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Making Sprites: Tips and Tricks


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So, you wanna make graphics for your mod? Well, here are some tricks I have learned that might help you out:

Firstly, I use MS Paint and Canon PhotoStudio 5. If I ever pony up the pony up the money for a really decent graphics program, I would be in bitmap heaven.

I have a fast way to make sprites and a slow way. The slow way is that I make them from stratch. Some of the better looking sprites in my packages were made this way.

Here is the fast way to make most sprites:

1. Research for a good base image. I usually look for hobby and diecast pictures, as these have the most details and least background clutter.

The position of the vehicle is CRITICALLY important! Remember that your bitmap size is limited to 70x70 or 75 or so pixels, so the vehicles has to be facing in a diagonal-forward manner. Sure, they can be rotated in photo studios, but then they lose pixelation and blur very very quickly. Note that 90/180/270 mirror flips are OK, they don't affect picture quality.

The vehicle has to be well lit, preferably casting a shadow over one portion, this helps definition.

Save the image as a bitmap (.bmp.

2. Next you copy-paste the vehicle into a graphics program, and reduce it's size somewhat (but not alot) so that are less pixels to work with. Make sure that the aspect ratio stays constant. You may wish to save it as 256 color bitmap, I usually work in 24-bit. Just remember though, that if you change the type, your colors may change. In fact, whites will usually get a greenish hue after you switch, so watch out for this.

3. Next you will outline the vehicle, and will hopefully have a decent graphic program with a "smart" bucket tool. Use the bucket to eliminate all pixels other than the vehicle, using pure white (255,255,255). If you have a smart bucket you can adjust how sensitive the bucket is to different pixel colors, and can quickly outline the vehicle. If you don't have a smart bucket do it the old fashioned way; with the paint brush.

WARNING: If you have other sprites present in the bitmap that are colored near white, you need to "isolate" the sprite you are working on while using the bucket. Otherwise, you may inadvertantly color all the near whites in the image as pure white, and then they will become transparent in the game.

4. OK, now that your vehicle is outlined with no background left you are going to eliminate the light spots. Often there are near-white colors that are very hard to see around the periphery of the vehicle sprite, that show up that like a neon sign saying "mod newbie" in-game against the dark background. So now we use the Black Box Test. Create a black box and drag your sprite over it, and look for obvious light dots that need to be eliminated. Then move it back and eliminate the light spots with PURE WHITE (255,255,255). Pure white will become transparent in-game. Rinse and repeat.

Now reduce your pixel to the appropriate size for the game.

5. OK, now it is time to touch up the pixel. This step requires a lot of judgement calls that take practice. Several features are very important to make a sprite's features visible in the game: Contrast: Contrast is needed to see color patterns and to see small featurues, otherwise they will all just blend together. Shadows: Shadows are important for definition and to give that 3-D look. I often enhance the shadows around the turret ring, and underneath the gun barrel, and then highlight areas closer to the player and protruding parts. This helps to define the feautures of the sprite.

These are usually the modifications I make to a pixel before it is ready:

Tracing and re-sizing.

Use the dark box test to find and get rid of light spots.

Smooth out areas that went funky after re-sizing.

Sometimes use the "sharpen" tool.

Slightly increase contrast (Patterns can be seen better).

Slightly increase the shadow brightness (So that details of dark areas can be seen).

Slightly increase saturation (Make colors easier to see).

Sometimes will adjust the colors.

Other misc tips:

MODERATION!!! When you are using a photo editor, small changes in contrast, brightness, colors, etc, always works best.

Wanna white-wash the vehicle for winter? Reduce the saturation completely, so that it is now a greyish color. Then use the color balance and make it a near white. Viola, white-washed.

Need to change the color scheme of the vehicle? This can get tricky, you will have to experiment a lot with the color balance. It helps, very much so, to have a reference image with the desired color scheme in front of you to compare. If the colors are totally different hues, use the Hue tool to change the Hue first, and then use color balance.

Once you put a bitmap into a mod, you need to start up the editor and test it out. If you didnt get it exactly in the right space on the "bitmaps" file, it may overlap into another unit type's image, so you have to check for this and adjust the positions accordingly. Use the update bitmap image button in the editor to quickly see changes.

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I wanted to add this one as well as originally posted by n0kn0k:

activation_sprites.bmp

144 Width / 8 sprites = 18 pixels

42 Hight / 2 sprites = 21 pixels

border_sprites.bmp

1280 Width / 10 sprites = 128 pixels

256 Hight / 4 sprites = 64 pixels

counter_sprites.bmp

1024 Width / 8 sprites = 128 pixels

128 Hight / 2 sprites = 64 pixels

explosion_sprites.bmp

512 Width / 4 sprites = 128 pixels

128 Hight / 2 sprites = 64 pixels

flag_sprites.bmp

185 Width / 5 sprites = 37 pixels

324 Hight / 9 sprites = 36 pixels

flag_sprites_mirrored.bmp

185 Width / 5 sprites = 37 pixels

324 Hight / 9 sprites = 36 pixels

light_resource_sprites.bmp

512 Width / 4 sprites = 128 pixels

2387 Hight / 31 sprites = 77 pixels

light_river_sprites.bmp

1024 Width / 8 sprites = 128 pixels

1344 Hight / 21 = 64 pixels

light_terrain_sprites.bmp

512 Width / 4 sprites = 128 pixels

1408 Hight / 22 sprites = 64 pixels

light_tile_sprites.bmp

1024 Width / 8 sprites = 128 pixels

3200 Hight / 50 sprites = 64 pixels

light_weather_border_sprites.bmp

1536 Width / 12 sprites = 128 pixels

512 Hight / 8 sprites = 64 pixels

military_flag_sprites.bmp

170 Width / 5 sprites = 34 pixels

198 Height / 9 sprites = 22 pixels

mini_tile_sprites.bmp

32 Width / 8 sprites = 4 pixels

2 Height / 1 sprite = 2 pixels

national_tile_sprites.bmp

1024 Width / 8 sprites = 128 pixels

4032 Height / 63 sprites = 64 pixels

resource_silhouettes_sprites.bmp

512 Width / 4 sprites = 128 pixels

2310 Height / 30 sprites = 77 pixels

resource_sprites.bmp

512 Width / 4 sprites = 128 pixels

2387 Height / 31 sprites = 77 pixels

river_sprites.bmp

1024 Width / 8 sprites = 128 pixels

1344 Height / 21 sprites = 64 pixels

storm_sprites.bmp

1024 Width / 8 sprites = 128 pixels

64 Height / 1 sprite = 64 pixels

terrain_sprites.bmp

512 Width / 4 sprites = 128 pixels

1408 Height / 22 sprites = 64 pixels

tile_sprites.bmp

1024 Width / 8 sprites = 128 pixels

3200 Height / 50 sprites = 64 pixels

unit_level_sprites.bmp

80 Width / 8 sprites = 10 pixels

135 Height / 15 sprites = 9 pixels

unit_silhouettes_sprites_3d.bmp

2618 Width / 34 sprites = 77 pixels

2272 Height / 32 sprites = 71 pixels

unit_sprites_3d.bmp

2618 Width / 34 sprites = 77 pixels

1704 Height / 24 sprites = 71 pixels

unit_sprites_military.bmp

2618 Width / 34 sprites = 77 pixels

568 Height / 8 sprites = 71 pixels

weather_border_sprites.bmp

1536 Width / 12 sprites = 128 pixels

512 Height / 8 sprites = 64 pixels

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Also, here is how to quickly make shadows for airplanes:

1. Make a checkerboard style square of pure black and pure white, big enough to cover a sprite and then some.

2. Get a COPY of the sprite you wish to make a shadow of.

3. Place the square of black/white over the sprite.

4. Use the paint brush withy white to eliminate any excess checkerboard shadow.

5. Now use the MS Paint "Line" tool, or a smart bucket, and erase all pixels that are not pure black. You now have a shadow.

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I have realized a little tool that will help for creation 3D units sprites and save time : a Unit 3D sprites files with pre-placed blank squares.

You have juste to place your 3D icons in squares (pre-placed squares) and then, to erase the square with paintbrush (all squares are relied, so they will be all erased i a simple clik.

Take care : the time for "PC working" may be long because the file is big.

You may download this little tool on my page (see below in signature) ;)

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  • 3 weeks later...

OK folks, here is a faster way to make shadows for your airplane sprites:

FIRST, you need a better program than paint. It needs the following tools:

Magic Wand or free-hand select

A pattern fill bucket (works like a Paint bucket, but it fills with a selected pattern).

Make a copy of the sprite you wish to make a shadow out of.

Next, you need to load a shadow pattern into your graphics program. Usually you can do this in the same window that the pattern-fill bucket is in, it will have an "add pattern" button which will prompt you to select the pic file to load as a pattern.

Here is a pre-made shadow pattern:

shadowrm9.png

Now, that the shadow is uploaded as a pattern in your program, trace around, or use magic wand, or whatever you want to select the entire sprite, but NOT any background!

Next, use the fill-pattern bucket tool inside the selected area, and BAM, you have a shadow in the exact shape of your sprite. Make sure to delete any pixels from the sprites that escaped destruction.

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New tips:

The above shadow trick is also useful if you wish to color counters or 2D units with a camoflauge pattern. Simply find a pic from the internet, upload it as a pattern, and fill with bucket.

Want to have units from the same country to have different colored counters? (Thats the disk they are sitting on)

If you place a disk directly into the unit's bmp file, it will appear OVER the default disk. That means you can have different colors or camo patterns for different types of units or desert/temperatre/artic.

For example in one of my modern-day mods American units have differently colored disks, with camo patterns that match the weather and what branch of service they belong to.

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  • 3 months later...

Adding some notes from Moonslayer for silhouette creation:

This is what I do with paint shop pro for unit silhouettes. It's a fairly pain-free method.

1) I make a copy of my unit_sprites_3d file (VERY important [Wink] )

2) Paint over the sprite's shadows in 255/255/255 white.

3) Click 'colors' --> 'adjust' --> 'gamma correction' and lower the gamma (to 0.01) so that all graphics colours turn to black (almost all anyway). This helps with the contrast for the next step. Handily this will not affect the background colour.

4) Now click 'Image' --> 'edge filters' --> 'find edges'. Your sprites will be surrounded by a layer of white pixels whilst the rest of the page will be black.

5) Now use the 'flood fill' tool and turn up the tolerance to 199. Select 'solid color' on the tool's drop down menu and fill the white outline with your chosen silhouette colour.

6) Flood fill the rest of the image and background with 255/255/255 and save as unit_silhouettes_sprites_3d.

Voila!

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  • 2 weeks later...

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