Dynart Documentation

Creating Assets

PCX Images

Use Pix8 our own 256-color pixel art editor (browser + Windows desktop app):

  1. File → New... — images are 8-bit indexed (256 colors) by default, no mode switching needed
  2. Draw with 256 colors (any resolution supported)
  3. File → Export as... (Ctrl+Shift+E) → PCX (RLE-compressed)
    • Common sizes: 320×200 (full screen), 32×32 (sprites), 16×16 (tiles)

Pix8 also exports SPX sprite sheets directly, which is the fastest way to get animated sprites into the engine. See Sprite Sheets below.

Showing a full-screen image alongside a HUD means sharing one 256-color palette between them. See Palette Workflow for how to split it and author the result in Pix8.

Alternatives:

  • GrafX2 — the classic DOS-style pixel art editor (Windows/Linux/Mac). Comparable feature set to Pix8, and it still has a few things Pix8 lacks (dithering, gradient fill).
  • Aseprite — a polished modern pixel art editor with layers, animation and an indexed color mode; exports PCX.

Sprite Sheets

Use Pix8 to build the sheet and its animations in one go:

  1. Draw each animation frame on the frame timeline, and group frames with tags
  2. File → Export as... (Ctrl+Shift+E) → SPX
  3. You get a ZIP with the .SPX sprite definition plus the packed .PCX sheet(s) — unpack it into your DATA\ directory and reference the .SPX from resources.xml

See the SPX format documentation for the file layout.

VOC Sound Effects

Use Audacity (Windows/Linux/Mac):

  1. Import audio (WAV, MP3, etc.)
  2. Tracks → Mix → Mix Stereo Down to Mono
  3. Tracks → Resample → 11025 Hz (or 22050 Hz)
  4. File → Export → Export Audio
    • Format: "Other uncompressed files"
    • Header: "VOC (Creative Labs)"
    • Encoding: "Unsigned 8-bit PCM"

HSC Music

Use HSC Tracker JS our own browser-based HSC tracker (source):

  1. Compose in the pattern editor (9 OPL2 channels, 64 rows, all HSC effects)
  2. Edit instruments in the built-in instrument editor, with live ADSR visualization
  3. Ctrl+S to save as .HSC — the engine's native music format, no conversion step

It plays back through a JavaScript YM3812 (OPL2) emulator at the same 18.2 Hz tick rate the engine uses, so what you hear in the browser is what the game plays.

Alternatives:

  • Adlib Tracker II — modern desktop tracker (Windows/Linux), but its native format is A2M, so getting to .HSC needs a conversion step.
  • HSC-Tracker — the original HSC tracker (DOS only).

TMX tilemaps

Use Tiled a full-featured level editor (Windows/Linux/Mac). See the restrictions at the tilemap documentation.