R_InstallSprite: Sprite EVIL frame B is missing rotations

[Frienderman]

Alright, so I'm sure that at least one person that eventually sees this is familiar with "do_not_play.wad", I decided to mess with it (aka turn it into a giant meme), and so far, I've succeeded, I have replaced most of the sounds, but now I'm trying to replace the sprite of the "evil" entity, by replacing it with a photo of the rock. I've done it, but now when I launch the game I'm getting the error in the title.

[Dark Pulse]

Exactly as it sounds like, it's missing rotations.

 

You will want to name it something like EVILA0. You'd move on to EVILB if you have a second frame of animation, then EVILC, and so on. If you only have one frame of animation for it, you don't use higher-lettered frames, and if you don't have rotations (i.e; it always faces the camera), you never use a number higher than 0.

 

The Sprite page on ZDoom's Wiki explains how to set it up pretty well.

Edited August 18, 2022 by Dark Pulse

[Frienderman]

10 hours ago, Dark Pulse said:

You will want to name it something like EVILA0.

That's the thing, it is named EVILA0 and there is no EVILB.

 

... I just realized I'm stupid. I tried to keep the original file as EVILA0BA for backup, but I guess the game took it as "EVILA0B", followed by A for the first frame.

 

Well It's fixed now by removing the backup file (after exporting it of course.), thanks for helping me understand how this works.

[Dark Pulse]

1 hour ago, Frienderman said:

That's the thing, it is named EVILA0 and there is no EVILB.

 

... I just realized I'm stupid. I tried to keep the original file as EVILA0BA for backup, but I guess the game took it as "EVILA0B", followed by A for the first frame.

 

Well It's fixed now by removing the backup file (after exporting it of course.), thanks for helping me understand how this works.

Yeah, that's where you messed up.

 

I'm presuming you figured it out after reading the article, but in case you didn't read all of it, Doom features sprite mirroring, so that WAD authors can save space on rotations, by reusing some graphics but flipping them. This is done by giving them a second set of rotation numbers - for example, a sprite named POSSA2A8 will use the sprite POSS, animation frame A, angle 2, for when it's facing away from you at a 45 degree angle to the left (its main one), but since it has a second set, it will also flip it and use it for when it would be looking away from you 45 degrees to the right - that's the A8.

 

ZDoom also introduced 16 rotation angles, so you simply got unlucky - that filename of EVILA0BA made it think that it was both a second animation for the sprite, and a rotation frame as well. And since you didn't define the other rotations, kaboom.

 

If you really want it in the WAD, you can name it simply anything else. OEVL (Old Evil) would work - the first four letters of the sprite's name are 100% arbitrary and up to you; the rest is what must be strictly adhered to for technical reasons. But if you're not going to actually use it in the WAD itself, then yeah, it's better to just remove it outright.

Edited August 18, 2022 by Dark Pulse