02-26-2017, 08:35 PM
It isn't just the sprites that you might want to take into consideration when choosing between zip or sheets. There's also stage and environmental backgrounds that don't present themselves like one would expect.
What some don't realize, playing games like Mega Man X, is that some games use parallax scrolling to give their 16-32 bit games a more realistic progression. This means that the environmental background is on a completely different layer from the stage's, and scrolling a lot slower to give the visual sensation of distance. Not only that, but some games even animate the stage and their backgrounds, making it difficult not just for game making or animation purposes, but also for viewing because the viewer is basically looking at the same frame, but with small, barely subtle changes they may not notice unless they stacked the two files side by side and crossed their eyes.
The biggest example of why a stage should not be framed and zipped is Hidden Palace Zone from Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Rather than saving tiles or just separating stages from backgrounds in different files, the zip only has files of frames containing chunks of the stage, a majority of which are either completely blank, or similar to other files containing the same sprites, but shot at a different part of the stage. And while sprites are easier to come by as they are complete and fully presentable, piecing together a stage, no matter how linear it appears, is a lot more difficult because you're never sure what pieces go where without playing the game yourself. I can already attest to that, because ripping Sigma's final stage would have been impossible had I not have access to the games Map Editor and gone slightly out of bounds to figure out how high that stage is supposed to be presented as.
One last thing, not exactly on topic but I'm certain someone's going to bring it up as a counter argument, Background HQ is not a reliable source for animating or game making. It's basically a web-based zip file of backgrounds shot section by section, and with little care and consideration to the conundrum of parallax scrolling and stage animation. The most you can get out of it is sprite comics or adding backgrounds to your gif animations.
What some don't realize, playing games like Mega Man X, is that some games use parallax scrolling to give their 16-32 bit games a more realistic progression. This means that the environmental background is on a completely different layer from the stage's, and scrolling a lot slower to give the visual sensation of distance. Not only that, but some games even animate the stage and their backgrounds, making it difficult not just for game making or animation purposes, but also for viewing because the viewer is basically looking at the same frame, but with small, barely subtle changes they may not notice unless they stacked the two files side by side and crossed their eyes.
The biggest example of why a stage should not be framed and zipped is Hidden Palace Zone from Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Rather than saving tiles or just separating stages from backgrounds in different files, the zip only has files of frames containing chunks of the stage, a majority of which are either completely blank, or similar to other files containing the same sprites, but shot at a different part of the stage. And while sprites are easier to come by as they are complete and fully presentable, piecing together a stage, no matter how linear it appears, is a lot more difficult because you're never sure what pieces go where without playing the game yourself. I can already attest to that, because ripping Sigma's final stage would have been impossible had I not have access to the games Map Editor and gone slightly out of bounds to figure out how high that stage is supposed to be presented as.
One last thing, not exactly on topic but I'm certain someone's going to bring it up as a counter argument, Background HQ is not a reliable source for animating or game making. It's basically a web-based zip file of backgrounds shot section by section, and with little care and consideration to the conundrum of parallax scrolling and stage animation. The most you can get out of it is sprite comics or adding backgrounds to your gif animations.