#Using script studio tutorials

[bartermains]

Using script studio tutorials

Using script studio tutorials how to#

Using script studio tutorials mod#

Using script studio tutorials code#

Using script studio tutorials windows#

I trust you know that a delegate is a reference type variable that, instead of referencing an object, references a function. In Reflector, you'll find a delegate handler called OnWorldLoadFinishedEventHandler in.

Using script studio tutorials mod#

At that time, our mod can't do anything fancy, because almost none of the interesting stuff is running yet. The parsing XML and calling static constructor stuff will be happen really soon, long before the main menu will show for the first time. We will make sure TS3 actually finds an XML resource for our tunable variable later when it comes to building the package.

Using script studio tutorials code#

TS3 assigns a value to our static variable, the static constructor of our class will be called, and badda bing we have a foot in the door to get our code running. TS3 on the other hand parses all XML resources, and assigns the tunable values it finds in there to the related variables in the related classes. That is to make sure that everything is in decent shape before the class has to interact with the rest of the world. This rule goes as follows: The first time a static field, property or method of a class gets accessed, the static constructor of that class will be called. We will "exploit" one of these rules to get our script up and running in TS3. Now might be a good moment to explain why we do this. Protected static bool kInstantiator = false I always use a boolean variable called kInstantiator which is a hidden homage to twallan. You can use a float or int just as well as a bool. The "nature" of that field isn't really important. Now add the static constructor and a static field with the Tunable attribute to your class. I am using TwoBTech for my mods, but you must use something else! Don't use someone else's namespace just like that! Afterwards, the code should look like this: You don't want your namespace to clash with an EAxian namespace or with another modder's namespace. Change the namespace and class name to something more sensible.Ĭhoose wisely when it comes to your namespace and pick something that hopefully will be unique.The bare code skeleton VS created should still look like this: Now bring up the actual code file of your project again. To get VS to stop whining about some ostensible errors, close and re-load the project in VS. Change these attribute values to modify the information General Information about an assembly is controlled through the following Add using Sims3.SimIFace and to it and save. When VS first opens AssemblyInfo.cs, it will probably throw lots of errors at you. Double-click on AssemblyInfo.cs to open it.Open the Solution Explorer for your project.I'll explain why we need to do that later in this tutorial. Start Reflector and load the core libraries with it.īefore we look at the actual code, we need to set up the VS project to support tunable values.Create a game-compatible Visual Studio project as explained here: Sims_3:Creating_a_game_compatible_Visual_Studio_project.Sims3Metadata.dll (from scripts.package).Sims3GameplaySystems.dll (from gameplay.package).Sims3GameplayObjects.dll (from gameplay.package).Sims3StoreObjects.dll (from gameplay.package).When done, you must have the following list of libraries extracted to the same folder, with the following names: Repeat steps 3 to 7 for every package listed under step 2.Repeat steps 4 to 6 for every S3SA resource in the package.Choose a sensible folder for the library and save it under the exact name it gives you.Right-click on the resource and choose "Export DLL".Note that S3PE shows some information about that resource in the preview area. In this folder are three packages: gameplay.package, scripts.package, and simcore.package Navigate to the installation folder of The Sims 3 and from there to the sub-folder where the executable is located.Extract the core libraries with S3PE if you haven't already.If you fail to accomplish that, you can't hope to successfully write scripting mods. A game that is properly set up to support scripting mods.A basic understanding of the C# syntax or at least any C-like language.NET Reflector, simply called Reflector later on NET assembly browser/decompiler - this tutorial refers to redgate. Sims3 Package Editor - simply called S3PE later in this tutorial.

Using script studio tutorials windows#

Or Microsoft Visual Studio Express 2012 for Windows Desktop.

Microsoft Visual C# Express 2008 - simply called VS later in this tutorial.

For today we will make a handy little mod that pauses the game after loading a save game. While getting started is a bit more complicated than for an object mod, the actual coding can be as simple or complicated as you want.

Using script studio tutorials how to#

This tutorial will explain how to make a pure scripting mod, i.e.

11 Where Does The Newborn Go From Here?.

4 Additional Preparations In Visual Studio.

[bees-tes-blog]

THEORETICALLY if I can figure out how to open up the plugin in visual studio it cant be hard to just change the status message. like it's just a string right

[heck-theo]

TMayNT Day 14: Favourite turtle movie.

The Rise one :P

Ok SO I disappeared because when I saw this prompt I wanted to finish this. Now to try and catch up, or at least continue TMayNT. If anyone would like to guess at themes and motifs I'd love to hear it because I remember putting a lot of thought into the initial concept ^^

More info about the creation of the video below:

So a lot of this isn't up to my personal standards BUT I'm proud of it because: I have started dozens of projects like this and almost never finished any. I am fighting my perfectionism and sporadic ADHD motivation. I believe I conceptualised this at the end of 2022 or early 2023 and reanimated/redrew the storyboard at least 3 times over the first half of 2023 before it was abandoned. Until now. Also I've never had a "camera" to play with before so I'm very inexperience with that.

It's a bit inconsistent: 1. because it was partially an experiment using Moho. It was my first time properly using it and I definitely need to look at some tutorials because I' strong armed it and made things a lot harder than I'm pretty sure I am not making the most of the features lol. Its also a vector program, which I'm not used to. 2. because I redrew the storyboard multiple times (and kept various aspects of it for the final ver) and then redrew it a final time after like a year.

So I credited those artists for popularising the meme but I actually have no idea where specifically I got the idea. I do not remember referencing any other "Is It Cold Outside" memes. I'm like 99% sure I sat down and wrote out a plan/script in word but it's possible I was inspired by or referenced someone specific and don't remember, so if anything is ringing any familiar bells please let me know.

I can't find the original sped up audio used in these memes but I believe this was the original original: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KorGLK9VXcU (If anyone can tell me more info about the audio used in this meme, let me know). Storyboarded on Clip Studio, animated on Moho, minor editing on Kdenlive.

[petalruesimblr]

Hello everyone! As I have gained a lot more followers since my last #Followers Gift, I'm now back again with another one. This time I'm sharing two part-time careers: Stadium Operations Staff and Plumbob Pictures Studio Tour Guide.

To ensure we're all on the same page, please take a moment to read my #psa regarding these careers, click here.

If you are interested, click on ’Keep Reading’ below for more information and pictures of the Stadium Operations Staff and Plumbob Pictures Studio Tour Guide Part-Time Careers.

Stadium Operations Staff

Download Link: Sim File Share |

Career Details:

Available for: Young Adults and Adults Available Languages: English Rabbit Hole: Stadium Uniforms: Paper boy uniform from the journalism career Packs Needed: The Sims 3 File Type: Package 📣All descriptions for the levels, tones and metrics as well as skills required, salary, uniforms and other details are provided on the pictures above.

Plumbob Pictures Studio Tour Guide

Download Link: Sim File Share |

Career Details:

Available Languages: English Uniforms: Report processor uniform from the business career Packs Needed: The Sims 3, Late Night (Movie Set RH) File Type: Package 📣All descriptions for the levels, tones and metrics as well as skills required, salary, uniforms and other details are provided on the pictures above.

Required: NRAAS Careers Mod

Known issue: The Career_Pic_s (the image that will show beside the level name in the game) will always appear dark. I have already checked the Job Centre Discord and it seems to be a common issue. There was advice to make the image white, which I did try, but it didn't look great due to my limited editing skills. So, I resorted to using two different pictures for the icons instead and have included them in the picture above for reference.

Final Notes:

I tried something different this time and placed the details of each career on the pictures above instead of using game screenshots, making it look cleaner and more organized. I had fun doing it during boring work hours but let me know still if you all prefer the game screenshots instead.

I limited both part-time careers to young adults and adults only as I don't think elders would fit them in terms of the required strength needed to be standing all day realistically in those settings.

For their uniforms, I debated whether to stick to the game uniforms, use the bouncer uniforms that came with Late Night for the stadium part-time or make custom ones for both. I decided to use the game uniforms instead for now and may come back to update these careers for the uniforms, though I don't have a set date yet for when that might be.

As stated above, you will need NRAAS Careers Mod for these careers to show up in the game and as long as you have the latest version of it, it should work for higher patches.

I’m not fluent in any other languages to translate so if anyone is interested in translating this career, please don’t hesitate to send me a message here or comment on this post and will let you know the details.

I have tested this career in my game, so far it is working and all scripts are showing up. All feedback is very welcome to help me learn and improve my skills so please let me know if you experience any problems on your end and I’ll do my best to sort it as soon as possible.

Credits:

Image by pikisuperstar, brgfx and macrovector on Freepik MissyHissy step-by-step tutorial Job Centre Discord

[laughterfixs]

Remember the gif animations??

I know I showed those recently and told folks I was working on a pretty big project. And well...idk how long it's gonna take me as I have no idea what I'm doing....>w>;

Soooo I guess I'm gonna do a bit of a dev log suddenly? XD

This is what I've been workin on. A clicker game for people who wanna give tickles to the daycare attendant. I know I sure do.

This is actually gonna be a mini game for another game I have in mind for the boys. But I thought this might be easier to make first and in turn learn gamemaker studio. As you can see...I got some of it figured out...but there's more I gotta learn. I'm sharing this for a few reasons. One, I dunno how long this will take me and holding a dev log might help push me. I end up getting frustrated and overwhelmed when I try to take on such a big project, and I do not learn easily from watching tutorials ^^;

This is very trial and error for me. Especially since I'm using visual scripting which is a bit harder than I thought! Which gets frustrating XD But if anyone has tips or can lend a helping hand in how GMS2 might work with this I'd heavily appreciate it!

[h9o6]

[NEWS] Key Visual Reveal! and August Progress Report

Hello Everyone, we’re here to reveal our long overdue key visual!

Our key visual features the main characters, Katsuya, Atsuya, Megumi, Hayato and Tamami. We aimed for a heartwarming feel for this key visual and we hope it brightens up your day too!

August Progress Report

Subsequent to post Kickstarter campaign (despite not reaching our goal), we focused on collecting feedback and data by conducting survey and researching at the beginning of the month. Most comments and feedback received were constructive and we have organize a list of them to implement our game in the future. Here are some examples:

Background aren’t self-explanatory (solution: labels/indicators for location name)

Tutorials and Manuals are not clear for Steam players (solution: in-game manual is to be included)

Language interface problems (solution: reconstruction of the programming system) … etc.

Fortunately, many of them are simple to implement as long as we have the time. As our development progresses, there will be an update on each implementation accordingly. We’re very grateful to have received much support for and interest in our game MY DEAR☆LOVE.

Furthermore, as some of you might’ve known already, BlerdyOtome streamed our game on Twitch ♥ We’re very honoured to hear player’s thoughts and experience live since this is what we want to bring to the community. Of course, her insights have helped us analyze our game in a different POV so we can improve.

In addition, we also created our Ko-fi page for any of you who’d like to show some support! Click here to visit our Ko-fi page! We’ll sort out the details of each tier in the near future. In general, as a Ko-fi supporter, you’ll have access to exclusive contents such hi-res graphics and PSDs, BTS (behind-the-scenes contents) and name in credits for the game. We’re also planning on art requests for higher tiers as well. If you would like more of our contents or our projects, please consider supporting us on Ko-fi! We’d greatly appreciate your help.

As for the game development progress, we’ve worked on polishing the writing for the final demo as mentioned on our monthly goal. Not only did we finish the polishing, but we also have actually gone further into the writing for 2 chapters, as well as brainstorming ideas and outlining the script of our future project… Although this was very time-consuming, it was all worth the effort! Nonetheless, it comes with a price. Since we worked heavily on the writing, our progress on visual/graphic have slowed down. Our long overdue key visual was finally completed during the week, and only one and a half of the sprite(s)… are in progress. We’re not entirely satisfied with our schedule however life does get in the way sometimes. Anyways, we’ll be posting our monthly goal of September soon and we hope to progress further.

To wrap up, Happy Saturday!

✿✿✿

Thank you for supporting an indie studio like us; it makes a big difference as we would be able to create freeware and budget-friendly games for everyone!

Stay tuned and stay hydrated!

[spinebuster]

It's been requested so here it is: my gif tutorial! I hope to make this very simple as I've made gif making very simple for myself with the help of .atn made by myself and others. More under the cut!

First, what you'll need.

Photoshop (here's a link to a masterlist of free photoshop resources from birdysources)

KMPlayer, to get your screencaps.

These PS actions. (My gifmaking one, and this sharpening action from insomniacgifs.)

Some understanding of how to color gifs (I'll be linking my psd shown here, as well as including the process of making one.)

Next, how to get the videos that you want to gif.

I personally source my videos from Youtube, Twitter, and streaming services. (Firefox browser is your best friend, as it doesn't black out the screen that some services have.) If a Youtube Video Downloader isn't working, or if I'm capturing my own footage, I use the Xbox Game Bar's recording feature (windows + alt + r) to capture footage. There's also applications like OBS Studio. For Twitter, I use twittervideodownloader.com

Now, making the gif.

I use Photoshop CC 2018, but any PS with a timeline will work. But first, we gotta take our screencaps. Open your video in KMPlayer, and press alt+v. This will open up this second screen

These are my settings, with an easily accessible folder that I save my frames to. Find the scene you want to clip, and hit start & play your video, then stop when you have the frames you want.

Next up we're going to open up Photoshop. I changed my keyboard shortcuts so all I've got to do is hit ctrl+alt+o, but for you guys, you gotta go to File -> Scripts -> Load Files Into Stack

Select your screencaps of the scene you want to gif. Now that Tumblr allows gifs up to 10MB, the amount of caps you want is totally up to you. I stick to around 45-50, but sometimes there's a scene I need that's up to 150+ caps, and it still fits under the size limit. It all depends on the dimensions and coloring of your gif. I'm loading up 51 frames as the sharpening .atn deletes the final frame of your gif once it reverts back to frames, so I'll have an even 50 framed gif.

Your PS should look like this. Here comes the gif making itself. You want to hit Create Frame Animation at the bottom, where your timeline is. If your timeline isn't already open, click your Window tab up top, and find timeline in the dropdown.

After you hit Create Frame Animation, you want to Make Frames From Layers, which you'll find when you click the three lines on your timeline.

Then, reverse your frames.

Finally, Select All Frames, click the arrow on the frames, and change the frame delay to .06 seconds.

Way to go! You've made a gif! Now, if you're like me, you'll get tired of having to do that over & over when making a gifset. So, I recorded and uploaded an .atn, which means all you gotta do is load up your frames, hit play on the .atn, and your gif is good to go. I'll link it again so you don't have to lose your place in the tutorial.

So you've made your gif, now what? Now we crop, sharpen, color, and save for the web. Let's get to it.

Tumblr dimensions can be tricky, but they're easy to remember. (I even made a little graphic for it!)

For my tutorial, my Jamie gif will be 268 x 268 :)

Here is my unsharpened, unedited gif of Jamie Hayter. I believe this clip was snagged from YouTube, but it's been awhile since I saved it. I use insomniacgifs' gif sharpening atn, as I hate manually sharpening gifs. So let us run that real quick. (I'll be using the Strong option. Don't forget to delete the final frame.)

Onto coloring! The example I whipped up for this tutorial is super simple, so let's go!

I typically edit the curves first. I'm not sure why, just something I picked up from my photo journalism class back in HS.

Next, I add a little brightness. (+10)

Then, I mess with Selective Color, just a bit. (Neutrals, Black +10. Blacks, Black +5.)

Now, I don't know exactly what Channel Mixer does, but it's fun. Here's my settings.

Some Saturation (+5)

And lastly, I edit the Color Balance!

Aaaaand here's my final product! I also uploaded this as a PSD for you to save and use yourself!

Once your gif is all done, we need to save it properly. File -> Export -> Save for Web (Legacy). Here are my settings.

Note: Make sure your looping options is set to forever so your gif doesn't loop once and freeze!

And that's it! I hope this helped, and if you have any questions, my ask box is open!

[alternate-beta-clones]

what program do you use and/or which brushes for Alternia Beta Clones? /genq

Thanks for asking, I really wanted to talk about it! :D

(It's going to be a bit long so I'll put it in 'Keep Reading' xD)

To draw my panels, I use Clip Studio Paint. And for the brush, I use the basic nib (Plume G) with no anti-aliasing effect!

I also use 714 x 441 px format so that you can see the pixel effect better.

Why 714 x 441 px precisely? Er… actually, it's mostly due to a mistake when I made my first panels. Basically, I wanted to use a 600 x 400px format, and I must have made a mistake when creating the file! But I like the way it looks in the end.

Otherwise, I originally made the character sprites on Clip Studio Paint, using the same brush as before. But I quickly realized that it wasn't the most adaptable, and now I'm reworking all my sprites on Aseprite! It's a software specialized in pixels. I've also started doing some backgrounds there! (Like Eclass hive)

CSP :

Aseprite:

By the way, for the environments, I'm using a script I found on itch.io to make isometric boxes. (HERE)

For the video part, I edit on Movavi! And by the way, I don't compose my own music, I go through OpengameArt ( I update my credits document if you'd like to see the music I use).

And finally the video game part! For the moment I've only used renpy, mainly because I'm familiar with coding with it. It's not necessarily the most optimized if you ask me! I did the clicker on it, but renpy is better suited to visual novels! (maybe I'll put some visual novels in Alternate Beta Clone too?)

Otherwise, I'm learning how to use GameMaker and I'd love to make games on it, so let's see in the future! :D

(Note that Renpy and Game Maker are free, and there are lots of tutorials on the net! You can also find resources on itch.io)

[juni-ravenhall]

Hey, I want to start learning coding and animation ( preferably 3D, but I would've mind 2D either.) and I was wondering if you knew a good program or engine to start with.

You seem to know a lot about stuff like this so I thought I'd ask, no pressure though.

Have a great day/night

yay!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D ur very welcome to dm me if u want more specific advice but ill tell u some basics :3

for coding, if its for games, you should pick a game engine that's commonly used and has a lot of free tutorials, and pick the programming language that is used for that engine (if it uses a regular programming language). the langs are all similar to each other so its more about learning the "programming logic" than really learning one specific language, so its ok no matter what you start with, dont worry. some engines also use "visual scripting" / "logic blocks" to build the game logic instead of typing out stuff in regular code, which can be easy to start with.

preferably pick a free engine (its okay if they have paid upgrades / paid licenses for professionals, just ignore that part until ur working on a serious project, ur just learning for now!) so u can try out a couple free engines to pick one that feels the most fun to get into. some ones i would rec:

Ren'Py is a free engine for visual novel games / text adventures, and its very easy to get into imo. it has its own simplified code based on Python but u dont need to study any python to start. just follow a tutorial and read the code in the examples etc, and try to make a small game. you can use .png artwork for your sprites, both stuff you grabbed somewhere or if you wanna put in your own drawings, so the graphics are easy to work with.

Stencyl is a free engine for 2d games, you could make a 2d platformer, 2d action, a puzzle game, stuff like that. graphics are easy here too, just 2d art you make yourself or grab free from somewhere. it uses visual scripting. follow a tutorial and itll make sense pretty quickly.

Unity is a free engine for 2d and 3d games, you code in C# (theres also plugins to use visual scripting). very popular with tons of different tutorials and resources, but can be overwhelming to get into. you can check out some video tutorials first and see if that feels like too much for you to start with, or if it seems doable with tutorials. (u can download free 3d models / 2d assets to get started if needed)

Unreal Engine is free and mostly for 3d games. you should prob have a good computer to try using it tho. it has a visual scripting blocks language too so it seems relatively easy to get into, and good if you want to make the typical AAA looking stuff, bc thats what everyone else is doing with that engine. (you can download free 3d models to get started if needed)

there are way more engines so you can also search for them to find more options. a popular paid one i would add is RPG Maker which might be relevant depending on ur interests. and a not-as-popular but beloved-by-me engine is GB Studio (where you make gameboy games), which is free and pretty easy to use, it uses visual scripting.

its ok to try different engines but make sure to not get stuck just hopping between engines, try to follow some tutorials from start to finish, or to finish your own little test projects. one good tip about game dev tutorial videos is: watch each video twice, first one time just watching, and then again once to actually follow along. it tends to feel less confusing.

for animation:

u should pick a type of animation u prefer the style of, to start with, theres obvs similarities in how to make good movements/etc between all types of animation, but a lot of differences in how to technically do things.

(to get good at movements/etc for all types, study and practice the principles of animation + study from irl reference + study from your favourite animations!)

i think, if you think 3d seems more fun than 2d then go for it, and vice versa. its not going to be vastly more difficult one way or the other, it just depends on your personality and what comes easier to you. there are also different types of 2d animation, like traditional (think old animated movies/cartoons - and most pixel art games), or rigged, where you move a 2d image based on a rig / armature / skeleton just like with 3d or stop-motion puppets. an example of this type of 2d is the MLP:FiM cartoon, the Cult of the Lamb game, and many other modern cartoons and 2d games. lots of vtubers have 2d character art that is animated like this too.

if you want to make traditional 2d animation, the best types of games to do with this would be 2d games in general (platformers, rpgs, puzzles, whatever) and visual novels - you can do either pixel art, or regular drawings (raster art), or vector art. (for a fun example of 2d animation in a visual novel, see the old Ace Attorney games.) for this type of animation you just draw a bunch of images, and import/export the sequence of frames as sprites in your engine, pretty much. programs id recommend for doing trad 2D animation is Krita (free, great art program, i use this to draw and animate all the time, but not good for pixel art), and Aseprite for pixel art (not free, but great, i use it for all my pixel art / animation).

if you want to do 2d rig animation, you will need an engine that supports this type. i dont have much experience w this animation style (only a tiny bit and not for gamedev) so i cant really help, but i think you should prob pick Unity engine if u want to do this style, and im sure theres a bunch of tutorials for that to get you started.

if u want to do 3D, you download Blender for free and go wild. pair with Unity or Unreal engine to start with. there are tons of free blender youtube tutorials for all purposes and skill levels, you can both model, sculpt (like clay style), paint textures, rig, animate, and render, all within blender without even needing to leave the program if you dont want to. (i use other programs for texture painting tho, like Krita which is free.) follow some simple beginner tutorials for making a simple model, then for a simple character and making a simple first animation, and it wont be that hard. it might feel overwhelming for like a week or two but then itll be fine if you keep at it. try to follow only recent tutorials for approximately the same version of blender that you install, otherwise it might get confusing.

after making a model in blender, you will be able to export it to various formats and import it in 3d engines like Unity or Unreal. there are tutorials for that too. i really recommend picking a beginner tutorial and just going with it, and maybe if they provide you with free tutorial models for the project, you could switch out one of their models with your own 3d model to test it out.

i know this is super long... i tried to make it digestable.... TL;DR:

start with Ren'Py for visual novels if u wanna make some easy visual novels with 2d art (drawings etc)

start with Stencyl or GB Studio or RPG Maker if u wanna make other types of 2d games, especially with pixel art

start with Unity or Unreal Engine for 3d games (but unity can also do all kinds of 2d games. unreal might be heavy on ur comp)

get Blender for free now. install it on ur computer and rejoice. if u want to make 3d stuff ofc :)

get Krita for free now and same as above rejoice etc. but its for drawing, trad 2d animating, image editing in general, and making drawn textures for 3d.

if u can afford it and want to make pixel art, get Aseprite for relatively cheap. there are other programs u can use so dw if u dont want to pay, just my recommendation.

[vangh17a]

How do you go about formatting your comics? I’ve always wanted to make a comic but formatting it has always been a struggle..

Also don’t forget to drink water and care for urself

Drink has been acquired! Grab yourself one too, it's "Vane might ramble too much" hours!

Keep in mind that my formatting is what works for me, so it might not work for everyone. I also use Clip Studio Paint (EX), so some bits might work for other programs, while some might not. I also can't for the life of me remember the difference between CSP Debut, Pro, or EX so I'm sorry if I mention features you might not have.

I'm gonna cut the post here, so it doesn't take up too much space on the dash :D

Alrighty! I'm not completely sure what you mean by format, so I'll just do a quick rundown of my process!

Script

I usually start with a script. It can be as loose or detailed as you want it to be, but mine usually are something like this:

Character A: "Says a word!" Description of scene or action

Character A: "Says more words!" Character B: "And more words are said"

I use gaps in the text to signify a panel break. So this would be two panels! Keep in mind your workload, and don't put in too many if you're not ready for it.

Sketch

After I finalize, or at least have a general understanding of my script, I get a canvas around the size that I think it'll be. I usually start out with about 1800x8000, but you can adjust it based on your needs.

I like to try and sketch out a rough idea of how I want the comic to flow. Using my script, I sketch out the panels and toss in where I think the text bubbles will go. Here's the latest Wanderer update as an example! (Yes I usually use the first draft sketches for the final product, don't worry about it lmao)

I do a sketch of the entire thing, which helps me resize as I need.

Panels

The panels were always the hardest part for me to figure out before I started working on Wanderer. Again, this is what works for me. It might not work for everyone, and this is also just how I set up this specific comic.

Let's get some boxes going. Go to the Frame Border option, and select rectangle frame.

It needs to be on create frame!

Click and drag one giant box over your sketch. I'm using an excerpt from the above sketch for example! You can click the frame layer itself, hold ctrl down and adjust the width of the box.

Delete this layer:

and move your sketch above the frame layer so you can see it!

Now we just split the panels up how you want them. Next to where you found the Create Frame option earlier, there should be a Cut Frame option. I personally use Divide Frame Folder, so everything is contained without bleeding through to other panels.

You can mess with these:

The "gutter" is just how much space is made between panels.

When making your panel splits, you can hold ctrl to snap to a 45° angle.

It might end up looking messy to the side, but each new frame folder will be like a new mini canvas for each panel. I find that color coding the layers helps me find which ones I need if I start getting too many.

Here's a look at what it might look like based on what I've done for just this example.

And if we go to the actual file for the upload...

It keeps everything nice and organized, imo!

Okay, I thiiink that about covers it. Text boxes/bubbles and the such are easier to find tutorials for, so I'm not gonna cover those unless people specifically want those. But I'm more than willing to divulge... most... of my secrets haha.

As always if I need to clarify anything, just ask and I'll do my best to clear it up! Best of luck on your comic making adventures!

[sacredechoes]

I'm thinking of trying my hand at some GBA Fire Emblem ROM hacking, and I was wondering, what software/program/whatever was used to make Sacred Echoes?

My workflow for Sacred Echoes ended up being pretty similar to how the original devs built FE8 - meaning I was mostly working with source code and the compiler with various command-line utilities to convert my asset files into a data format the GBA could handle. When I started the project in mid-2018, I already had some formal education and work experience in programming, so I was past the steepest part of the learning curve for these specific tools.

Please note that my methods are NOT the methods I would recommend for a first project unless you're already familiar with the software development process and using command-line tools. I went into Sacred Echoes knowing I would need to write a bunch of custom code to modify the game mechanics beyond what the beginner tools at the time allowed me to do, so I chose the more complex path. If you're looking for an all-in-one graphical editor that's more friendly to beginners, FEBuilder is amazing and constantly updated with new functions. Whichever method you decide on using, the FE Universe forum and discord are full of resources, tutorials, and helpful people, and I wouldn't have been able to succeed without them. Best of luck on your project!

That said, here's all the technical details and links to all the tools I used:

Sacred Echoes was built using a combination of GNU make (a build system used to automatically detect and compile changes to source code in large projects) and Event Assembler, a utility primarily built for editing the GBA Fire Emblem games. Event Assembler is used with a method called the buildfile, which is essentially a fancy text file with instructions for Event Assembler to insert source files into a ROM and linking different parts together. This meant I used different tools for creating each type of data. Unlike with a ROM editor (such as FEBuilder), I wasn't constantly saving my changes to the same ROM file, but instead freshly building it each time I made a change and wanted to test. This meant that if I messed up (very common when writing custom code), I could just comment out the relevant code or instructions in the buildfile and rebuild from source, rather than try to pick through the ROM by hand to fix issues.

There were cases where I would need to view and edit raw binary data with a hex editor (usually to find a pointer to compressed graphics or a data table); I prefer HxD for that.

For graphics, use any program that can edit and save .PNG files (I used MS Paint and GIMP), and then a tool for game graphics called Usenti to put them into a format the GBA can read. If you need to find and rip graphics from a ROM to edit them, GBAGE is the gold standard (and comes built-in to FEBuilder).

Maps are built from the tileset graphics using a program called Tiled.

For music, the GBA uses MIDI sequences, so any audio program with MIDI support works fine for that. (I used Anvil Studio). The MIDI file is then converted to GBA with a utility called midi2agb.

For unit data and other large data structures, I used a spreadsheet in CSV format, which can be edited with a program like Excel or LibreOffice Calc.

For map events and loading units, the GBA FE games use a scripting language called Event Assembler Language, which just gets written in a raw .txt file. A good plaintext editor like Notepad++ or SublimeText can help keep track of language syntax and keywords.

For assembly code, it is also written in a text editor, and then compiled to bytecode with devkitARM. Most of it I wrote in raw ARM assembly language (which is specific to the GBA's CPU), but in more complex cases towards the end of the project I wrote the code in the C programming language and compiled it with devkitARM.

To keep track of my source files and changes, and to make backups and version control easier, I just used GitHub because I already had an account, but you could also use GitLab or Bitbucket instead.

Finally, I used some tools made by the FE hacking community specifically for automating some tasks and formatting data - most of these are Python scripts, but some can be downloaded as compiled executables. I used "lyn", "TMX2EA", "C2EA", TextProcess and ParseFile, and AnimationAssembler. Ask on the FEU discord or check the forum's toolbox tag.

[hiraganasakura]

Hot take of the day before I go to bed:

Pokéstar Studios is fun actually. It's just that the tutorial sucked due to the player being forced into it against their will, when it was also unnecessarily long, and when it was also at a point where pretty much all of us likely didn't care about it. So it had the opposite effect as intended and pushed players away rather than welcoming them into it

But it's actually rly fun beyond that! It requires you to be way more thoughtful than in the average Pokémon battle, especially if you use the rental Pokémon and try to stick as close to the script as possible. It's sort of like solving a puzzle! I only just properly tried it myself a few days ago and I'm having a blast

If you ditched Pokéstar Studios after the bad tutorial and never looked back, I recommend giving it a second chance. If you still don't like it that's valid, but on the other hand, the bad first impression might be just that!

[atwas-creations]

With the insanity that Unity's recent decisions have caused, I, as an aspiring game dev/designer, am looking to see what else is available. We all know about RPG Maker, GameMaker Studio, Godot, and Unreal. But if you're like me and have little to no understanding of code and limited finances, here are alternative indie engines I've scrounged up:

Idle Game Maker, the one I'm currently working with, built by Orteil of Cookie Clicker fame

Bitsy, and an associated pixel art tool called Pixsy

Pocket Platformer, similar to Bitsy, and code-free

Rogue Engine- requires download, but apparently, there's a tutorial

GDevelop- both 2D and 3D engines, has tutorials, and even has an option to playtest games in development and provide feedback (I am definitely trying out this one in the near future)

Heaps.io-requires download, and this honestly looks a little over my head right now, but might be worth checking into when I get a better understanding of code

Stride- 3D games, requires download, has docs and instructions so you can learn quickly

Bevy- 2D games for browser and mobile

LibGDX- now we're getting into engines that can make REAL games, some of the games in their showcase are on Steam

Defold- according to their showcase, this was used to make that mobile game Family Island that you've seen in so many ads

Love- don't be fooled by the childish font on their home page, the games in their showcase look amazing

HaxeFlixel- apparently used to make Friday Night Funkin'???

Armory3D, which apparently uses Blender

Solar2D, and here's their showcase- looks decent enough

Solarus- I didn't recognize the name, but I know I've heard of this, I've seen Zelda fans use this one. You have to download their launcher to play the games on PC.

DOME, which uses its own programming language

FNA, which calls itself a "reimplementation of Microsoft XNA"- if you remember, XNA no longer exists, but Eric Barone used it for Stardew Valley. FNA has been used to make games like Rogue Legacy (it's a real game, I got it on Steam).

Monogame- a direct descendant of XNA, being used for Stardew Valley's updates, and used to make a whole host of other popular indie games including 2 of my favorites: Axiom Verge and Celeste (so yeah, I'm definitely checking into Monogame if it's still around by the time I learn C#)

RPG in a Box, which looks really blocky and rough, but appears to be a cheaper solution than RPG Maker, especially for those new to the field. I already paid for RPG Maker, so I don't know if I'll use this one, but I'm putting it here for anyone else who may want to try it.

Adventure Game Studio- not sure how difficult it will be to use, but I'm seeing some decent-looking games in their showcase

RPG Paper Maker, which, I guess, makes 3D games out of pixel art? Says it's free to use, but if you want to sell your game, you'll need to buy a license. Fair enough, I suppose.

Narrat, another one I am DEFINITELY going to try, at least while I'm still learning. Has its own, very simple, easy to read script that is a step above Idle Game Maker's script, but not quite as complicated as "real" programming languages. Make RPG's and put them on Itch.io.

Ren'Py, for visual novels (apparently Doki Doki was made with this!?!)

Decker, can be used for various kinds of applications, not much for game-making, but maybe with a little imagination....

Engine.lol- I'm, uh, not sure what this is, but could be good for generating ideas.

EbitEngine- describes itself as "dead simple," used to make Bear's Restaurant.

Raylib- no tutorials, no built-in assets, you MUST know how to code- but it looks like a no-frills engine if you do know how to code. I don't, so I won't be using it, but if you do, go right ahead.

PyGame, which apparently uses Python coding language.

And this article listed all these and a few more that I didn't list here because they looked too expensive or too complicated.

There's also a Pixel Game Maker on Steam. It's 90 bucks right now (ouch!) but if you can get it, it looks like it'll be worth it.

[twinsimming]

Hey :) I just wanted to let you know you are doing god’s work for the sims 3 community and I appreciate you so much <3 any link for us to buy you a coffee?

Also— question, how did you start making such high quality mods so fast? Any tutorials you’d recommend? I’d love to hear about your modding journey! Mine has been a bit of a fail so far haha :p

Thank you so much uphorya, I appreciate you too 🤗 I made a Ko-fi if anyone would like to tip me, but please do not feel pressured to! My content will always be free.

As for modding, I actually started back in 2020 when the pandemic hit. Like you, most of my first attempts at script modding were failures, but each time I failed, I learned something new and applied it to my next attempt. I didn't have much success until last year, around the time when I started helping Alunn with the Yoga Mod. Then I took what I learned from the project and started on the Pasteurize Milk Mod and the Chaise Lounge Mod after that. The milk mod alone was a WIP for around 17 months, so don’t feel discouraged about a mod taking too long to make!

I also used quite a few tutorials. I'll link some of the most relevant ones below:

Sims 3 Object Modding

Sims 3 Pure Script Modding

Sims 3 XML Tuning Modding

How To Make a Default Replacement

PuddingFace's Modding Tutorial Playlist

Creating a Game Compatible Visual Studio Project

Sims 3 Script Modding: Setting Up SharpDevelop

TS4 to TS3 Animation Conversion Tutorial

Jazz Scripts - Adding Animations to Your Objects

Something else that's been helpful for me is to look at what code functions other modders are using. The main place I used is the Sims 3 Modding Forum at ModTheSims (MTS) and the Cave of the Code Snippets thread there. There are also more tutorials you may find helpful depending on your projects on the Tutorial Board.

A really good tool for starting out is the Script Mod Template Creator by Battery. It creates script mod templates for you, so you don’t have to make your own from scratch! This is also the same tool that I used to create the custom moodlets for the milk mod.

And finally, connect with other creators! There are so many people in this community willing to help you get your mod off the ground. The reason I have long thank you lists for my mods is because all of those people helped me in some way or another make my modding dreams a reality (and I appreciate them so much!!). 

If you get stuck, don’t be afraid to make a thread on ModTheSims or reach out on the TS3 Creators’ Cave over on Discord. Sorry this is kind of long, but I hope it will be useful 💙

[frenchiefitzhere]

Both of your series give me art zoomies, but I was wondering if you could enlighten someone who plans to start their own va stuff (eventually 😓). What does your recording/editing process look like?

Big caveat: I'm not an expert. Entirely self-taught. All trial and error and YT tutorials. But I'm happy to share what I've learned 🌻 1. Set-up: a. Microphone: Rode NT-1 with a Focusrite Scarlett audio interface b. Software: Garageband (for most things) + Audacity (for fixing things) c. "Studio": I have the microphone on a floor stand in my walk-in closet. I also recently added a sound blanket as a curtain on the outside of my closet. I found it does make a difference which way I point the mic: away from the window that opens to the street.

A fancy microphone matters far less than the recording environment, I have found. It's important to check for things like appliances, fans, vents, etc. that might make extra sound. I'm pretty picky about getting a clean, crisp recording. (For example, if a car passes on the road as I'm recording a line, I do it again.) The reason the closet is a good place to record is because the fabric absorbs the sound. 2. Recording a. I record each character on her own track in GarageBand, and whenever I can, I will record as much content for the same character as I can (i.e. over multiple episodes).

b. It's much easier in the editing process to record A-A-A, B-B-B, C-C-C style for lines rather than A-B-C, A-B-C. In other words, if I mess up a line or think I might want a different take, I just immediately redo it as many times as I have to (rather than recording the whole script in one go, getting to the end, and starting over). c. It's helpful to have a nonverbal signal that shows up as a spike on the recording. (I learned that from Erik's little Audacity tutorial video.) So, if I know I have a section that I want to mark for some reason (ex. I know I messed up, I was doing foley, etc.), I just snap my fingers. d. Foley: If I have to make my own sound effects, I usually do not record them simultaneously as I act. It's much easier to make changes later if they're separate. It's not easy to 'extract' sounds. 3. Editing a. First, I export each track/character from GarageBand to Audacity and run the Noise Reduction and Declick plugins. Then I save those and bring them back into GarageBand. This step gets rid of most of the background noise. b. Then, I start lining everything up and clipping the recordings into regions. I usually make an extra track I call "Discard" so I can line up my back-up options for certain lines. (Usually, I'm just deleting the things I don't want but..sometimes I can't decide so I line one up in the Discard track in the same position/timestamp.) c. I usually add the sound effects and soundscapes at the same time. It's a bit more tedious to line everything up all at once, but much prefer it over going back and adding sound effects later, after I finish the voices. If you just have a few effects, it's doable to add them afterwards, but...timing matters for everything.

I get most of my sound effects and soundscapes from Freesound.org and sometimes I get them from Pixabay. Pixabay is also good for finding royalty-free music. Every once in a while, there's a specific sound I need that I can't find for free. For those, I get a license from Pond5 (which I like because it has a subscription like most stock libraries, but you can also buy what you need à la carte). d. Because I'm used to accessing MIDI for my musical projects, I've also found that that's a fun way to make special effects, especially when I need m a g i c. I just sift through the MIDI library in GarageBand (or use some plug-in instruments) until I find the sound I want, and I can change it up by playing different combinations on the MIDI keyboard. e. I spend a lot of time (probably too much) making micro-adjustments to the Automation. For example, I like the soundscape to fade in at the beginning and out at the end. And I make corrections--mainly Volume and Gain--for the main vocal tracks. That's also my way of keeping the SFX tracks down to just one or two: I can change the volume of each individual section. I'm not sure how helpful it is, but if you're curious, here's a screenshot of the next Ruby audio. (This is an unusually high number of tracks, even for a Ruby project.)

4. Finishing

I do not consider myself a 'video editor'. I like designing the thumbnails, but I wanted something where it would be super easy to make an interesting still image and just stick a sound file with it. Canva is good for that, and it's what I always use now. The only time I broke down and used iMovie to edit was for the Ruby vs. Carol puppet show, and I still finished that up in Canva. These are just the basics, but there are some other tips and tricks when it comes to different effects and stuff. (Musical projects are a completely different method. In a lot of ways, they're easier because ✨tempo✨. I still use GarageBand, and my recording set-up is the same, but how I record and edit is much different.) Note: You do NOT need to have all of this equipment right away to get started. A decent microphone does make a difference, but other than that, everything else is extra.

[clusterduck28]

Hot take: Most professionally-made video editing tutorials are garbage EXCEPT for the ones that are made by AMV creators.

It doesn't even matter which specific software you are learning about or what you are trying to do in it, you will always come across 2 distinct types of video tutorial about it (broadly speaking)

A: Top of the search results; presented by some middle-aged white guy; good lighting; professional studio setup; soy face on the thumbnail; throws around lots of meaningless hustle culture buzzwords; the most basic use case examples for the features described; might as well be reading off the user manual out loud; annoying sponsor integrations or paid course shilling; clearly not done paying off his film school debt; etc.

B: Harder to come across and way less views than type A; random anime girl on the thumbnail; no facecam; either mumbles into a shitty mic; uses text-to-speech or just puts up plain text on screen; straightforward and to the point; shows off super obscure hacky scripts and plugins he found on github that add vital QOL functionality that should've been there from the start; puts out the most impressively overedited AMVs and gameplay edits; free download links for cracked premium software on his tiny 100 member discord server as long as you post a screenshot of you being subscribed to his channel

Basically, if you're just starting out, the type A virgins cover the basics just fine. But once you get to an intermediate-to-advanced level the only videos that would actually show you something that you didn't already know are going to be made by the type B chads.