Game Development Community

Sprites, anyone?

by Caleb Child · in Torque Game Engine · 07/26/2006 (12:30 am) · 4 replies

Alright, so I can understand if this isn't exactly something in high demand, but I know that two-dimentional artwork is still used in 3d games.

Can someone direct me some tutorials (or give me a synopsis) for making an object be a sprite instead of a 3D model? I *imagine* that the scripting for such would require the use of something other than a .dts file, and the calling of something differant for any animations, but no further changes from any other object.
NextNext Thread
PrevPrevious Thread
More from Torque Game Engine


Torque Owner Caleb
Default Studio Name
#1
07/26/2006 (10:32 am)
I think you should look into the torque 2D game builder. Anything with just TGE might require a massive code change, but good luck.

Torque Owner Cliff
#2
07/26/2006 (11:08 am)
I have not used them in Torque before, but I think you might be looking for what's called "billboards." This is a simple 2 triangle polygon that you can apply a texture to and then have it always face the player so it acts like a sprite.

At least, if you are intending to have it be part of the 3D scene. If all you are looking for is to have a sprite overlay on top of your screen, then you could probably just use a GUI bitmap control and move it around.

Torque Owner Caleb Child
#3
07/26/2006 (11:37 am)
No, no, I'm looking for a 2D object in a 3D environment, think back to ye olde days, and picture the way Doom and Duke Nukem worked. Or think of a few of those 32-bit era RPGs, like Xenogears, Final Fantasy Tactics, or Shining Force III. Using a sprite in a 3D world.

The bilboard idea sounds good though, but I don't know about animating the sprites that would need animating, and if I decided that I need a sprite that has frames for being viewed from other angles, then I wouldn't be able to use that trick at all.

I'm pretty sure that this is what they use for particle effects, but I really don't even know how to make those...

Torque Owner Cliff
#4
07/26/2006 (11:51 am)
Billboarding is definitely what you're looking for, then. Last time I gave it a cursory glance, there was a lot of results returned from a search, but it was only a cursory glance so I forget what I found.