Devlog #3: the tools to animate
Sprite sheets, animations, transitions: the editor tools we use every day to bring the characters to life.
A brawler lives on animation: walks, guards, dozens of moves, falls, grabs, victory poses. Handling them by hand would be impossible, so the editor grew together with the game.
The Sprite Editor slices sprite sheets, even irregular ones, with grids, automatic figure detection and hand touch-ups. The Animator links animations with states and transitions, and every frame gets its hit boxes generated automatically, ready to refine.
Then there are attachment points on the frames, the “sockets”, where a punch’s flames start or an effect hooks on, and a preview that shows everything moving without starting the game.
They’re tools born out of need: every time a repetitive job ate our time, it became a button.