Merman Warrior Attack Animation

[artisticdude]

.pngs below. =)

Feeling like trying the south version?

Sure thing, but I'd prefer to take a break from this guy for a while and work on something else for a week or so before coming back to this project. I'll probably tackle the attack animation for the quintain Jet made a while back, then come back and do the south version of the Warrior's attack, if that's okay?

[thespaceinvader]

ALso needs a defence animation, but we may be able to work out something using a couple of the attack frames. I'll commit later.

[artisticdude]

Defense animation shouldn't be too hard to do (after all, a 2-frame defense animation < a 9-frame attack animation). I'll tackle that too, if it's needed, although for now it would probably be better to wait and see whether/how the attack frames work as a defense animation. If it doesn't work out, I'll create a separate defense animation.

[thespaceinvader]

You need to fix the TC. It's not working. This is probably because you split the frames out of the gif - gifs use indexed palettes, which can change the colours slightly. You'll need to sort this before I can commit, however, the animation itself is working fine. The first frame will do nicely for the first frame of defence, but it needs a second one with a bit less movement. I'll sort this.

EDIT: also, the spear haft in the second frame is not quite straight.

EDIT: here are the defence frames for your attention on TC fixing. You could also do with making certain that that shadows are the right colour.

[artisticdude]

Ahh, sorry about that. I completely forgot to check the TC. Thankfully, the shadows appear to be fine (I didn't extract the frames with shadows from a .gif anyway, I applied them directly to the .pngs, but double-checking never hurts... as proven by the TC problem *grimace*)Here's the fixed attack frames (TC works now, I tested it several times to make certain), and I'll post the fixed defense frames shortly...

[artisticdude]

Well, this isn't exactly my definition of 'shortly', but my internet connection bows to no man.

Anyways, here are the defense frames with corrected TC, tested and ready to go AFAIK. Oh yes, and I forgot to mention that I fixed the bend haft problem in the attack animation in the .zip in my last post.

[thespaceinvader]

You need to check the TC again. There's at least one colour during the attack animation that isn't working. And, indeed, on the weapon tassel during the base frame and defence anim.

Unless you already do, btw, I suggest you test TC by using debug to summon two of the unit, and fighting them against each other - it's much easier to notice broken TC on blue-team units.

[artisticdude]

This TC issue is becoming rather annoying. I swear I'll fix it this time.

But I suppose it's just as well, since there are a few misplaced pixels in a couple of the frames that I would have needed to fix anyway.

Thanks for the suggestion on checking TC, I was checking it only in team 1.

[thespaceinvader]

No worries. I know it can be frustrating.

The lesson to learn is probably to make sure that you keep a non-indexed version of any animation files. Working on them in gif format wrecks the T and makes a tonne of extra work. Use xcf or psd.

[artisticdude]

So I've tested the TC in sides 1, 2, and 3, and I'm happy to say that I've (finally) gotten the TC working for real this time.

The lesson to learn is probably to make sure that you keep a non-indexed version of any animation files. Working on them in gif format wrecks the T and makes a tonne of extra work.

Things learned:

1. Never copy a TC palette from a .gif frame
2. Never test TC on side 1 only

If only I had known those two points before… ah well, better late than never.

I fixed the misplaced pixels (some black pixels I had put on top of his hand in one frame to check the haft alignment and forgot to erase), so now everything should work fine.

BTW, since the first attack frame doubles as the first defense frame, I didn't see any point in creating a duplicate of the same image for each animation. So the frame labeled 'warrior-defend-1' is actually the second defense frame, since 'warrior-attack-1' is the first frame in both the attack and defense animation.

[thespaceinvader]

Good point. I'll do final testing and commit these today. South attack is your next project, when you're ready for it.

EDIT: committed. Please check your PMs. Thanks.

[Speedbrain]

Sorry, just had to drop in to say congrats on the blue name artisticdude.

[artisticdude]

Thanks, Speedbrain.

Also, special thanks to tsi for his assistance and patience while I struggled with TC.


I'm working on blocking the warrior's south attack now, but it might be a bit slower than the se/sw attack, because I'm also working on blocking the quintain's animation.

[thespaceinvader]

No worries. NO rush.

[Sleepwalker]

Looks flawless, great job!

Hmm just gonna clarify that nope, I didn't use any transparency at all on the thrusting motion blurs. And that they had 3 frames where you saw the actual blur.