Sprite editors

[kl99]

wow!

[sometimes99er]

I'll have this (Patterns) as a number one TI priority, more or less, while now moving into a pretty time consuming eCommerce project.

Edited March 25, 2012 by sometimes99er

[sometimes99er]

Wanted to allocate as much computer power to the drawing itself, so input fields will only be updated upon request. The pat2hex button should work now. Edit (colors) and hex2pat do nothing for now. File size still below 14K. Integration between TI-99/4A Patterns and F18A Patterns is expected at a later stage.

 

[media=600,600]http://sometimes.planet-99.net/patterns0011.swf[/media]

Edited April 9, 2012 by sometimes99er

[matthew180]

AWESOME! I'm going to use this *today*!! I really appreciate your help on this and for making these changes.

 

It would be nice to have this as a sticky thread so it does not get buried over time.

Edited April 9, 2012 by matthew180

[Retrospect]

Hi Sometimes99er.

I used to find your Patterns tool extremely useful, I've noticed it's been absent for a long while now.
Just wondering if you have any plans at all to reinstate it, in any capacity?

[sometimes99er]

Hi Joe

Well, it's old and worn, but here you are ...
http://sometimes.planet-99.net/patterns.html

 

There are problems with embedding (post #1), and I hope Albert will find time to fix it.

Edited August 6, 2015 by sometimes99er

[Opry99er]

Still my favorite TI-related app, right alongside Magellan.

 

Thank you for posting and for creating it.

[Retrospect]

Yeah it's my favourite too. Thanks, Sometimes

 

 

Edit: oh, it says I need a plugin to display the content. I bet that's my flash haha

 

Further Edit: Got it sorted out now, win10 didn't have flash installed for some insane reason.

 

Yeah, I love the Patterns software, thanks for making it.

 

Its been used in pretty much all of the games I've made

Edited August 7, 2015 by Retrospect

[+Schmitzi]

 

[sometimes99er]

94D5B5959400324B4A4A320000000000CE280C28CF005C50D8505E0050008870

[+Vorticon]

I've used the pattern editor to death as I developed Jetpac and it's incredibly helpful. However, one option I would have liked to have is the ability to edit not just a 16x16 grid but a 32x32 one for larger sprites, with each 16x16 square having its own input box. Is this something you would consider?

[+Schmitzi]

94D5B5959400324B4A4A320000000000CE280C28CF005C50D8505E0050008870

 

 

 

 

 

[am1933]

E8494B4948000000102040819181423C7724A72127000000080402818981423C

 

An amazing tool that in the wrong hands could be put to great evil!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Edited September 20, 2015 by am1933

[Opry99er]

It truly is an awesome tool... I have been singing its praise for years.

 

I use it almost daily.

[sometimes99er]

I've used the pattern editor to death as I developed Jetpac and it's incredibly helpful. However, one option I would have liked to have is the ability to edit not just a 16x16 grid but a 32x32 one for larger sprites, with each 16x16 square having its own input box. Is this something you would consider?

 

Well. First of all I'm glad Patterns is being used.

 

For anything more than a very few hand-drawn sprites, you really should use Magellan. Preferably together with a raster graphic editor like Paint, Photoshop or GIMP. Do you have a favorite / one you use often ?

 

I can make a small demo of how to draw 32x32 pixel sprites in Magellan. Or how to draw sprites in Paint and import them into Magellan. Or ...

 

The easiest way for me to show something useful and relevant for you, is to know what you want. Is it just nice to have the 32x32 option or do you have some specific ideas and graphics in mind ?

 

Edited September 20, 2015 by sometimes99er

[+Vorticon]

 

Well. First of all I'm glad Patterns is being used.

 

For anything more than a very few hand-drawn sprites, you really should use Magellan. Preferably together with a raster graphic editor like Paint, Photoshop or GIMP. Do you have a favorite / one you use often ?

 

I can make a small demo of how to draw 32x32 pixel sprites in Magellan. Or how to draw sprites in Paint and import them into Magellan. Or ...

 

The easiest way for me to show something useful and relevant for you, is to know what you want. Is it just nice to have the 32x32 option or do you have some specific ideas and graphics in mind ?

 

 

Would you mind showing how you do 32x32 sprites in Magellan? I just like the simplicity of your Pattern Editor but I'm always open to learning new things

[sometimes99er]

 

[+Vorticon]

Thank you This definitely works, but frankly requires too many operations. I still think that a simple 32x32 grid with a hex definition box for each 16x16 sprite group along with the simple controls of Patterns is the way to go from an ease of use standpoint. Easy for me to ask though

[sometimes99er]

Thank you This definitely works, but frankly requires too many operations. I still think that a simple 32x32 grid with a hex definition box for each 16x16 sprite group along with the simple controls of Patterns is the way to go from an ease of use standpoint. Easy for me to ask though

Okay, I'll look into a 32x32 version.

[sometimes99er]

Hmm. So when I did Patterns more than 5 years ago I was working with an older editor (MX) and an older version of ActionScript. These days it's another editor and for several reasons, I'd want to stick with a newer ActionScript.

 

Going from 16x16 to 32x32 seems trivial at first, but as one think and dig, there are a few decisions to make.

 

4 separate hex definition boxes doesn't seem very operational from a user standpoint. Getting the final sprite takes at least 4 times the number of operations. We could auto-update the clipboard with the full hex string to reduce that.

 

For security reasons Flash can't read the clipboard, so we'd have to have an input field for the 256 character string. Now if we have 4 boxes and you want to update a sprite. You'll have to copy from source and paste for each, change the sprite (32x32), and finally copy and paste for each again. That's going to be many operations. And error-prone.

 

Anyway. The original tool has pixel cells with a size of 20 on-screen-pixels. I'm thinking about reducing the size to 16 pixels per cell.

 

Below are mock-ups. You can draw pixels with the mouse. Is it alright to downsize (making the cells smaller) ?

 

http://sometimes.planet-99.net/patterns/patterns32pixel20.html

http://sometimes.planet-99.net/patterns/patterns32pixel16.html

Edited September 21, 2015 by sometimes99er

[+Ksarul]

I like the smaller ones a lot. . .

[+Vorticon]

Either one works for me. This is great!

[+Lee Stewart]

The smaller one makes it somewhat easier to visualize the actual sprites, while still easy to work on.

 

...lee

[sometimes99er]

This is Patterns32 (Patterns forked) version 0.2.

 

No hexadecimal input, output or clipboard - yet. Colors on startup are only for quick testing purposes. Use Clear button to get rid of the colors. Reload page if you want some random colors again.

 

The smaller one makes it somewhat easier to visualize the actual sprites, while still easy to work on.

I've added 3 differently sized smaller previews.

 

http://sometimes.planet-99.net/patterns/patterns32.v0.2.html

 

Edited September 22, 2015 by sometimes99er

[sometimes99er]

Regarding the use of Magellan when drawing 32x32 sprites.

 

This definitely works, but frankly requires too many operations.

You can set it up once and save the project as a template. Whenever you want to draw a new 32x32 sprite, - open Magellan, open template, draw etc.

 

Also, you can save every 32x32 sprite you create as individual projects for later editing.

 

Edited September 22, 2015 by sometimes99er