Final Fantasy Hacktics

ShiShi - Spriter Edition vR04
- by melonhead (478 build), R999 and formerdeathcorps
Does NOT work with PSP WotL iso !!

(http://img686.imageshack.us/img686/8064/screenshot20100523at123.png)




Magnifixer (with Fixed Location Zoom) for Windows:

(http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/2564/screenshot20100530at355.png)

Note: While Magnifixer is in focus, press Ctrl+F to lock/unlock the zoom location.

Download via Attachment below.




Photoshop CS4 + ShiShiR04 Workflow Demo



^ R999 spriting. Video is running at 150% speed.





Changes we have made:

• Upon importing BMP or SPR files, the animator/frame preview no longer resets to frame 1;
  instead it will now stay at the frame number previously.
  


• New function. Reimport previous BMP sprite!
  


• New Shortcut for Reimport: Ctrl/Cmd+R
  


• This frame number also does not reset when changing sprites.

- Special thanks to formderdeathcorps for compiling and debugging the builds for me.


You will need the .NET 4 framework:
Important Note: .NET4 installer may FAIL if you do not already have .NET3 framework installed.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=9cfb2d51-5ff4-4491-b0e5-b386f32c0992&displaylang=en (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=9cfb2d51-5ff4-4491-b0e5-b386f32c0992&displaylang=en)



Old Error (fixed now) in spoiler:


--

It's really slow in windows; at least with my set-up. I installed Net framework4 1st too.

I fixed the problem. It had to do with PatcherLibResources.dll.  This new version should now be safe to use. I will be uploading it soon.
Uploaded.  See first post.  Still requires .NET Framework 4 though.

By the way, I am getting an approximately 60% productivity boost (I always time myself when I work, it's not just a random number) from this so if you ever had to work on arms or if you do regular ShiShi checks, you gotta be using this. Apart from that, you would otherwise also be producing better quality sprites with higher frequency ShiShi checks. As per always, work on your sprites frame by frame for best results.

For me (Win XP) It's still slow And now the animation tab works worst than it did before. Most options just freeze up. All programs run smoothly on this system too so I doubt it's that; pretty good system. But i want to boost productivity as well.  Any other PC users try it yet?

Can you describe what happens in the Animation Tab? There shouldn't be any changes. Most of the time (99%) I just use the Frames tab, and I use the arrow keys (Up, Down) to cycle through animations frame by frame. The productivity gained here is that now you can simply do a re-import and the Frame would no longer reset to 1; changing sprites also don't reset the frame number.

As for your slow down... it probably has more to do with your computer. I would have someone look over your computer for any signs of spyware etc. Can't help you with that as I haven't used Windows in years.

I haven't had time to test exactly what causes the slowness and what doesn't. I know the animation tab and the bottom three options caused trouble. Seems to work til messing w/ em.

Have you tried restarting your computer? Some of the features do not work... I should have noted that. But although, I haven't experience the problems that you are describing.

After installing the framework, yes.

well hopefully you'll get more feedback or help from another PC user soon.

Try restarting your computer once more.

By the way, I should have a new version of ShiShi coming soon (possibly tomorrow).  This time, there will be an actual instant re-import previous BMP function along with the above changes.

Update to version R04.

What's new for this version?
+ Reimport previous BMP sprite file.
+ Press Ctrl/Cmd + R for instant Reimport!

Download via first post.  Enjoy!

I just downloaded your latest version and when I load it it says a whole bunch of words.

1st line = System.TypeInitializationException: The type initializer for 'PatcherLib.Iso.FFTPack' threw an exception. etc..

dheiral, R999 addressed that specific problem in the second spoiler tag.  Go back to the first post, and hopefully that'll help you.

Tigerspike i read the second spoiler tag but don't see how it relates, it says old error (Fixed) and there was no Resources.zip

Don't know what to tell you, then.  What you had described in your previous post sounded exactly like what was listed in the spoiler tag (which would be how it relates to your issue).  I'd try deleting the file and redownloading it.

It does look like what is in the spoiler tag but its different words. But shouldn't the new version have fixed the error since it says (Old error, now fixed).  Deleting and re-downloading it did not work.

Thanks though.

@dheiral,

1. Try deleting the Resources.zip and Resources folder.

2. Does the error look exactly like that show in the screenshot? or very close?

Hmm, I re-downloaded a new one and there is no Resources.zip, but a Resources folder.

I tried deleting it before loading the program/image, but the error does not look exactly like the screen shot (different words).  It is very close though.

Is anyone else having this problem?  Have you tried restarting your computer. I will PM you another build that you can try.

Yeah tried restarting my computer several times still did not work. Okay i'll look foward to it.

After some fiddling around with some help from Twinees, vR04 might not work on the PSP WotL ISO, which maybe what is causing the error.

Any one interested in speeding up their spriting progress must download this and start using -command R.

I know this isn't kinda the place, but I don't wanna create topics and trash forums, so:

Is there a way to zoom in the sprite you are viewing in ShiShi?Iit would help a lot.

@Kage: It's not something that I would know how to accomplish, but it'll be a nice feature indeed. I can help you if you are on the Mac (there's a very slick utility that makes it so you won't need something like this)... I think Lijj uses the Windows Zoom or Magnifier tool? Maybe he can help you with setting that up. The idea is to setup your Zoom tool so it shows you a Zoom-in view of the ShiShi Frame/Animator area being on top of other windows and with a fixed location in your screen.

Here's a reference on my workspace thread, incase you missed it:

(http://img594.imageshack.us/img594/2233/screenshot20100509at550.png)

Well,I am on Windows 7, but I think it will work either way, thanks, R999.

I just tried the Magnifier in windows 7..... I couldn't get it to lock into place so it's pretty much useless (well, although you can set it to Follow Cursor and that can work somewhat... just annoying). I'll see if I can find something else.

its nice to see the 20yo woman head and portrait get used,
i think the sprite looks nice as well

Im not sure if this has been pitched before but have you thought about adding a selectable background the the little black box? like maybe screenshotting one of the various ingame battle maps and fitting it into the box i dunno to maybe test it without needing an emulator? or just for sheer convienience.
No idea if its possible, but i thought id throw it out there.

I know people would still want the black one selectable ofc, too.

^ Not a bad idea actually. I might try doing it. Good suggestion!

Oh cool, i been thinking about it past few days, didn't know if it had been thought of already or not though so i decided to say something about it lol.

I present you Windows users, the end of Lack of Zoom days !!!
(http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/2564/screenshot20100530at355.png)


Above software is:

1. Freeware
2. Has Fixed Location Zoom (no annoying follow the mouse crap)
3. Can adjust Zoom size, non-anti-alias AND anti-alias
4. Press Ctrl+F to lock / unlock Zoom location.
5. Fast, uses lower resources than windows magnifier.


Now you have no more excuses to not perfect every frame using the new ShiShi!

Go try it now! What are you waiting for? A similar on the Mac tool has grant me massive productivity boosts working with sprites. No reason to not use something like this.
.

hahaha. Good I see it's getting downloaded already.

THANK YOU! As a 1280x1024 desktop user with an LCD monitor, Shishi's animation preview was almost completely useless, and I was so tired of going in game to test the position of a single pixel on a single frame. This is SO much better! Now I can track down that odd bit of hair that's messing up the forward-high attack frames!

Made any progress with that idea i had? Just curious.

@Knox: Nope... too busy atm. Don't think I'll work on it anytime soon...  Although for screenshotting purposes, you could always make an easy  Photoshop template!  Just take a screenshot of an invisible sprite (it'll have a round shadow) on terrain and Save it as a PSD file. Make sure you take the screenshot when your game is running at its native, unscaled resolution. If you want, I could make one for you. But it's not hard...

Oh no, i dont need it right now, i was just curious what was up, you sounded like you were going to try it soon. No big deal, easy misunderstanding.

Do let me know if you ever do try it out!

Ah, that is what I wanted! Good job, R999. Actually, I have another idea. How about we could edit sprites IN ShiShi? Not only we could view the sprites, but also fix it right away. It is much problems to do this, but just wonder how cool that would be.

@Kage: haha yes that's ideally the best of all worlds. However, It's not like anyone here would be capable of duplicating Photoshop functions in any reasonable timeframe....  We are probably at a stage where we are as close as we can get to truly editing sprites frame by frame.


So this kind of shit don't happen anymore:

(http://img688.imageshack.us/img688/6137/fixsep.png)


I just pulled up a random sprite to check for errors. Many submitted sprites are like this. Do not let this happen anymore. You've got to be Really lazy to let mistakes like this slip now with our new tools.

that sprite was never made well to begin with...
look at the FFT version of aeris, its horrible... i wish someoen would just redo her

The sprite has alot of promise though, for a sephiroth sprite. I'd use it but the errors kill me and make it hard to enjoy it lol.
No offense to the artist, im probably no better but just saying.

i think that anyone that finds a bug and is decent in spriting should be welcome to fix the error and re-submit the sprite as long as its actually a fix and not a change to the intended design...
err if they see fit to do so

I totally would, but im not that good yet, I'm still learning and very slowly at that- I have low patience so it doesnt go well with spriting lol.

This was a problem that I was having before;  .NET 4 framework dosen't install properly if you do not already have .NET3 framework installed.  This is the fault of Microsucks, and indeed their engineers need to be fired. But for those of you having problems with .NET4, keep this in mind. Thanks to Aitsukisune for reminding me about this.  (Especially for those of us on a Mac running Windows, you likely won't have .NET3 installed normally).

WOW, i can't believe i never found this topic!  i''ve been using windows magnifier (not that annoying) and constantly reimporting and typing in the frame number.  i know it's not that hard to do... but when u do it a few hundred times an hour... these changes become a lot more appealing.  i'm gonna download it and try it out.

EDIT:  just tried it, definitely loving the improvements.  i am getting major slowdowns once i go to the animation tab and if i switch back to frames, the program remains slow.  at least it doesn't become non-responsive like the old Shishi would for me, but it still means i can't see the animations.

Maybe something is wrong with your ISO then?

The only good thing and what makes this the best version is the refresh option. The animation tabs never worked but there are so many ways to make a gif or just scroll with arrow keys.

Just... Thank you man :)

Did.. this just get an "almost a year" necro >.>;?

It seems so, mANDo.

Question:

Long story short I'd like to add Barret/Seph/Aeris/Tifa etc. from here http://ffhacktics.com/sprites.php?spritesperpage=20&show=all into the game.

Using the older version of ShiShi I've been able to do a sprite replacement but what I really want to do is add these characters without replacing an existing sprite.

If that isn't possible does anyone have any recommendations on characters that are good replacements (i.e. I can replace the sprite with say, Tifa, and I will only see that person once/not at all in the game?)

Thanks :)

you have to change what sprite the character uses in the patcher. there are some free slots in shishi like the ??? spriters. This isn't for this topic either. You should have asked in help.

Apologies.  :oops:

I am apparently using an old version of ShiShi (Just saw the new one). Giving it a try now.

Apparently, since the DL is old, HotFile might have taken it down. Can someone re-upload the ShiShiR04 program?

It's the link on the bottom of the 1st post, it should be uploaded here.

Ah that works. Thanks Lijj. I just hope the spriting mods remove the broken link now.. ;D

Hey just wanted to let you know your magnifixer link from the first post is corrupted somehow.. my comp wont let me use it says its got virus's out the ass.. just wanted to let you know

It's your virus software that's derping out. Asside from the fact that I use magnifixer and got it from this topic, I also just redownloaded it from here and scanned it with 2 different programs and came back with 0 errors, maleware or virus.