Any GIMP gods here?

[Alkorri]

(Apologies if this isn't the right place to post)

Hi there! Can anyone help? I was trying to make some Mack sprites for Ace and being a total GIMP noob, I think I messed up. I don't feel like asking someone to make sprites for me as I really want to learn myself.

I tried looking up various topics and found things like this one, which left me even more confused about conversion so now I'm not sure.

The problem:

I made this sprite at Loose Leaf:



But ran into problems:

1) Figuring out whether I should create a New File with transparency, or Open the image I had saved as a PNG in Paint

2) When creating a New File, figuring out what pixels they should be. (I figured it didn't matter so much as long as I exported it with a $ in the filename)

3) But when I opened up the image in GIMP, the picture opened in another window (grrr)

4) I ended up copying and pasting straight into that New File with transparency

5) Then I tried cutting the spritesheet into 3 x 4

6) Didn't work :/ I ended up with the left side cut off.



7) I know this probably had something to do with this thing called Layers. Could someone kindly advise me? I will learn! I promise!

Thanks in advance to any kind souls

 

[Dark_Metamorphosis]

Ok I'll see if I can help you out. First off I'm not entierly sure what you want to do? But if you open up that spritesheet in GIMP it will tell you how many pixels it is, and you could even create a grid for it to have an easier time working with it. If you want to make the background transparent, all you have to do is to right-click on the layer and select 'add alphachannel'. After that you just use the magic tool on the background and erase it. (by pressing delete).

 

[Alkorri]

@ Dark_Metamorphosis - D'oh! In my rambling I did indeed forget to mention that the purpose is to use a Mack sprite character in Ace ;P

If you want to make the background transparent, all you have to do is to right-click on the layer and select 'add alphachannel'. After that you just use the magic tool on the background and erase it. (by pressing delete).

Err, I thought I already made it transparent by creating a Transparent file and then when I import it in the engine, I choose the transparent colours? There's another step?

Okay, I will try looking for the "right-click on the layer" part. Thanks Dark! Will get back when/if it works

Another question: Are there problems using Mack sprites in Ace? I hear people mentioning that a sprite is two tiles high. Does this mean we have to make every building a tile higher?

 

[Dark_Metamorphosis]

@ Dark_Metamorphosis - D'oh! In my rambling I did indeed forget to mention that the purpose is to use a Mack sprite character in Ace ;P

Err, I thought I already made it transparent by creating a Transparent file and then when I import it in the engine, I choose the transparent colours? There's another step?

Okay, I will try looking for the "right-click on the layer" part. Thanks Dark! Will get back when/if it works

Another question: Are there problems using Mack sprites in Ace? I hear people mentioning that a sprite is two tiles high. Does this mean we have to make every building a tile higher?

Ah I see. Well first of all I think you need to download that Spirte converter since it seems to do everything automaticly (renaming the file and make it the correct size without you having to convert it yourself).

So what you need to do:

1) After making the sprite on Loose Leaf press Print screen.

2) Open up GIMP and paste it.

3) Create a new project in Gimp and make it 128x192 pixels. Click advanced options and pick fill with: Transparent.

4) Paste the sheet into your new Gimp project, use the magic tool and erase the background. Save the file as a .PNG

5) Put the picture into the folder of the converter and run it.

or

6) Click on the layer and select 'scale layer'. Change the size to 95x192 pixels.

I dont think there is any problem using them, sure you could make your houses have a bit more height in tiles since the sprites will be taller. It depends on how tall the buildings are already and how you think it looks. If it looks odd, then just add a tile or 2.

And yeah, you could use the engine to make the picture transparent by color. That's just how you make the picture transparent in Gimp (if the picture in question has a background).

 

[Alkorri]

OMG it worked! Thank you, Dark!

Followed your instructions and found out a few things:

1) The 'Magic Tool' you mentioned is called Fuzzy Selection

2) Deleting the background was fun!

3) Apparently you don't save as PNG but Export it. Weird.

And now here it is. Messed it up slightly because there's this thin line on the right so I will have to redo on Looseleaf (I pasted it into Paint first the other day and then saved)

Spoiler

But still, progress! I feel like such an artist heehee. Thank you so much

 

[cabfe]

Using the Grid in Gimp with a 32 pixels width and 48 pixels height will help you paste your sprite sheet from Looseleaf without having this black line (which is because it wasn't perfectly aligned, hence the grid help).

 

[Alkorri]

32 by 48 for the four by four sprites? Ooh thank you, cabfe!

 

[mlogan]

Yes, the Looseleaf generator is Mack, so the sprites are taller than the standard Ace sprites (32 tall).  You will also need to put a $ in front of the file name before you import it in order for it to function properly.

 

[Alkorri]

The converter I downloaded already puts a $ in front of it, mlogan It's just that like cabfe says I forgot to use a grid in GIMP, which led to the alignment problems.

 

[Dark_Metamorphosis]

OMG it worked! Thank you, Dark!

Followed your instructions and found out a few things:

1) The 'Magic Tool' you mentioned is called Fuzzy Selection

Glad it worked out for you!

Yeah, sorry about that. I'm using GIMP with Swedish language so I have to guess what the tools are called in English (and that one usually goes as 'Magic tool' hehe).

And yeah, using a grid when working with spritesheets or tilesetsets is a godsend. It helps a lot!

You can also use a neat fucntion by clicking 'show' -> 'stick to grid'. That way it will always take the grid into consideration when moving the picture/pictures around. You can turn this on and off whenever you feel like it and is also a very nice thing to use.