So. You Need an Adventurer.

Another one....?       Very well....

A knight in shining armour...?                            
 A wandering swordswoman...?                                      
A suspicious woman in a pointed hat...?                         


Perhaps an entire village of peasants who exist solely to give your hero errands...?

I suppose you expect someone to draw them all, too....

....How tedious....


   ;]

Welcome to SpriteForge, a character creator and pixel-art sprite generator from The Sprite Wizard, creator of The Sprite Grid.

Within my pages, you may assemble characters from hundreds of interchangeable pieces, dress them, arm them, animate them, and forge them into crisp, consistent pixel-art sprite sheets.

No drawing. No tedious frame-by-frame animation. No sacrificing your firstborn to the gods of pixel art.

I've already done the difficult part.

You are welcome.

A Few Numbers, Since Mortals Seem to Like Those.

• 2 Bodies — Male and female, with stranger creatures on the anvil
• ~500 Pieces Per Body — An absurdly well-stocked wardrobe
• 9 Hairstyles Per Body — For every kind of bad decision
• 8 Hats & Crowns — For those who’d rather be recognised
• 58 Helmets — Some heads are best kept covered
• 351 Armour Pieces — Every pair also split left and right, for the asymmetrically paranoid
• 48 Weapons — For settling disagreements
• 21 Shields — For surviving disagreements
• 9 Packs, Quivers & Pouches — For everything you’ll pick up and never use

I tried counting every possible combination and lost my place somewhere in the octillions... That's right. Octillions, With an 'O'. nowhere near the end. And that’s before a single drop of dye.

And that's merely what I've collected so far.

I. Create Your Character

Every legend begins somewhere. Usually with questionable fashion choices.

Begin with one of my included adult human forms, male or female.

Choose their skin tone, hair, and eyes. Dress them for adventure, battle, or an afternoon spent standing ominously in the corner of a tavern.

My wardrobe contains roughly 500 pieces for each body, including:

• Hairstyles, hats, and crowns
• Shirts, coats, dresses, and trousers
• Boots, shoes, gloves, and accessories
• Backpacks, pouches, and other necessities
• Helmets, shields, weapons, and full plate armour

Every piece may be recoloured to suit your character.

And for those who enjoy a little asymmetry, my armoury allows you to mix individual left and right pauldrons, gauntlets, leg guards, and sabatons.

A gold pauldron on one shoulder and an iron one on the other?

An interesting choice. I shan't judge.

Much.

II. Arm Them

The world is a dangerous place. Particularly when you're the one making it.

My arsenal contains 48 weapons, 21 shields, and 58 helmets, alongside complete sets of plate armour in five materials.

Swords, axes, spears, and all manner of implements designed to make someone's day considerably worse.

Mix and match your equipment. Recolour it. Equip it to your character and watch it follow their movements.

You needn't redraw the same sword for every direction and every animation.

I've seen mortals attempt this.

It is a miserable spectacle.

III. Give Them Life

Standing perfectly still is only impressive if you're a statue.

Your character is dressed, armed, and looking suitably heroic.

Now make them do something.

I have 71 built-in animations at your disposal, including:

• Idle, walking, and running animations
• Jumps, rolls, and other movement
• Sword attacks and combat actions
• Punches and kicks
• Taking damage and falling in battle
• Death animations
• Dancing, for reasons I have yet to understand

Select a motion and watch your creation come to life.

Change their equipment, try another animation, or make an entirely different character.

The animations work with the underlying character rather than requiring a separate collection of hand-drawn frames for every outfit.

One character. Dozens of motions. No redrawing required.

A rather elegant arrangement, if I may say so.

                                     

IV. Forge Your Sprites
                           

Now we arrive at the interesting part.

Once your character is ready, turn to the Forge.

Here, I shall take your fully equipped, animated character and press them into glorious little pixels.

Choose 1, 4, 8, or 16 directions.

Yes, sixteen.

Some games require a character to face more than four directions. An astonishing revelation, I know.

Choose from side, isometric, or top-down camera perspectives, with several camera-angle presets for different styles of game.

Then decide how your sprites should look.

Master the pixels:

• Sprite dimensions from 16×16 to 128×128
• Adjustable pixel scale and toon shading
• PICO-8, Game Boy, NES, and C64-inspired palettes
• Automatically generated 16-, 32-, or 64-colour palettes
• Customizable outlines and lighting
• Pixel cleanup and edge smoothing
• Frame-by-frame previews before export
• PNG export scaling up to 4×

I can even maintain a shared palette across your captured frames, keeping colours consistent throughout the animation.

And because sprites belong in games rather than floating about the screen like startled ghosts, you can use consistent framing across your animations.

Your character. Your style. Your pixels.

When satisfied, export your creation as transparent PNG sprite sheets or animated GIFs.

No incantation necessary.

Although I won't stop you.

V. Bring Your Own Wardrobe

You didn't think my collection was the limit, did you?

My shelves are well stocked, but perhaps you have something more specific in mind.

A peculiar hat. A magnificent gown. A coat that absolutely nobody sensible would wear into battle.

Very well. Make it yourself.

SpriteForge supports adding your own compatible outfits using VRoid Studio, which is available for free.

Dress one of my included base bodies in VRoid Studio, export your creation as a VRM file, and bring it into my Library.

I'll separate its compatible garments into individual pieces and store them alongside the rest of my collection.

You can then mix your creations with my existing wardrobe.

There is one condition: your imported clothing must be made for one of SpriteForge's included base bodies.

Clothes made for entirely different bodies tend to stretch, float, and behave in deeply embarrassing ways.

I have standards.

VI. Make Something Wonderful

Or something terrible. I've seen your games.

SpriteForge is built for developers who need characters without spending weeks drawing them.

Whether you're making:

• An isometric RPG with dozens of distinctive NPCs
• A tactical game with different soldiers and equipment
• A dungeon crawler filled with questionable heroes
• A retro adventure with authentic colour palettes
• A game jam project that should have been finished yesterday

I can help you populate your world.

Exported PNG sprite sheets can be used in Unity, Godot, GameMaker, and other engines that accept standard sprite-sheet images.

Create your characters, animate them, export them, and get back to making your game.

You have enough problems already.

VII. The Grimoire Is Still Growing

You didn't think I was finished collecting creatures, did you?

SpriteForge is currently in Early Access.

Version 0.1.0 includes adult male and female human forms, the character wardrobe, armoury, animation library, and sprite-generation tools.

But there are still several empty chapters in my book.

Coming to the grimoire:

New species
Zombies, Orcs, Goblins, Dwarves, Elves, and Ghosts.

New forms
Young Adult and Elder body types.

More creatures
Mounts, beasts, and other inhabitants of less civilized places.

More tools
Unity integration and additional export conveniences.

More platforms
A macOS version is planned.

Every Early Access purchase includes future SpriteForge updates as they become available.

The book grows. Your collection grows with it.

Do try to keep up.

VIII. Questions From the Apprentices

Can I use my sprites in commercial games?

Of course.

Use your exported sprites in your own games, videos, artwork, and other creative projects, commercial or otherwise.

I did not spend all this time forging sprites so you could admire them in a folder.

Can I sell the sprites as standalone asset packs?

No. You may use your creations in your own projects, but you may not redistribute or sell the generated sprite sheets as standalone asset packs.

You are purchasing a tool for making things, not a license to open a competing sprite shop.

Cheeky.

Must I credit SpriteForge?

No.

Attribution is appreciated, but not required.

I am a tome, not a debt collector.

Do I need to know how to draw?

Not a single pixel.

Choose a body, assemble your character, select an animation, and forge your sprite sheet.

I'll handle the pixels.

You handle the creative decisions.

A fair division of labour, I think.

Can I add my own clothing?

Yes, using compatible VRoid Studio exports created with SpriteForge's included base bodies.

I even sort the garments into my Library for you.

You're welcome. Again.

Can I use the included characters and pieces elsewhere?

No. My bodies, clothing, equipment, and animations remain inside SpriteForge.

The sprites you create are yours to use under the license.

Kindly leave the furniture where you found it.

Can I save my characters?

Certainly.

Save your creations and return to them later.

Your characters are stored in Documents\SpriteForge\Characters, separate from the application itself.

Will I receive future updates?

Yes. Early Access buyers receive future SpriteForge updates as they're released.

New species, new equipment, and more chapters are planned.

Does SpriteForge work on Mac or Linux?

Not presently.

SpriteForge currently supports 64-bit Windows 10 and Windows 11.

A macOS version is planned for a future update.

Patience, apprentice.

IX. Installing the Grimoire

Even magic requires a little setup.

1. Download SpriteForge_0.1.0_x64-setup.exe.
2. Run the installer and follow the instructions.
3. Open SpriteForge from your Start menu.

The first launch may take approximately 20 seconds while I gather the bodies, equipment, and animations into memory.

A substantial collection requires a little preparation.

A note about Windows SmartScreen: SpriteForge is not yet code-signed, so Windows may display a security warning. Make sure your installer came from this official page before deciding whether to proceed.

System Requirements

• Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit
• 8 GB RAM minimum; 16 GB recommended
• Graphics card supporting WebGL 2
• 2 GB video memory
• Approximately 200 MB disk space
• Microsoft Edge WebView2

From the Creator of SpritePress

SpriteForge is built upon the craft behind SpritePress, my earlier tool for turning posed figures into pixel art.

I've taken that foundation and built something rather more ambitious around it: a character creator, wardrobe, armoury, animation library, and sprite forge, all bound within one thoroughly overqualified grimoire.

Build your characters. Give them life. Forge your sprites.

And if you somehow find a way to make a mess of it all...

Well.

I am a wizard, not a miracle worker.

— The Sprite Wizard