How do I edit art/sprites/textures in WDC?
This guide will introduce you to the basic tools available to change sprites and textures, and the other art in the game (HUD images, menu images) for your project using WDC.
This guide assumes you have installed and have already set up a project with WDC. If not, get started by clicking here.
Navigating the Editor
Start WDC and open your project, if you haven't already. At the top of the window, you will see a row of fifteen square buttons.
You will want to select either the Walls button to edit walls and doors, the
Sprites button to edit objects and enemies, or the
Pictures button if you want to edit HUD and menu images.
You should see a screen similar to the one below!
This is the Walls tab, but the Sprites and Pictures tabs function essentially the same. From now on, we will be referring to the sprites and art from all three tabs as “art” for readability.
1. The original art
This is the preview for the currently selected art in your project files. This is essentially the “before” shot of your changes, if any.
2. The replacement art
This space will be filled with a preview for the art you've chosen to overwrite the original with, if any. The “after” shot.
3. The scrollbar
The scrollbar is used to move through the different art in your project files. What art it searches will depend on which tab you're on (Walls, Sprites or Pictures).
4. The Replacement Bar
This is where you will point WDC to replacement art. There is an address bar that will tell you where the replacement file is located and what it is called, and four buttons.
Edit Image - If replacement art is currently active, this button will launch a new window with paint tools to edit it with.
If you don't have a replacement, WDC will save a copy of the original art to .bmp format, then open the editor to change that saved file. This file will also become the replacement.
5. Export, Add Chunks
Here, there are three buttons. The first is a dedicated Export button for saving the current sprite to a new file.
The second and third buttons are for adding new art rather than replacing old art. Doing this requires changes to the engine in order to make use of these options properly.
Sprite Editor
If you click the Edit Image button on the Replacement Bar, you will bring up the Edit image: Sprite window (Or Picture window, if editing the VGAGraph).
If you do not have a replacement file saved yet, WDC will first prompt you to save a copy of the original sprite first, then bring up the window.
1. The Canvas
This section is where you can draw on your sprite to alter it.
2. The Palette
These are the colours on offer to edit your sprite with. Clicking a colour with either left or right click will make it the active colour for that button.
3. Paint Tools
These are the tools that you need to be able to draw on the canvas.
4. Information and Settings
This section of the editor contains a few extra settings and pieces of information for editing.
- Position - If you hover over the canvas, this will display the coordinates of the pixel.
- Compressed - This will show the compressed file size of the sprite, factoring in any changes made.
- Zoom - This will zoom in and out of the canvas, allowing for more detailed editing and previewing.
Click OK once you've made all the changes you need, and the replacement art preview should now show your changed art.
Publishing your changes
When you're done replacing or editing sprites, click File
→Compile All
or File
→Compile
→VSWAP
(File
→Compile
→VgaGraph
if you're editing the Pictures tab) to publish the changes to your project.
Note: If you replace art in the Pictures tab, you will need to make sure they are the same size as the original, unless you make changes to the game engine itself, otherwise there can be unexpected issues.