Introducing Body Detection Mechanics and Sprite Optimization

Greetings, nocturnal adventurers!

I’m excited to announce the addition of a fourth level to my game “Darkshine”. This new level introduces an intriguing gameplay mechanic: body detection. In this level, vigilant hunters will abandon their posts to investigate when they discover one of your victims. This new feature adds an extra layer of strategy and tension, as players will need to think carefully about where they leave their victims.

In parallel, I faced challenges with the performance of the interaction script, particularly for the biting and hypnotizing actions, which consumed an excessive number of sprites. To address this, I have undertaken a major overhaul of our sprites. Initially, in GB Studio, sprites are 8x16 pixels, but our characters use 16x16 sprites. Each animation frame or position was composed of two unique sprites, meaning a character could use between 10 to 18 unique sprites.

Now, with a more efficient distribution and the use of mirror rotations, a frame is generally composed of three sprites (two for the head and one for the body). This method slightly increases the number of sprites per line and per character/player but significantly reduces the total number of unique sprites needed. This choice seems more judicious for a game based on sprite sheet swapping, especially since the levels are spacious enough to easily disperse NPCs and avoid sprite flickering.

I hope these changes will enhance your gaming experience and add a new dimension to your strategy in “Darkshine”. As always, I look forward to your feedback and suggestions.

Stay in the shadows and happy gaming!