itch.io

Hi,

I would recommend either Stipple Effect, which is my own pixel art editor, or Aseprite.

Hi,

Yes, I plan to add them eventually but I have a few higher priority to-do items, including…

• Releasing a sprite style of original art
• Releasing TDSM on Steam
• v1.3.0 update

And yes, purchasing the program gives you access to all future software updates for TDSM. However, please note that purchasing the program does not grant you automatic access to support content like premium sprite styles.

Let me know if you have any other questions!

Hi,

Just overworld sprites!

It would be quite difficult to do battle sprites with a paper doll system because of all of the different poses and body types/sizes.

From Emerald:

What operating system are you running?

Does the software work as expected otherwise?

If you can, please email me the .stip export you are trying to open in Stipple Effect at jordanbunkework@gmail.com.

As of v1.2.0, only compile-time and runtime errors have detailed error messages that pop up in the program. This is something I will address in the next major version.

If you want, I can help you debug your new ZIP if you email it to me at jordanbunkework@gmail.com.

TDSM itself does not impose any licensing restrictions on the use of art created in the program, but individual sprite styles may.

TDSM doesn’t come with the Pokémon sprite styles by default. They are separate free downloads. [Gen. III] [Gen. IV]

The Pokémon sprite styles are adapted from art that is the copyright of The Pokémon Company, so you should avoid using them for commercial projects.

There are sprite styles available for TDSM that do not have any licensing restrictions, like Time Elements and Puny Characters. I am also working on a sprite style with original art that will be out in a few days:

Great, I love someone that is willing to get their hands dirty hahaha!

The presence/absence of a color picker for a color selection is determined by the boolean argument in the color selection constructor $Init::col_sel. If you unzip the sprite styles and look into manifest.tds, search for occurrences of “$Init.col_sel(” to find all the color selection constructors. The ones defined to NOT have color pickers will have a false argument. Set this to true and they will have a color picker.

I don’t exactly remember how every single color replacement is defined off the top of my head, but for Puny Characters, for example, it actually performs color replacements by loading image files from the palettes subdirectory and sampling pixels at certain coordinates of that image. The color choice is represented by rows, and the specific color in the ramp (highlights, neutral, shadow) is represented by the column. Because of this implementation choice, adding a color picker won’t produce the desired effect and may lead to runtime errors/crashes. In that particular case, you would have to rewrite all of the color replacement logic to make it work with the color picker.

The general rule of thumb I used to adapt sprite styles for collaborations like Time Elements and Puny Characters is that if the artists were intentional about color palettes, I define color replacement logic and color selections in an enumerable way. You would have to write custom replacement logic for skin tone for Time Elements as well, for example.

Feel free to check out the sprite style development guide or read through the API specification for a better understanding of the theory. I can give you more detailed one-on-one help if you email me at jordanbunkework@gmail.com.

And thank you so much!

I’m working on bringing TDSM to Steam. It will probably be available sometime in late November.

Can you tell me your computer specs? What operating system are you running?

You can email me at jordanbunkework@gmail.com for support.

Happy to help! Appreciate the kind words :)

You have to upload the sprite style ZIP to TDSM before attempting to load a metadata JSON in that sprite style back into the program. The next update will add an error screen that catches it if it can’t match the JSON to an uploaded sprite style, but right now the program just crashes when that happens.

So every time you launch TDSM, you have to upload your modified Time Elements sprite style ZIP before you try to load from JSON .

Let me know if that makes sense and if it resolves your issue!

Edit: Just to clarify, you are supposed to use the JSON from the exported animation. That isn’t a mistake.

Hi, I appreciate your interest in the program!

TDSM itself does not impose any licensing restrictions on the use of art created in the program, but individual sprite styles may.

In this case, the art assets that comprise the Pokémon sprite styles are adapted from art that is the copyright of The Pokémon Company.

I have a partial solution:

Store your animated GIFs in a public GitHub repository and link the raw content URL in the HTML/Markdown with an <img> tag (HTML) or a ![]() (Markdown).

Here’s an example:

• Image link: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jbunke/tdsm-art/refs/heads/master/_tdsm/logo/itch/tdsm-itch-card-3-mini.gif
• Repository: jbunke/tdsm-art

This works for GIFs in project page and devlog bodies, but it doesn’t work for banners or background images, since those have to be uploaded via the theme editor, and thus they rely on Itch.io to be animated and rendered correctly.

I have a partial solution:

Store your animated GIFs in a public GitHub repository and link the raw content URL in the HTML/Markdown with an <img> tag (HTML) or a ![]() (Markdown).

Here’s an example:

• Image link: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jbunke/tdsm-art/refs/heads/master/_tdsm/logo/itch/tdsm-itch-card-3-mini.gif
• Repository: jbunke/tdsm-art

This works for GIFs in project page and devlog bodies, but it doesn’t work for banners or background images, since those have to be uploaded via the theme editor, and thus they rely on Itch.io to be animated and rendered correctly.

My solution is to put them in a public GitHub repo and link the raw content URL.

Here’s an example:

• Image link: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jbunke/tdsm-art/refs/heads/master/_tdsm/logo/itch/tdsm-itch-card-3-mini.gif
• Repository: jbunke/tdsm-art

This works for GIFs in project page and devlog bodies, but it doesn’t work for banners or background images, since those have to be uploaded via the theme editor.

Added your pack to the approved sprite styles collection and sent the widget and a GIF via email!

Sent you the sprite style the other day for you to review! Feel free to send me your discord when you respond to the email if it’s easier to reach you there

A mod in another topic said “No idea” in response to a question about it a couple hours ago :/

No idea? Animated GIFs have been broken for going on three weeks now and there still isn’t at least a working theory why that you can share with us? 😭

There are two long topics about this, including one that Leaf has posted in [1] [2]. A lot of us rely on animated GIFs for our page presentation, and the lack of updates about what’s going on are really frustrating and disempowering.

I have all my animated GIFs in the body text hosted in GitHub repos and linked via HTML, but banners and background images have to be uploaded to Itch via the theme editor on the project page, so those depend on your image hosting to be rendered correctly.

Banner and background images uploaded as animated GIFs via the page theme editor are still static. Reuploading them also results in static display, so it doesn’t seem to be a caching issue. As far as I know, this functionality has consistently worked until about ~2-3 weeks ago.

Page: https://flinkerflitzer.itch.io/tdsm

Examples of affected GIF source files:

Hey man, please check your email 😅

Still waiting to hear back

Sprite style based on the farmer (player) in Stardew Valley is officially in the works! Watch this space

Sure!

Cover images

I was referring to cover images specifically in my message (the 630x500 images that represent a project). All my project cover images are animated GIFs. In the past, these would show their static initial frame until they were hovered over, at which point they would animate. Now, only the cover image of my project Top Down Sprite Maker is animated (strangely by default, and then stops on hover), and all other project cover image GIFs are being displayed as static all the time.

You can see this on my profile page.

Strangely, I sometimes see them as animated in my project dashboard, but then they go back to being static if I refresh the page.

Other GIFs

Many of my other GIFs hosted by Itch.io aren’t animating either. On the Top Down Sprite Maker project page, both the banner and background are animated GIFs, but neither is animated right now. Similarly, all of my screenshots are animated GIFs of program footage. Right now, it seems that only 2/6 (the first and the fourth) are animated in the right-side preview panel. The only GIF on the store page that I see as animated in my browser (Chrome on Windows 10) is the “Please rate the program” GIF with the moving stars, which is hosted on GitHub.

I have similar issues on my other project pages. For example, on the Pokémon Gen 4 Trainer sprite style page, the page banner isn’t being animated, but the animation preview GIF in the page body is, because it’s hosted on GitHub.

GIF cover images in project widgets also don’t seem to be being animated. You can see an example on the Pokémon page linked above.

I hope that helps. Let me know if I can do anything else to help diagnose the issue.

P.S.: Means a lot to be talking to the man himself! I think this site you’ve built is a monumental service you’ve done for creators and players, which is why I’m so passionate about its future. I’ve watched your XOXO Festival talk several times and always go back to it as a source of inspiration. I’ve been a bit frustrated by the lack of communication and clarity from the team recently surrounding the various issues the site has been having in recent weeks, but I’m rooting for you guys to get everything sorted!

Exactly this has been happening to me, but only for one of my projects. The rest also have GIF cover images, but they aren’t animating at all.

Same issue here. Strangely, old GIFs are animating even when they aren’t being hovered over, and stop animating on hover. Also, it isn’t just an old GIF / new GIF issue from me. Some old GIFs I uploaded months ago aren’t animating at all anymore.

It’s definitely possible and it’s one of the styles I’ve had high on the list of priorities since I first started working on the program!

The biggest issue there and the main reason I haven’t tackled that yet is the workload: the sheer number of animations is quite daunting if the style is meant to support all of the possible player —- and not just NPC —- animations.

I’m working on an original style right now that I should be ready to release the first version of in a few days. Then I have some other TDSM-related priorities, but this is something I could start working on by mid- to late October.

If you’d like to see it supported ASAP, let me know if you think you’d be up for for drawing the base assets and we can discuss collaborating on it, or whether you might even be interested in attempting to make an SDV sprite style entirely on your own, in which case I’d be happy to support you if you hit any snags or need any help or advice. :)

Hi, thanks for your support!

No, I’ve never used pokeemerald-expansion, but I can look into it and get back to you.

Generally speaking, you’ll want to make sure your sprite sheet layout and frame dimensions (both configurable on the Configuration screen in TDSM) match the layout and dimensions of the sprite sheets you are replacing.

As of v1.2.0, TDSM only exports sprite sheet PNG images with 32-bit RGBA colors. ROM hacks typically expect 4BPP (4 bits per pixel) images with accompanying palette data provided by a separate file.

My recommendation to you would be to take your exported sprite sheets from TDSM and convert them using a tool like Porypal, which is free and open source. Porypal is designed for Gen III ROM hacking sprite compatibility, and lets you convert your standard 32-bit RGBA PNGs to 4BPP PNGs that should work perfectly in a hex editor or with pokeemerald-expansion (don’t quote me on that just yet though!).

Let me know if that makes sense :)

Download the Gen 3 and Gen 4 sprite styles and upload them to the program by clicking the plus icon in the top-right corner of the customization screen.

There is a clip of me doing it in the trailer at the top of the page :)

Hi! Thanks for the kind words.

If you unzip the sprite styles you’ve downloaded, you’ll see a folder called bases. There is a subdirectory in that folder for every layer of the sprite style. In it, there are separate PNG images for every customization option, and a CSV file (comma-separated values) with every customization option ID for the layer. To add a hairstyle, for example, make a new PNG file in the same format as the others and save it. Be sure to use the exact same shades of blue for shading and highlighting for them to be recognized by the color replacement logic. The exact hex codes for the colors are in the palettes directory. Then make sure to add the file name of the hairstyle you added to the CSV file.

The “Make a sprite style” tutorial video might help you if you’re confused.

Let me know if you’re able to figure it out or if you have any other questions!

The issue seems to be fixed for me. Both logged in and logged out.

My thoughts exactly. It is a small team to be fair to them, but enough time has passed at this point for them to tell us that they are aware of the issue and working on finding a solution.

Same here. It’s been slow for the past couple of days, but has become almost unusable for me today. I haven’t seen an announcement anywhere giving us an update.

Hi Tori!

I sent you an email regarding a potential collaboration. I’d like to support this asset pack as a “sprite style” in my program Top Down Sprite Maker.

Please have a look at the full proposal and get back to me if you’re interested.

Hope Australia is treating you well :)

Hi Kenmi!

I sent you an email regarding a potential collaboration. I’d like to support the player/NPC character customization assets included as a “sprite style” in my program Top Down Sprite Maker.

I know that you are already working with a developer to produce the Player Sprite Creator Tool. However, that program doesn’t seem to be that user-friendly yet, so please consider whether it wouldn’t be worth it to offer a TDSM sprite style as well.

Please have a look at the full proposal and get back to me if you’re interested :)

Hi Jason!

I sent you an email regarding a potential collaboration. I’d like to support this asset pack as a “sprite style” in my program Top Down Sprite Maker.

I know that your asset already comes with a character generator. However, it seems to me that that program and editing workflow is less user-friendly than a TDSM sprite style would be. It gives users less control over randomization, and sprite sheet layouts, spacing, and ordering and inclusions cannot be configured. I also know that it’s broken on macOS. That being said, please consider whether it wouldn’t be worth it to offer a TDSM sprite style as well.

Please have a look at the full proposal and get back to me if you’re interested :)

Just saw it! I’ll reply to the email shortly.

Hi Karolina!

I sent you an email regarding a potential collaboration. I’d like to support this asset pack as a “sprite style” in my program Top Down Sprite Maker.

Please have a look at the full proposal and get back to me if you’re interested :)

Hi Caio!

I sent you an email regarding a potential collaboration. I’d like to support this asset pack as a “sprite style” in my program Top Down Sprite Maker.

Please have a look at the full proposal and get back to me if you’re interested :)

If you need help with something related to sprite style development, such as fixing bugs or understanding a program concept, please post in this thread. If your issue cannot be resolved here, I will arrange for you to send me an email and will do my best to debug your sprite style myself.