Zappy's Character Wad tutorial
UNFINISHED
TODO:
- Think of things to do
- Play SRB2
- Listen to music
- Play SRB2
- Play SRB2
- Finish PrefColor table
- Give up before finishing it
- Play SRB2
- More Lua tweaks
- Play SRB2*
- Finish PrefColor table
- Play SRB2
- Make StartColor table
- Play SRB2 between starting on the StartColor table and finishing it
- Give up
- Play SRB2
A Character Wad is a Wad file used in Sonic Robo Blast 2 to add new playable characters.
They can be added with the "AddFile" console command, and (usually) be selected from the singleplayer character select screen, however exceptions do exist.
360 frames in total can be made for a Character Wad, however it can be considered complete with just 150 frames (3 of which will actually be dummies) to 174 frames, depending on the character. A Character Wad can, however, have as few as 23 frames, however if that's the case, it can't be considered used for much other than an MD2 Model, nor can it be considered finished.
To edit Character Wads, lump editors can be used. The creator draws the frames for the character in an image editor, and imports them using a lump editor.
Requirements
To make a Character Wad, you'll need:
A lump editor.
Popular ones include Slade and XWE.
An idea for what your character will look like, be like, can do, etcetera.
An image editor, including knowledge of it, and a lot of patience. You won't need anything more advanced than even MS Paint, however it is highly recommended to have something useful.
Knowledge of what a Wad file is, and how to use your lump editor.
Format
A Character Wad consists of several lumps. These include:
- S_Skin: Required. This lump tells the game this is where the Character Wad "starts", and also defines a few or a lot of things about the character. S_Skin can be named anything, as long as it starts with S_Skin. Which means S_SKIN will work just as well as S_SKIN1, S_SKIN01, S_SKINA, S_SKIN34, S_SKIN69, and whatever you want to name it, literally. The only thing is that it must start with S_Skin, because that's what the game looks for. See S_Skin below.
- The frames: Required. These lumps usually come right after S_Skin, and are named XXXXYZ or XXXXYZUV. XXXX can be anything you want, Y and U are frame "numbers", and Z and V are frame "directions". See Frame List far below.
- OjctCfg: This lump is not required, unless you want your character to be playable in singleplayer. It defines how your character appears on the character select screen. See ObjctCfg further below. Required for your character to be considered complete, though.
- Lua: This lump/these lumps are completely optional. Like S_Skin, it can be named anything, as long as it starts with LUA_. For example, it can be called LUA_GAME, LUA_CAKE, LUA_MLP, LUA_1, or even just LUA_. This lump/these lumps are Lua coding, and can do a lot more than you'd imagine. This article does not cover Lua coding. It will, however, later show a few tweaks.
S_Skin
Making the S_Skin lump is usually the easiest place to start. Especially if you already know your character's speed, ability, jump height, etcetera.
You can start by making the S_Skin lump, either in your lump editor (if it supports text editing) or a text editor outside it (you'll have to import it afterwards if that's the case).
You can start by copying this:
Name = RealName = HudName = Flags = HighResScale = Sprite = CharSel = Face = SuperFace = Ability = Ability2 = ActionSpd = ThokItem = SpinItem = RevItem = MinDash = MaxDash = NormalSpeed = RunSpeed = AccelStart = Acceleration = ThrustFactor = JumpFactor = StartColor = PrefColor =
And then edit it. Some of those things you won't even use. If you're looking for explanations, everything is listed right below, in same order as above.
Examples are shown below all attribute explanations. (Not per-attribute examples, but full examples of the whole of S_Skin.)
Attributes
Name, RealName, HudName
Name is the skinname. It is only used by Lua coding, the ObjctCfg lump, and the "Skin" console command. It must be lowercase, and 16 or less characters long. There is no default, and as such it's required.
RealName is the name displayed in the "Setup Player" screen in multiplayer, and at the end of levels in singleplayer and co-op. Default is "SONIC".
HudName is the name displayed in the lower left corner during play, beside the life icon. Default is "SONIC".
Flags, HighResScale, Sprite
Flags set a few useful things. They can be added together using a plus (+) or a line ( | ) (not an uppercase i or lowercase L). Default is none of them.
| Flag name | Flag purpose/description |
|---|---|
| SF_SUPER | UNSETTABLE |
| SF_SUPERANIMS | Use special defined frames for when super. Does not include the transformation itself, which is required either way.
If set, frame U is used for super standing, U and V for super walking, W and X for super running, Y for tipping on an edge, and Z is for getting hurt while super. That effect is possible via A_SuperFireShot and A_SuperTurretFire in other Wads. |
| SF_SUPERSPIN | Use the default spin animations when jumping/spinning when super. Otherwise display idle/running animations when jumping/spinning. |
| SF_HIRES | Resize all character frames by the scale set with HighResScale. |
| SF_NOSKID | Disable skidding sound and animation when running forwards and pressing the opposite movement direction. |
| SF_NOSPEEDADJUST | Don't speed up animations when moving quickly. |
| SF_RUNONWATER | Allow running on water/Techno Hill goop if faster than RunSpeed. Previously tied to CA_SWIM, got its own flag in 2.1.9. |
HighResScale sets the scale at which to resize all character frames if SF_HIRES is set in Flags. Default is 0.5.
Sprite seems to let you place the character frames anywhere you want in your Character Wad... thus in fact making it completely useless? Type in the first 4 letters of your character frame names, and the game will look through the whole Wad to find the frame name you defined. Must be 4 characters long. There is no default, and thus it defaults to using the frames right after S_Skin, whatever their names are.
CharSel
The lump name of the picture displayed in the character select screen. It can also be overridden in ObjctCfg, however it's recommended to put it in S_Skin, since then it'll show up for Record Attack, too. Not that it's of any use to most people. Must be 8 or less characters long. Default is "CHRSONIC".
The picture should be 128x128 or 256x256 pixels wide and tall.
Face, SuperFace
Face is the life icon displayed in the lower left corner of the screen. Must be 8 or less characters long. Default is, actually, "MISSING".
SuperFace is the same as Face, but for when super. If unset, changes to match Face. The default for this is also "MISSING".
Ability, Ability2, ActionSpd
Ability is, well, the ability your character has (Thok, Fly, Glide, etcetera) as a midair action. You can only set one, for obvious reasons. Default is "CA_THOK".
| Ability name | Primary ability purpose/description |
|---|---|
| CA_NONE | No midair action. |
| CA_THOK | Sonic's Speed Thok. Jump and press jump again to get a burst of speed. The speed is the same as ActionSpd. |
| CA_FLY | Tails' flying. Jump and press jump again to start flying. If flying, tap jump to ascend, and hold spin to descend quickly. Lasts for 8 seconds.
Frames U and V are used for flying, and W, X, Y and Z are used for being tired, unable to fly more. |
| CA_GLIDEANDCLIMB | Knuckles' gliding and climbing. Jump and hold jump to glide forwards. Let go to fall down.
If gliding into a wall, you will cling onto it, and can climb around on it. Some walls disallow this, though. Frames U and V are used for gliding, W for not moving while hanging on a wall, and X, Y and Z for moving while climbing. |
| CA_HOMINGTHOK | Like Sonic's Speed Thok, but slower. Homes into enemies and monitors if used near them. Hitting them allows you to do another Homing Thok.
The speed without any homing target is 1/3 of ActionSpd. The speed when homing is 2/3 of ActionSpd. |
| CA_SWIM | Like Tails' flying, but only allowed underwater. Also allows running and jumping on water. Unlike flying, swimming can be done forever.
Frames U and V are used for swimming, leaving W, X, Y, and Z unused. |
| CA_DOUBLEJUMP | Jump and press jump again to... well, jump again in midair. |
| CA_FLOAT | Jump and hold jump to float, stopping all vertical momentum. |
| CA_SLOWFALL | Jump and hold jump to descend slowly. |
| CA_TELEKINESIS | Jump and press jump again to push enemies slightly away, Jump and press spin to pull enemies slightly closer. |
| CA_FALLSWITCH | Jump, fall down, and press jump again to reverse vertical momentum. Great for horizontal distances, but not a help with vertical distances. |
| CA_JUMPBOOST | Surprisingly, not a midair action. Stand still and jump to jump at normal height. Run quickly and jump to jump higher. |
| CA_AIRDRILL | A bit like Sonic's Speed Thok, but can be controlled for about 2 seconds, and also helps you a bit vertically. |
| CA_JUMPTHOK | A combination of Sonic's Speed Thok and a Double Jump. Lets you burst forward and slightly upwards. The forward speed is 1/2 of ActionSpd. The upward speed is the same as JumpHeight. |
Ability2 doesn't directly define a midair action, however it does define how it functions. Surprisingly, you can only set one. Default is "CA2_SPINDASH".
| Ability2 name | Secondary ability purpose/description |
|---|---|
| CA2_NONE | Don't spin, and functions above work as described, and can only be used once per jump.
Note the spin frames will still show during certain circumstances, being spinning on a mace or zooming through a tube. |
| CA2_SPINDASH | Same as CA2_NONE, but allow spinning by pressing the spin key, and spin when jumping. |
| CA2_MULTIABILITY | Same as CA2_NONE, but allow multiple midair actions for most abilities. For flying/swimming, let ascending be easier by just holding jump instead of tapping jump.
For double jump, floating and slowfall, jump higher instead. For jumpboost, speed makes you jump even higher. |
ActionSpd sets the speed at which Ability is used. For CA_THOK, CA_GLIDEANDCLIMB, CA_HOMINGTHOK and CA_JUMPTHOK, sets the forward speed. For CA_FLY, CA_SWIM and CA_AIRDRILL, sets the ascending speed. For CA_JUMPBOOST, sets the height boost. Unused for the rest? Default is 30.
ThokItem, SpinItem, RevItem
ThokItem replaces the translucent "ball" left from some midair actions, including Thokking. Default is "MT_THOK". Only change if you know what you're doing.
SpinItem and RevItem are the same as ThokItem, but for spinning and revving a spindash, respectively.
MinDash, MaxDash
MinDash sets the minimum speed of the spin you get by quickly tapping spin once. Default is 15.
MaxDash sets the maximum speed of the spin you get by charging a spin for a few seconds (the charge is shorter/longer depending on MinDash and MaxDash). Default is 90.
NormalSpeed, RunSpeed, AccelStart, Acceleration, ThrustFactor
NormalSpeed sets the normal running speed you can achieve without any boosts. Default is 36.
RunSpeed misleadingly sets the speed you have to exceed to use running animations. Default is 28.
AccelStart sets the speed at which you start moving if standing still and pressing forward. Default is 96.
Acceleration combined with ThrustFactor sets the speed at which you accelerate if already moving. Default is 40.
ThrustFactor has to do with how quickly you accelerate. Default is 5. Literally found in the source code, Thrust = thrustfactor x acceleration.
JumpFactor
Sets the height at which you jump. Default is 1. As an example, set it to 0.5 for half height, or 2 for double height.
StartColor, PrefColor
StartColor sets the index of the first of the 16 colour samples to use for colour changing in multiplayer. Default is 160, meaning samples 160-175 will change depending on colour chosen.
Here's the palette (click for larger image suitable for colour-picking), with sample numbers:
http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2014/222/5/0/palette_by_thezeroteam-d7ujdyk.png
PrefColor sets the colour to use in singleplayer. Default is "Blue".
Here are the colours available:
| Colour Name | #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6 | #7 | #8 | #9 | #10 | #11 | #12 | #13 | #14 | #15 | #16 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| White | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | ||||||||
| Silver | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| Grey | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 |
| Black | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | ||||||||
| Cyan | 208 | 209 | 210 | 211 | 212 | 213 | 214 | 215 | 216 | 217 | 218 | 219 | ||||
| Teal | 247 | 220 | 221 | 222 | 223 | |||||||||||
| Steel_Blue | 200 | 201 | 202 | 203 | 204 | 205 | 206 | 207 | ||||||||
| Blue | 226 | 227 | 228 | 229 | 230 | 231 | 232 | 233 | 234 | 235 | 236 | 237 | 238 | 239 | 240 | 241 |
| Peach | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 | 76 | 77 | 78 | 79 |
| Tan | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 | 76 | 77 | 78 | 79 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 |
| Pink | 144 | 145 | 146 | 147 | 148 | 149 | 150 | 151 | ||||||||
| Lavender | 248 | 249 | 250 | 251 | 252 | 253 | 254 | 255 | ||||||||
| Purple | 192 | 193 | 194 | 195 | 196 | 197 | 198 | 199 | ||||||||
| Orange | 82 | 83 | 84 | 85 | 86 | 87 | 88 | 89 | 90 | 91 | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 152 | 153 |
| Rosewood | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 152 | 153 | 154 | 155 | 156 | 157 | 158 | 159 | ||||
| Beige | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 |
| Brown | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 | 61 | 62 | 63 |
| Red | 125 | 126 | 127 | 128 | 129 | 130 | 131 | 132 | 133 | 134 | 135 | 136 | 137 | 138 | 139 | 140 |
| Dark_Red | 133 | 134 | 135 | 136 | 137 | 138 | 139 | 140 | ||||||||
| Neon_Green | 160 | 184 | 185 | 186 | 187 | 188 | 189 | |||||||||
| Green | 160 | 161 | 162 | 163 | 164 | 165 | 166 | 167 | 168 | 169 | 170 | 171 | 172 | 173 | 174 | 175 |
| Zim | 176 | 177 | 178 | 179 | 180 | 181 | 182 | 183 | ||||||||
| Olive | 105 | 106 | 107 | 108 | 109 | 110 | 111 | |||||||||
| Yellow | 103 | 104 | 105 | 106 | 107 | 108 | 109 | 110 | ||||||||
| Gold | 112 | 113 | 114 | 115 | 116 | 117 | 118 | 119 | ||||||||
Examples
Here are some example S_Skins. Note that not all values have been used. Whatever is left out defaults to... well, what the default values for all attributes were written as above.
Even though almost everything defaults to Sonic's attributes, the Sonic example does have his values included, for reference.
Sonic (vanilla)
Name = sonic RealName = Sonic HudName = SONIC Flags = SF_SUPERANIMS+SF_SUPERSPIN CharSel = CHRSONIC Face = LIVSONIC SuperFace = LIVSUPER Ability = CA_THOK ActionSpd = 60 NormalSpeed = 36 AccelStart = 96 Acceleration = 40 ThrustFactor = 5 StartColor = 160 PrefColor = Blue
Tails (vanilla)
Name = tails RealName = Tails HudName = TAILS CharSel = CHRTAILS Face = LIVTAILS Ability = CA_FLY ActionSpd = 100 NormalSpeed = 32 AccelStart = 192 Acceleration = 50 ThrustFactor = 3 StartColor = 160 PrefColor = Orange
Knuckles (vanilla)
Name = knuckles RealName = Knuckles HudName = K.T.E CharSel = CHRKNUX Face = LIVKNUX Ability = CA_GLIDEANDCLIMB ActionSpd = 25 NormalSpeed = 34 AccelStart = 128 Acceleration = 45 ThrustFactor = 4 JumpFactor = 0.85 StartColor = 160 PrefColor = Red
Shadow (custom)
Name = shadow RealName = Shadow HudName = SHADOW CharSel = SHADCHAR Face = SHADLIFE Ability = CA_HOMINGTHOK ActionSpd = 50 StartColor = 160 PrefColor = Black
All attributes, but blank
...And in the order defined inside the source code of the game (the order doesn't matter at all):
Name = Flags = Sprite = RealName = HudName = CharSel = Face = SuperFace = Ability = Ability2 = ThokItem = SpinItem = RevItem = ActionSpd = MinDash = MaxDash = NormalSpeed = RunSpeed = ThrustFactor = AccelStart = Acceleration = JumpFactor = StartColor = PrefColor = HighResScale =
Frames
After making S_Skin, you can go ahead and *gasp* begin making frames for your character. The gasp was because it's going to be tough, not because this is what you should have been looking forward to the whole time.
Before just starting to do so, note these things:
Naming
As stated above, the character frame names must be XXXXYZUV, XXXX being whatever you want, Y and U being animation frames, and Z and V being animation directions.
The directions are as following:
1: Towards the camera 2: Diagonally towards/left of the camera 3: Left of the camera 4: Diagonally away/left of the camera 5: Away from the camera, what you will usually see when playing 6: Diagonally away/right 7: Right 8: Diagonally towards/right 0: All/any directions
Most frames can be named like this:
PLAYX1 PLAYX2X8 PLAYX3X7 PLAYX4X6 PLAYX5
Now why would they be named that? That will just make them face left instead of right, right? No.
The UV part of XXXXYZUV will be flipped horizontally. You can even have something like PLAYF1J1, and it would flip horizontally for frame J, compared to frame F.
Frame List
Knowing what frames are actually for what can be hard to remember, especially if you don't already know.
Refer to this table for an explanation of what frames are for what:
| Frame | Action |
|---|---|
| A | Standing |
| B | Idle 1 |
| C | Idle 2 |
| D | Walk 1 |
| E | Walk 2 |
| F | Walk 3 |
| G | Walk 4 |
| H | Walk 5 |
| I | Walk 6 |
| J | Walk 7 |
| K | Walk 8 |
| L | Spin 1 |
| M | Spin 2 |
| N | Spin 3 |
| O | Spin 4 |
| P | Spring up |
| Q | Run 1 |
| R | Run 2 |
| S | Run 3 |
| T | Run 4 |
| U | Special 1 |
| V | Special 2 |
| W | Special 3 |
| X | Special 4 |
| Y | Special 5 |
| Z | Special 6 |
| [ | Air bubble gasp |
| \ | Hurt |
| ] | Dead |
| ^ | Edge 1 |
| _ | Edge 2 |
| ` | Fall 1 |
| a | Fall 2 |
| b | Hang |
| c | End sign face |
| d | Life monitor face |
| e | Super transform 1 |
| f | Super transform 2 |
| g | Super transform 3 |
| h | Super transform 4 |
| i | Super transform 5 |
| j | Super transform 6 |
| k | Super transform 7 |
| l | Super transform 8 |
| m | Super transform 9 |
Frame list notes
A few notes about the frame list can be found below.
Lump names
The first 26 frames have uppercase lump names, A-Z. The next 6 frames have non-letter lump names, [ \ ] ^ _ ` The last 13 frames have lowercase lump names, a-m, as opposed to the first.
Most Wad editors support lowercase lump names, but may have it turned off by default. Go to the options of your Wad editor, and find the "Keep lump names uppercase" or "Disallow lowercase lump names" or similar, which differs between Wad editors.
For Slade users
Slade, a popular Wad editor, has saving non-ascii characters in lump names turned off by default. Surprisingly, this includes ^ and \, which is needed for a Character Wad.
To let it save those names, go to Edit > Preferences, find the Editing group in the list, and turn on "Use percent encoding if needed outside of Wad Archives". The name is misleading, but it works.
Ability2 and the spinning frames
If Ability2 is set to CA2_SPIN, you will have the spin frames shown when jumping and, you guessed it, spinning.
But even if Ability2 is set to CA2_NONE or CA2_MULTIABILITY, it is still required to have the spinning frames, as they are used for spinning on a mace or zooming through a tube, no matter what.
ObjctCfg
Making the ObjctCfg (Object Configuration) lump is the easiest thing to do next. It is required for playing as your character in singleplayer without cheats.
Like S_Skin, you can either make this lump in your lump editor (if it supports text writing) or in a text editor outside it (again, you'll have to import it afterwards).
Unlike S_Skin, naming matters a lot. Only OBJCTCFG and MAINCFG are loaded as "configurations", and thus will let it work.
You can start by copying this:
Character SkinName = Status = 32 PlayerText =
Most Character Wads include "SRB2 version = 210", however it is purely optional and not required. SRB2 uses it to output an error if the version doesn't match the currently played version. However, it will complain if you use "SRB2 version = 217" even if you play version 2.1.7 of the game, since only "210" is supported.
Like for S_Skin, explanations and examples of the variables are shown below.
Attributes
Character
This defines that a character selection will be made below it. You can also type "Character = 4" to allow yourself to disable/enable character selection of this character in a mod, however usually just "Character" is enough.
SkinName
You guessed it. This is the name of the skin to use if this character is selected. Use the same name as you used with Name in S_Skin. Not RealName, not HudName, just Name.
You can also define a second skin with the "&" character, for a bot to spawn and follow you and die all the time. See the examples for a... well, example.
Status
This must always be 32. If it is anything other than 32, your character won't be selectable. Mods can use this to make an "unlockable character", by simply defining
Character 0 Status = 0
to turn off Sonic, for example, and Status = 32 to turn on Sonic. How saved data behaves to this is unknown, though. Noone has tried making an unlockable character, unlocking him/her/it, closing the game, and booting it up again.
PicName
This overrides the character selection picture defined via CharSel in S_Skin. Only use this if you have to use a different character selection picture. See the examples for an example.
PlayerText
This defines the text shown on the character selection page. Can be upper- and lower-case. By typing ^ followed by a number, you can also set one of eight colours.
See the below table for a list of colours available. The colours shown are not the exact same colours as in SRB2, only references.
| Value | ^0 | ^1 | ^2 | ^3 | ^4 | ^5 | ^6 | ^7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colour | White | Purple | Yellow | Green | Blue | Red | Gray | Orange |
Anything above 7 or below 0 will also result in the white colour. See the examples right below for examples on how to use them.
The text can be ended with the # character, but it's not necessary unless you want to put something else (like another character) in the ObjctCfg afterwards.
Examples
Here are some example ObjctCfgs. Everything must be included, with exception of PicName.
Sonic (vanilla)
Character 0 SkinName = sonic Status = 32 PlayerText = ^2Sonic^0 is the fastest of the three, but also the hardest to control. Beginners beware, but experts will find Sonic very powerful. ^2Ability:^0 Speed Thok Double jump to zoom forward with a huge burst of speed. ^2Tip:^0 Simply letting go of forward does not slow down in SRB2. To slow down, hold the opposite direction.
Tails (vanilla)
Character 1 SkinName = tails Status = 32 PlayerText = ^2Tails^0 is the most mobile of the three, but has the slowest speed. Because of his mobility, he's well- suited to beginners. ^2Ability:^0 Fly Double jump to start flying for a limited time. Repetitively hit the jump button to ascend. ^2Tip:^0 To quickly descend while flying, hit the spin button.
Knuckles (vanilla)
Character 2 SkinName = knuckles Status = 32 PlayerText = ^2Knuckles^0 is well-rounded and can destroy breakable walls simply by touching them, but he can't jump as high as the other two. ^2Ability:^0 Glide & Climb Double jump to glide in the air as long as jump is held. Glide into a wall to climb it.
Sonic & Tails (vanilla)
Character 0 SkinName = sonic&tails Status = 32 PicName = CHRS&T PlayerText = ^2Sonic & Tails^0 team up to take on Dr. Eggman! Control Sonic while Tails desperately struggles to keep up. Player 2 can control Tails directly by setting the controls in the options menu. Tails's directional controls are relative to Player 1's camera. Tails can pick up Sonic while flying and carry him around.
Shadow (custom)
Character SkinName = shadow Status = 32 PlayerText = ^2Shadow^0 has the same speed and handling as Sonic, but has slower Thoks. ^2Ability:^7 Homing Thok^0 Homing Thoks are slower than Speed Thoks, but home in on enemies, monitors, and springs. ^2Ability 2:^5 Chaos Blast^0 A small explosion dealing damage to nearby enemies. Has a cooldown of 5 seconds, and costs 10 rings. Jump and press the spin key to use it. # Character SkinName = sonic&shadow Status = 32 PicName = SON&SHAD PlayerText = ^2Sonic^0 must team up with his rival, ^2Shadow^0, to take on Dr. Eggman and rescue Tails. Control Sonic while Shadow keeps up just fine... if he didn't fall in bottomless pits and die all the time. Why does he fall down from the sky when he dies? Player 2 can control Shadow the same way as Tails, but remember he has a Homing Thok instead of being able to Fly.
Lua Tweaks
Warning: All the Lua stuff here is outdated. It might work, it might not, but this section needs to be redone either way.
Now you have a completely functional Character Wad (well, if you made the frames. You might have given up while making the frames, I dunno. It's hard).
So you go play-testing. But... Why can't he/she turn super when Sonic can? Why can't he/she ascend with Fly or Swim simply by holding jump instead of tapping it? Well, he/she can do the hold-fly thing, but that leaves out spinning, and you don't want that, now do you?
This section will cover a few tweaks that can be done with Lua scripting, without it being super advanced.
Short introduction to Lua scripting
This part can be skipped if you already know a lot about Lua in SRB2.
Alright, let's start by taking a Lua thing.
addHook("ThinkFrame", do
for player in players.iterate
if player.mo and player.mo.skin=="modern_sonic"
if not(player.charflags&SF_SUPER)
player.charflags=$1+SF_SUPER
end
end
end
end)
Now let's examine it, line by line.
addHook("ThinkFrame", do
This line creates a "hook" for the game to know it's supposed to do something, I think. This hook is of the "ThinkFrame" type. Every frame, or Tic, it "runs" the code once.
for player in players.iterate
This line I think makes it do something for players.
if player.mo and player.mo.skin=="modern_sonic"
This line checks if a player is "existing", I believe, and also checks the name of the skin this player has on (Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, etcetera). The 'player.mo.skin=="modern_sonic" ' checks if the skin used is "modern_sonic". Remember that it refers to Name in S_Skin, and not RealName or HudName, like ObjctCfg.
if not(player.charflags&SF_SUPER)
This line checks whether the player has the skinflag SF_SUPER active. Remember it being "unsettable"? If the player does NOT have the SF_SUPER skinflag, things after it will be executed/run, until an "end" line.
player.charflags=$1+SF_SUPER
This line is only executed if the above "if" check returns true. The "not" after "if" makes it so the result gets flipped, as in false becomes true and true becomes false. But what this line does, is take the skinflags, and add SF_SUPER to it by force. The $1 is what the variable was before, so SF_SUPER gets added, instead of actually overwriting it.
end end end end)
These lines end all the checks and such. The first "end" ends the "if not(player.charflags&SF_SUPER)", the next ends the "if player.mo and player.mo.skin=="modern_sonic" ", the next ends the "for player in players.iterate", and the last ends the "do" after the "ThinkFrame" hook has started. The closing bracket closes the hook.
Now this may seem confusing if you don't know a lot about Lua already, but don't worry, it was only to give you a slight idea of what was going on there.
If you want to know more about Lua coding in SRB2, make sure to check this page: Lua
But beware, it's incomplete (at time of writing this).
Naming
Like stated earlier, you can name Lua scripts whatever you want in your Wad, as long as it starts with LUA_, so move on.
Tweaks
This section covers a few simple tweaks, and explains them.
Make sure to change "SKINNAME" to the name you put in S_Skin, and it must be lower-case to work.
Again, this section only covers a few tweaks. There are more Lua scripts here.
Super in singleplayer
You may have noticed only Sonic can turn super in singleplayer. That's because he's the only one with the SF_SUPER skinflag, which is unsettable via S_Skin. But Lua can force it on...
addHook("ThinkFrame", do
for player in players.iterate
if player.mo and player.mo.skin=="SKINNAME"
if not(player.charflags&SF_SUPER)
player.charflags=$1+SF_SUPER
end
end
end
end)
This code checks if the player has the SF_SUPER skinflag. If not, it adds it on by force, thus allowing you to turn super if you are ready for it (same requirements as for Sonic).
It also gives the ability to float if you hold spin while jumping when super, also like Sonic.
Spin + MultiAbility
It's quite stupid you can't have both spin and multiability, isn't it? Well, you can.
addHook("ThinkFrame", do
for player in players.iterate
if player.mo and player.mo.skin=="SKINNAME"
if not(player.pflags&(PF_NIGHTSMODE))
if(player.pflags&(PF_THOKKED))
player.charability2=CA2_MULTIABILITY
else player.charability2=CA2_SPINDASH
end
end
end
end
end)
This code checks if you are in Nights mode, and if not, then it checks if you have used a midair ability, and if you have, it sets Ability2 to CA2_MULTIABILITY. If you haven't, it sets Ability2 to CA2_SPINDASH.
However, it only works for Thok, Fly, Glide, Homing Thok, Swim, Telekinesis, FallSwitch, and AirDrill. SlowFall always has multiability, and Double Jump and JumpBoost just receive a higher jump height, where you could just increase JumpFactor or ActionSpd to get the desired effect while keeping spin. But Float, however... If your character's ability is Float, you'll want this instead:
addHook("ThinkFrame", do
for player in players.iterate
if player.mo and player.mo.skin=="SKINNAME"
if not(player.pflags&(PF_NIGHTSMODE))
if(P_IsObjectOnGround(player.mo))
player.charability2=CA2_MULTIABILITY
else player.charability2=CA2_SPINDASH
end
end
end
end
end)
The difference between the codes are just that this one only checks if you are touching ground, instead of if you have used your ability, as Float doesn't properly send off a signal to say whether it has been used or not. Either way, the other one is recommended unless you want Float.