The computer industry has risen very, very high in recent years. If earlier computer games were just entertainment for a narrow circle of lovers, now it is something more. People of all ages can play in them, projects are created that correspond to even the most delicate tastes. And most importantly, incredible opportunities have appeared that you could not even think of before, so now computer games can be almost indistinguishable from reality in terms of graphics and physics, they can immerse the user in uncharted worlds, allowing him to live incredible stories and be the key to them character. But at the same time, some people do not want to limit themselves to the process of "playing" - they are fascinated by the procedure for creating games. However, most of these dreamers remain at the fantasy level, because they believe that this process is too complicated. In fact, everything is not so, as evidenced by the huge number of indie developers who now produce many projects without large budgets and publisher support. You just need to start small and gradually go forward. In this article, you will learn what sprites are for games and how to use them, so you can then start creating your own projects.
What are sprites?
If you have a computer game on the monitor, then what do you see in front of you? The graphical shell of this project, a variety of textures made up of tiny pixels. If you plan to create a computer game, then you have to work a lot with graphics. But if you have not yet swung at a large project, then you are not required to work perfectly with 3D graphic editors. Sprites for games that you can download on the Internet will help you here. But what is it? How can they be used and how will this facilitate your task? Sprites for games are ready-made textures of characters, objects, and so on, which you can download to your computer and then use in the process of creating the game. This means that you will not need to draw every object in the game, as well as every phase of its movement - all this will already be in your finished form. As you can see, sprites for games can really make your life much easier.
Sprite view
Now you have a general idea of what sprites are for games, but this will not be enough to use them in practice. You need to figure out what they specifically are and how to apply them in creating games. If you are going to use sprites, then you need to download them to your computer. In most cases, they will look like a large or even huge graphic file in which dozens or even hundreds of small images will be placed on a transparent background. Accordingly, you can cut this large file into small ones to have direct access to your sprites. You may not need some of them, and you can cut them out, so this method is much more convenient than downloading tens and hundreds of individual images. You just select a large file, mark the area, and you have a sprite ready.
Sprite usage
As you well understand, in most cases you can find sprites for 2D games, since three-dimensional images are not so standardized, so it will take a lot of space to transmit all the movements of one three-dimensional object. At the same time, working with two-dimensional sprites is extremely simple. You just need to load the sprites into the editor in which you create, and glue them together, creating motion effects. And then load into the level and enjoy the result.
Transition from sprites to graphics
You won’t be able to use sprites to create games all your life, so if you set ambitious goals for yourself, you need to either learn how to work with graphic editors or look for an assistant who owns this skill.