A Walkthrough guide for Sprite Hacking

First off, a msg for Zeemis -- Can you give me the ability to post on the tutorials side of the sight? T_T

A Sprite hacking guide –
As I have said on my Onion Knight sprite sheet update, I planned on making a Sprite hacking walkthrough. Well here it is! ^.^
I will break this walkthrough down into parts for simplicity.
○ Palettes
○ Sprites
○ Programs
Palettes
When it comes to making palettes, there is a specific order. It goes as so:
1. Transparent
2. Outline (black)
3. Eyes
4. Pupils
5. Hair (lighter shade)
6. Hair (darker shade)
7. Skin (lighter tone)
8. Skin (darker tone)
9. Outfit 1 (lighter shade)
10. Outfit 1 (darker shade)
11. Outfit 2 (lighter shade)
12. Outfit 2 (darker shade)

Now, after stating this information, I would like to request that everyone uses this format. This way, one can easily edit his or her sprite sheet to match another sprite sheet.

There is nothing special when it comes to using sprite palettes if you floor this code. Just always remember that the first color is transparent (clear, it’s always your background) and your second color is your outline (black, surrounds the character). The third color is always the eye color (the white part of your eyes, thus making the third color always white). The fourth color is always the color of the pupil (green, blue and brown would be an example). The fifth and sixth represent hair color; light shade and dark shaded respectively. The seventh and eighth colors are both skin, seven is the lighter tone, and eight is the darker tone. Colors nine through twelve are all outfit colors, however colors eleven and twelve are strictly backup, do not use them regularly (this is because they are used for other character’s outfits). Colors nine and eleven are lighter shaded clothes, while colors ten and twelve are the darker shaded clothes.
Another request of mine is one that I ask to everyone that helped in starting this site. I suggest we make a total of six “Master” palettes, ones that will appeal to the majority of sprites, this will make sprite hacking much easier for new comers and veterans alike. If this request appeals to you, then I suggest we all (Poco, Zeemus, I and others that started this site, have high authority and respected sprite hackers alike) get together and come up with a select few of six palettes that would work together. (I chose the number six because it is the number of palettes in an un-hacked rom that are editable using the Ultima Weapon sprite hacker program; I had the newcomers in mind )

○ It should be noted that NPCs are victoms of palette changes should you change the palette. If you have a hack that includes NPCs, I highly recomend that you recolor the NPCs aswell.

Sprites
Sprite making is a tricky business. Although, contrary to the first statement made, it is quite easy once you learn the tricks. First off, you have a 24X16 box that is divided into six smaller boxes. Although 24x16 may seem large at first, let me tell you, it’s not. It’s quite small actually; this is only true because it’s only 24x16 in mm (millimeters [mm] are about the length of a sprite square [unit]). Now, not all sprites will fit within this box, but I can reassure you that most sprites will. However, if you end up having to edit your guide sprite (if you are using one) make sure you stay on track as to what you are cutting off/expanding.
Now, about the six smaller boxes that are within the 24x16 box; these six small boxes represent separate animations. Each sprite box (a regular 24x16 box) consists of a combination of six smaller boxes that form up the character, which on their own are 6x6. Both FF3SE and FF3usSpriteEd can be fixed to edit within the area of six boxes. FF3usSpriteEd (the Relm editor) automatically edits within the six sprite boxes and doesn’t show you the 24x16 box. The FF3SE has to be set to show the six boxes and already shows the 24x16 box.
Keep in mind that with each 6x6 box will be already set once you edit it, this is why it’s important to be consistent when you’re editing a guide sprite by cutting parts off or expanding it.

Programs
There are two suggested sprite hacking programs that are widely known and used. I suggest you use both because they are both very useful. Below I will bullet the program and provide notes about it.
○ FF3usSpriteEd (the Relm Editor) – The Relm editor is able to edit within a 6x6 box, giving the hacker an easier time hacking a specific region within a single sprite. It can also fill in palettes with a “paint bucket” much like Microsoft paint can, which makes recoloring sprites much easier and faster. The Relm editor can also edit battle sprites along with dead sprites and Magitek armor riding sprites.
○ FF3SE (The Ultima Editor) – The Ultima editor is able to edit a sprite in whole. This alone makes it useful to any sprite hacker. Without this function, I guarantee all experienced sprite hackers would use the Relm editor. The ultima editor is also very user friendly, making it a great starter for beginners at sprite hacking. Also unlike the Relm editor, the Ultima editor also edits portraits, monster sprites, and espersprites. (although it should be noted that monster and esper sprites are interchangable)
This is my guide, and I hope it helps
-- WrexSoul45

its a pretty good guide, I already established the order of the colors and its the rules if they are to be acceptable lolz :p

but if anything this is a good tutorial

thanks ^.^

Also anyone wants a Custom Color scheme palette walkthough let me know.

Anything that could make spriting easier is good to me. ^_^

If you don't mind, you should point out that the FF3se editor's MAIN use should be for importing sprites from non-.bit files (.png, .gif, .jpg, .bmp) for both PC sprites, and for Monsters/Espers/Portraits.

You can link to Ren-sama's/My guide on how to do it (or just copy some info from it).

Good basic explanation, though. Very clear. Feels like an introduction to a longer tutorial. Might want to include some screenshots of what happens to the poor NPCs when you aren't careful changing the palettes for the PCs. (I would get a shot for each of the default 6 palettes too.)

Now that I have seen this I will clean it up a bit and add it to the Tutorial Section.

Ren Sama: what do you mean by clean it up?

There is nothing special when it comes to using sprite palettes if you floor this code.

I had the newcomers in mind )

○ It should be noted that NPCs are victoms of palette changes should you change the palette.

She probably means cleaning up things like spelling/grammar errors, removing smilies, and probably reformatting the paragraphs slightly to make it less of a wall-of-text.

Y'know, standard editor procedure.

ok ^.^