Sprite

Would you like to be videogame programmer? Then you are probably familiar with the term sprite. No, we are not talking about a soft drink, but a fundamental and essential element in the first versions of Super Mario Bros or Prince of Persia, among others. In the end, it is a graphic resource **that allows us to introduce movement into video games such as these.

At Euroinnova we will explain what they mean, in addition to transferring the sprite examples most famous. On the other hand, we will also show you how they are created, since, as an educational entity, we seek to teach our students, taking care of every detail and offering the best possible content.

Are you ready? Let's get started!

What is a sprite in videogames?

The word sprite can be translated into English as elf. This translation makes some sense in the world of programming, as this element started to create more attractive video games. At the time, it was chip designer Jay Miner who extended them, and they are relevant even today, where many gamers prefer to play video games with a retro style.

Specifically, the sprites are a bitmap class. From an initial drawing, which was literally on paper, this sprite is created on the computer screen, using special graphics hardware. We can conclude that this is the graphical representation of characters and objects through a set of images.

These sprites are mostly used to apply motion effects or for change the position inside a scene. Imagine those mythical fighting games for a moment. In the end, the stage remained fixed, while the characters always moved in the same way. In these cases, the “techniques” they used always had the same movements. This is because they were sets of sprites or spritesheets.

Read also about the AI in video games.

What are sprites for?

As we have been saying, sprites are a fundamental part of video game development, as they represent 2D graphics necessary to create characters, objects, visual effects or elements of the environment. Thus, we can say that they serve to give attractiveness and visual dynamism to a videogame without consuming too many resources.

For the sake of clarity, sprites work like “visual ”containers that can be moved, broken, climbed or animated. Imagine a video game in which the main character has to jump and climb from platform to platform. In this way, both the protagonist and the enemies or targets he picks up would be sprites.

The sprites also serves to create interactions with other elements of the game. For example, when a player collides with an enemy and loses his life. In this way, game developers also have to define the behaviour of the sprite in the code. In conclusion, we can say that, without sprites, many classic video games would not have been as memorable.

How is a video game sprite created?

There is a whole process involved in generating a sprite, and that is that, for example, you have to conceive of the artistic design in the first place to be able to move on to its creation and integration into the game engine. At Euroinnova, we explain to you in a generic way what steps you must follow in order to create your own sprite. Will they be as memorable as Super Mario Bros?

• The first thing is define the sprite design. This can be done both on paper and in digital drawing tools. Here aspects such as the style, colours and details of the character are decided.
• Now it is time to draw it. For this task, you can use programs such as Photoshop, GIMP or Aseprite. With these tools you create the sprite in pixel art format, so that you can control every visual detail.
• At this point you can generate a spritesheet, which consists of generating several versions of a sprite in different poses. This is how animations are created.
• The only thing left to do is to save the sprite in the PNG or other compatible format.
• And how do I put it into the videogame? Through a videogame engine such as Unity or Godot. Here you will assign behaviours and configure animations.

Read also about how to make a video game in Scratch.

Famous sprites: do you remember any of them?

Throughout history, we have come across a multitude of video games that have marked our lives. Although they are a recent feature, characters such as Super Mario have been recognised for generations and generations. That's why we didn't want to end this article without mentioning some of the most famous sprites.

• Super Mario Bros: this videogame is made up of small characters and objects that move around the screen.
• Prince of Persia: A true revolution in the field of video games thanks to his animations, Jordan Mechener exploited all the possibilities of sprites.
• Mortal Kombat: this was the first case where fully digitised sprites were introduced, with the support of actors who performed the characters' movements while photographing them.

On the other hand, we wanted to mention the famous arcades, such as Street Fighter o The King of Fighters, where large sprites were created with effects and movements that gave life to each of the characters. Subsequently, advances followed one after the other until we reach the present day, where video games look like authentic audiovisual works.