General questions for diagonal movement and larger sprites.

[PoptartPresident]

So...after I finish creating my 1st test-game, I'd like to begin on a new project in the near future. One that would involve nothing but custom assets, sprites...etc. I'd like to take the notes now so that I can incorporate it later on!

1) I'd like to make a character that's generally around 19 pixels wide, and 38 pixels in height. (Goes up and down slightly for animation purposes).
So because of this, how would I maintain his "feet" hitbox? Like, I know the engine runs by 48x48, but I'd like to make it where around his legs are the main "hitbox" of the player while his upper body can usually get closer to objects.


2) The character will have various expressions, and while that's not a problem...I would like to know how to implement diagonal movement. How do you allow this in-game?
On top of this, I also have "diagonal sprites". When the player moves diagonally, I'd like to know how to tell the game to use those diagonal sprites.

3) How would I go about shading?
I know using custom tiles usually does not let the "shade" tool work. So how can I implement that if I used all custom things?

If you guys have any other general tips about a game using all customized, please tell me!!

Thank you! X3

 

[Hyouryuu-Na]

1. I'd suggest make the width 20px. It's better to have even dimensions. You'd need a pixel movement plugin for that as the size of player hitboxes can't be changed without it afaik. In that case you can take a look at QMovement. If you want, you can maintain 48x48 grid based movement but just keep a smaller hitbox positioned at the character's feet.
2. There's many diagonal movement plugins available. If you end up using QMovement, you can try QSprite for that and many more animations. There's also a diagonal movement plugin by Galv which would be a simpler solution for just diagonal movement imo
3. Parallax mapping can provide more freedom to shading. You can just make a layer of shadows and then turn down the opacity, load it in MV and set it to Multiply. The player can be affected by the shadows too in this way. I use Grid free doodads but it's paid. If you're looking for a free alternative, Orange overlay is also good.

 

[Andar]

Like, I know the engine runs by 48x48,

no, it does not.

the grid and the collision is 48x48, but the sprites can be any size at all and will always be bottom-centered on the grid.
so just make a sprite with a cell size of 20x34 and it will work automatically (although still leaving the collision box at 48x48 around that)