Animation Formatting - bunfan/beat-banger GitHub Wiki

Sprite Sheets

Beat Banger stages are composed of, what the game refers to as, anims. These anims are sprite sheets of simple 6 frame compositions. Beat Banger takes the 6 frames and displays them 1 by 1 (starting in the top left and ending in the bottom right) to create an animation. We recommend these anims be .png files with tranparency, so that the background is seen, but .jpg is supported. Here is an example of an anim separated for each frame.

This ratio is the most important thing here, whereas the resolution has a small amount of leeway.

When the engine loads a sprite sheet, and in doing so, a frame, the anchor point will always be the center of the frame. This is why having the correct resolution is important. Too big of a resolution will make a zoomed in and off screen animation, too small will have empty areas around it. The only exception to this resolution rule (in version 1.3 and before) is the final_transition effects inside the fx folder which follows the same per-frame resolution and ratio, but in a composition of 24 frames, not 6, making it a recommended minimum of 3600 x 3200. This can be seen below.

It is recommended you create your artwork for the anims in your program of choice and then import them into a tool made for Beat Banger. Tools such as GlueIT and Beat Wranger can stitch together images into sprite sheets compatible with Beat Banger. GlueIt also supports up to 24 frames, and can be used for the fx inside folder anims. It is also possible to simply create your artwork over a pre-existing anim or in the predetermined 3x2 format.

The Fx Folder

Within the anims folder, another folder can be created called fx. This folder is optional but can add lots of pizazz to your stage. Here is an example of two different fx that can be used within 1.3. The Art below the effects is purely for demonstration purposes, and the actual fx sheets should only have the desired effects shown.

On the left is the Transition Effect, coded as effects, which can be played for the first loop of a transition, and the first loop only. It matches the anims 6 fps as well as the resolution. On the right is the Cum Effect, or Climax Effect, which is unique as it can only be used in the last_transition. It follows the same resolution per frame but spans a much larger, 6x4 3600 x 3200 sprite sheet. Just like the Transition Effect, this also only plays through once, but the anim behind it can be set to loop until the end or remain static after one loop, found within chart.cfg > looping: true or false.

The Animation

When a note is input into beat banger, a sprite sheet is played, beginning with the first frame. This first frame should convey the “beat” within your animation, in other words, a full complete motion. Within frames two to five, the goal is to return to a neutral position and emphasize the motion you desire. Frame six will be the last frame seen before a new beat/loop and as such, should loop well into frame 1. Here is an example.

Frame two through five can be used to convey time within an animation. Some anims return very quickly to a neutral position and share similar frames, see example on the right. Others have each frame be unique to give a longer perceived animation, see example on the left. If you want to change the speed of which BeatBanger plays your animation, see loop_speed in Chart Formatting

Too Lazy: Didn't Read

• 6 png images, 600x800 in a 3x2 grid. Transition_Fx are the same.
• Cum_Fx is 24 images at the same res.
• Transition and Cum Fx only play once. Transisiton disappears, Cum stays.
• Frame 1 on a sheet is the note hit, and Frame 6 is where a non-looped anim will stay.