I've been working on a race mod for a while now, and it seems to be coming along quite well. I've gotten along with the spritework just fine, except now I've been running into a weird issue with the alignment of the arm when moving while holding a 2-handed melee. When the character walks while facing the direction where that arm is visible, it very noticeably drops much lower than it should. I've tried messing with the sprite sheet to try and fix this, but it doesn't really help.
#Weird Issue With Arm Sprite Offset
velvet sparrow
I have screencaps showing the issue but I have no idea how to upload them to threads
velvet sparrow
That's probably it. I've been trying to do them as normal but it hasn't been working. Must be a role thing
Got it working now!
hexed sphinx
is the sprite physically offset down in the sprite
velvet sparrow
Anyway, this is what I'm talking about with the arm acting up during the walk . I've tried messing with the sprite in the sheet but that hasn't changed much
hexed sphinx
wait did you modify the humanoid file
velvet sparrow
I've been using the Skittles Advanced Race Template so far
It had a humanoid file with all the basic body part sprite sheets, yeah
velvet sparrow
I meant folder, sorry. Not quite awake yet lol
All I've done so far is change is the actual graphics, nothing to do with code in the files
velvet sparrow
I have them aligned for the most part. It's a little hard to gauge since the shape is different from the original generic humanoid design
velvet sparrow
Like, with a different color?
hexed sphinx
like vibrant pink or whatever
then key them
paste them onto your race sheet
should be able to see if they line up
velvet sparrow
That makes sense
The thing is that for the most part, the other animations and sprites are aligned just fine, but when it's something like the swinging animations or aiming, it ends up looking off
velvet sparrow
I've been suspecting it to be something to do with the actual coded offset, but I'm not sure how to unpack the template and find it. I'm pretty new to modding starbound and modding in general
hexed sphinx
i mean you have to actively change it
velvet sparrow
can you record it
I think I can later today. Gonna go into classes for a bit soon here though
I'll definitely send something later. Not sure what to do about changing the frame though
velvet sparrow
Ok! Got a break in the action, managed to record a video of the animations and showcased the issue a bit.
hexed sphinx
Thats your animations not lining up
velvet sparrow
Like the body sprite is misaligned from the arm?
hexed sphinx
in the walk and crouch anims
velvet sparrow
It seems so. I've been messing with the sprites a bit more and it seems alright for the idle state, but walking and crouching still distorts a lot
Or I'll make the walk anims look better, but then the crouch goes out of wack
velvet sparrow
It seems like if I can make one part look good, the rest bugs out. Particularly with aiming and crouching. Is there anything I can do to change the position of the actual entity that the sprite is attached to in order to make it fit in place more?
hexed sphinx
no?
your entire issue is your sprites
nothing changes except the things that you change
velvet sparrow
I'm just confused on why it's all over the place from the idle frame to the crouch, swinging, so on and so forth
I know it has to do with moving the sprites. I just want to figure out how it's determined for what goes where
Like if there was some sort of outline?
Sorry if this is like
super frustrating
I don't mean to come off as stubborn or rude or whatever
hexed sphinx
show me your spritesheet
if i find the problem
you owe me a random amount of money
velvet sparrow
Fair warning, it's probably messy as hell
I did that outline thing a bit and tried to align the aiming sprite with the shoulder, so it might be moved
Everything else is moved in an attempt to align with the proportions of the torso
that's been untouched
velvet sparrow
velvet sparrow
What's up?
velvet sparrow
I think you might be right. Must've moved it around weird while I was trying to figure out the misalignment between the arm and the body
hexed sphinx
layer things while drawing them
the rotation arm frame is kinda awkward
but keep in mind the shoulder position
that is teh rotation center
the shoulder position of the humans
hexed sphinx
thhis one
velvet sparrow
Right
hexed sphinx
fairly sure you can move it with a .humanoid file
so you shouldnt be mvoing it with these guys
rather doing it in the file
also he rotates from here on his rotation arm frame
velvet sparrow
ah
hexed sphinx
basically since its a diff humanoid shape you gotta account for ALOT more
velvet sparrow
That
makes a lot of sense
I tried looking for something regarding rotation center earlier
I think I might've called it offset or something. Sorry
hexed sphinx
its the shoulder position for humans
you can offset it later
just get it right to start with
velvet sparrow
Right
That actually makes a lot more sense
I'll definitely stick to layering a lot closer
feeling kinda silly now realizing how obvious that should've been
working on it right now but I do have to ask
where is the .humanoid file usually stored? This is coming off a template rather than the unpacked assets, so things are a little different
hexed sphinx
there is no .humanoid fiel
velvet sparrow
Ohh you mean the .config
This particular template didn't include a .config, or a visible one anyway
which is probably part of the problem
hexed sphinx
no cus its not usually needed
velvet sparrow
I see
hexed sphinx
?
hexed sphinx
the offsets are only effective for small offsets
atypical humanoids change it, and teh config doesnt support that
velvet sparrow
Sounds like there's no straightforward way around it without some crazy custom work