Data Changing
The Way to Your Own Character
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- Parent Category: LFE v10
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First you have to figure out what you want. That's the part that NOBODY can help you with. It's best if you do this on paper and not on the computer. Just collect ideas for names, attacks, and the appearance of your character. The name is very important for the character, so you shouldn't use names like "tpr753a9" (I know several guys with nicknames like this) and you also shouldn't give your character a degrading name (for example, "Shitman"). If you really can't think of a good name, you can use the Names Generator, which can generate names between two and eleven letters, some of which are really good.
Names Generator |
So after you plan out the moves and the rough appearance of your character, the "Creation Process" begins. It is essential to have a basic foundation in Data Changing. A character without any modified dat.-files doesn't include anything new and will fade into oblivion very quickly. You should try to read several tutorials about Data Changing. There are plenty at this site, and the tutorials in Other are especially helpful as they allow people to learn a lot very quickly.
If you don't have any graphics programs (except Paint) you can download a template from the LFE-Download Planet or you can download a program to edit sprites or create some of your own (which is much more original, of course). I recommend PhotoFiltre (please read tutorial 5 in graphics about this, too) - a small and free graphics program with lots of filters and other features.
Now you can start Data Changing. You can only get a limited amount of help with Data Changing. Once somebody asked me if I could make the Data for his character so he could then publish it - what the hack? I think it would be my character then... If you encounter problems or get stuck somewhere, try to solve the problem by yourself first. You'll learn more if you do so and usually it's just an easy problem which has already been answered hundreds of times by DC-Masters. Of course, you can probably find the answer in the Allround-Section anyway. But if you have a more complex problem and don't have any clue about how to fix it then there are plenty of forums where you can request help. And who knows? In some cases your problem might be an interesting discussion theme, even for DC-Masters.
After you finish your character, ask yourself if it's a really good character or if it kills everybody with one punch. From my own experience, I know how hard it is to create an original, well-balanced character. If you think he's good then pack ALL of the files you modified into a Zip-file along with a readme. In the readme, you should note the new lines for data.txt, your name, contact information, and any info about your character. One of the common problems with downloads starts here: files are missing. In most cases, sounds files and data-lines are missing (when I went through like 4 GB of stuff for the downloads of LFE this happened with like 25 percent of all downloads!!!). It's best if you copy a new version of Little Fighter to your desktop and try to install your character there. If you don't have any problems, other guys won't have problems, either, as long as they read the readme. Too bad most people still can't read; why else would they ask how to install characters when everything is explained in the READ ME?
If you go through this process and publish your character, I hope it's a good one. In the event that he's very good, he might get a place in the archives of LITTLE FIGHTER - EMPIRE.
Basics of Data Changing
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- Parent Category: LFE v10
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With the information I explain here, it's not possible to create your own characters, but you can modify characters which already exist and make them stronger. However, with this, you can't create high-quality characters. If you want to do this, you'll need a lot of time, patience, and a desire to learn new techniques.
Characters
- #1 How do I make my character faster?
- #2 How do I make my character jump higher?
- #3 How do I change the mp cost of my character's moves?
- #4 How can my character shoot multiple balls at once?
- #5 How do I change the damage of an attack?
- #6 How do I add an effect?
- #7 How do I add new attacks?
Attacks
#1 How do I make my character faster?
At the beginning of the dat.-file there's a long list of basic characteristics concerning the movements of the character. The speed for walking and running is defined in "walking_speed" and "running_speed". The following lines with a "z" at the end set the movement speed toward and away from the front of the screen.
#2 How do I make my character jump higher?
Also noted at the top of the data file are the jump-heights and distances of the character. "Jump_[...]" is for the normal jump, "Dash_[...]" for the jump while running, and "Rowing_[...]" for the jump out of falling. You have to keep in mind that all of the heights have to be negative.
#3 How do I change the mp cost of my character's moves?
Normally, energy is only used in the special attacks of the characters - usually they begin around frame 235. The energy is always noted in the first frame of a move by the "mp" tag. Keep in mind: a character has a maximum of 500 mp points.
#4 How can my character shoot multiple balls at once?
To create multiple objects during a move you have to modify the "facing" part of the opoint. The "facing" value should be 10 times the number of objects that you want to appear. So "facing: 50" creates five objects.
#5 How do I change the damage of an attack?
All damage is defined by various instances of "itr" tags. In itrs, the "injury" allows you to set how much hp a character loses if they are hit by the attack. At the beginning of the game the character has 500 hp, so an "injury"larger than 500 is usually overkill.
#6 How do I add an effect?
The effect of an attack is also noted in "itr". The "effect"-tag is optional and so you won't always see it in itr. "effect: 1" creates blood, "effect: 2" burns, and "effect: 3" freezes the enemy.
#7 How do I add new attacks?
If you want to copy a move from one character to another, you have to copy the frames to the character's dat.-file. Keep in mind that you can't have frames with the same number. If the frames you copied are already in use, you have to change the frame-numbers (do not use frames bigger than 399!) and the next frame noted by "next".
Then, in order to use the move, you have to allocate a key-combination to it. The possible combinations are:
D + > + A = hit_Fa: | D + > + J = hit_Fj: | |||
D + ^ + A = hit_Ua: | D + ^ + J = hit_Uj: | D + J + A = hit_ja: | ||
D + v + A = hit_Da: | D + v + J = hit_Dj: |
Finally, add this tag with the first frame-number of the move behind the other input tags in the "standing", "walking", and "defend" frames.
#8 How do I make my ball fly forward?
Forward movements of the ball are noted by "dvx". Using this, you can set the speed of the ball.
#9 How do I make a ball chase an enemy?
To make the ball chase an enemy, just note "hit_Fa: 1" behind "hit_j". Also make sure "dvx" and "dvy" are both zero in order to make the chasing work properly.