Sprites on a Map?

[quacksapup]

Hi guys,

I want to know if it is possible to have little chibi sprites like this:

sample.png (2.27 KiB) Viewed 1431 times

...running around on a map (probably an imagemap) where they can travel around and talk to people (but after first clicking on them). Like, once you've clicked on a person to chat them, the basic Ren'Py dialogue box pops up. Kinda like this, but it doesn't have to be as fancy:

If this can be done, is it possible to control the sprite's movements via arrow keys? I think this is pretty complex... does anyone have any information on this? If arrow keys are out of the question, that's totally fine with me. I'm okay with point and click controls if that's what I have to go with.

First, I must know if a sprite sheet (like the first one I showed you above) can even be used in Ren'Py. Is it possible to use a sprite sheet in Ren'Py, or does it have to be "one sprite at a time"? If sprite sheets can be used, how would I approach the coding for one of these little guys walking around on an imagemap?

Like I said, I'm aware that this is a complex topic. So if there are other references you could point me to, I'd be more than happy to look at them.

Thank you, everyone, for all the help!
-Q

[LVUER]

Sorry since this is not the answer you seek... but I really want to ask, why do you use RenPy? It seems for your kind of game, RPG Maker would be a more suitable (and easier) option. Game Maker would still be better than RenPy in your case.

[nyaatrap]

It's possible - just you need to learn about python/pygame (not just ren'py). You can do it with other engines in other languages, like LUA, C#, tjs e.t.c. Anyway, it's just a programming knowledge matter.
If you want to skip learning one of those script languages, use RPG maker or something, not ren'py.

[kankan]

Ah, Zenonia! Rare to see somebody who plays that.

I did something like this using renders, which can take multiple keys for input to change how you interact with the game...I believe this was the first time I got it working (it's horribly messy; I've changed it a lot since then, but this was the basic idea). You can do it without pygame; I personally didn't like using it at first, though it makes this kind of stuff a lot easier. Python is definitely a required thing to learn.

That being said, if you're not really into programming, I'd definitely agree with the others. RPGmaker is great if you don't mind buying it, and Gamemaker isn't half bad.

[quacksapup]

Thanks guys for your input. I'll look into RPG Maker, although I don't know if that's exactly what I want. And I've never played Zenonia before, I just found that picture online to help you guys see what I kinda want here. I just want this type of function for the maps in my game, not for the whole entire game. What if can it be as simple as having a background picture of my map and having my chibi sprite person go to that location with the point-and-click feature?

[apricotorange]

You can do what you're describing with screen language and image maps (http://www.renpy.org/doc/html/screens.html). If you actually want to show the character walking around when the player clicks a location, it's not too hard with a bit of Python and ATL (http://www.renpy.org/doc/html/atl.html), but you'll probably have trouble if you're not comfortable with writing code.

You can use cropping (LiveCrop/im.Crop http://www.renpy.org/doc/html/displayables.html, the crop ATL property http://www.renpy.org/doc/html/atl.html) to handle sprite sheets.