Something I noticed immediately, though this is pretty minor and really just a visual thing:
In 002_AnimEditor_SettingsMixin.rb, line 28 and 29,
the :user_sprite_name and :target_sprite_name are "DRAGONITE" and "CHARIZARD", which is perfectly fine on it's own.
:user_sprite_name => "DRAGONITE",
:target_sprite_name => "CHARIZARD",
However, if someone opts to use the Animated Pokemon System plugin from Lucidious89, the pokemon sprites are all replaced by sprite sheets.
Perhaps you'll consider changing the sprite names to "DRAGONITE_anim" and "CHARIZARD_anim", and include copies of these , so there is no conflicts like this? Pokemon cry SE files as well ofc.
I don't know how that plugin works, and I have no real desire to find out to add compatibility with it.
Please don't use imgur to share images. Imgur blocks people in the UK from accessing it, so they can't see those images without using a VPN.
Features I'd like to have:
Mouse Wheel functionality in the upper area, where the sprites, background and particles are visible:
Using the mouse wheel scroll should adjust the angle of the particle, scroll up being counter-clockwise and scroll down being clockwise.Holding SHIFT while scrolling should adjust the angle a greater amount.Holding CTRL while scrolling should increase/decrease zoom.
- After reading about the bug regarding mkxp-z, that's probably not gonna be doable in a way I imagine it to work, so perhaps we can instead use regular old keys like Q/E for angle adjustment and two other keys for zoom adjusment?
The extra canvas functionality could be: mouse wheel to zoom in/out, and right-click-and-drag to change the angle. Mouse wheel + Ctrl would zoom in/out faster (Ctrl is the standard "do it faster" button), and there's no need to add something similar for changing the angle. Although maybe the mouse wheel shouldn't be used because it's relatively easy to knock by accident. I've made a note of this, but it's low priority.
- CTRL+A to select all text in all text fields, deleting letters one by one gets annoying fast.
- Search bar when selecting the graphic for the particle. Scrollings gets annoying fast.
- Change aspect ratio to 16:9. I know Essentials usually works with 512x384, but does the entire editor interface have to be constrained to that? If you extend the bottom area, the timeline, but leave the canvas up top untouched, would it be possible to grant more "screen area" for the timeline below?
Added functionality for text boxes is on the list, although I think anything involving selecting text will be a bit tricky. A filter box for graphic/SE choosing windows should be added soon.
Your comment about changing the aspect ratio doesn't make sense. It's as wide as it needs to be, and it's as tall as possible while still fitting on your monitor. It's a coincidence that this ends up being a pretty square window. There's no way to give more space for the timeline - the canvas has to exist and be the size it is, and there's no other thing taking up height that could be used for the timeline.
The learning curve has been a bit rough, especially without documentation, but I managed to get a somewhat "ok" animation for Fire Blast done.
I want to make a page on the wiki that explains everything. I just haven't gotten around to it yet. It would help to know which specific topics are more difficult to understand so that they can be prioritised.
What I would love to see is an "orbit" option for the emitter, which makes particles "rotate" around a point with adjustable distance.
If this is already possible, I'd be glad to hear how to accomplish that.
An example of what you want to do helps.
"Helix" is used by the Sand Tomb animation that comes with the plugin. Since the speed property for it dictates how quickly the emitted sprites move vertically, Just use a speed of 0. You can't vary the orbit radius of a given sprite, though. However, this will only make the particle move left/right in its orbit, not up/down.
Alternatively, you can use "NoMovement" and instead define a custom movement like you would for a regular particle (changing X and Y). This gives you full control over how the sprites will move, but won't let you spawn sprites in a random part of the orbit like "Helix" can. You can cheat that randomness in by having multiple emitters, each with different movement commands designed for different starting positions.
