within the Weapon Templates Section.
2021/07/30
CRY HAVOC! AND LET SLIP THE DOGS OF WAR!!!
It wasn't long ago that the foundry at Save-Point was put to use, offering its first Sword Template. This week, the smiths returned to the foundry, and now the Half Kaiser Battler Project holds a new sword template for your pleasure!
Held up high, our lovely elvish maiden now carries a sword longer than before, longer in blade and a hilt longer to allow for two-handed use (if you use any pose that uses two hands).
If the first was akin to a crusader blade, this is closer to a claymore. And is likely the longest ranged sword given the number of pixels allowed on all sides before clipping. And now, you can find the base for this sword with its elder brother within the Weapon Templates Section.
2021/08/26
Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die...
It took some time, but the first of the thinner bladed swords has now appeared courtesy of the Save-Point foundry. And this week, the smiths have returned to the Half Kaiser Battler Project with an all new sword for use!
Presented by a hero with the striking familiarity of a Spanish Swordsman from The Princess Bride, we see a finely crafted rapier with a D-Guard and long dark walnut handle, both the guard and pommel in the finest brass.
True, the handle itself is a bit long for a rapier, but this is just one style of rapier as others have both a D and cross guard combined, some with handles of ebony, others ivory and so on. It is as long as the crusader's sword if perhaps a pixel longer bladewise (I haven't measured). And today, you can find the base for this sword with its bretheren within the Weapon Templates Section.