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I read on this forum a lot of different thoughts regarding these two software.

Since they are similar in price can someone tell me which one has better AppGameKit integration?

What's up with dragonbones? It's free - maybe not bad as a start? I saw that there is a spine export. Is it possible to use that?

Dragonbones is a great software but not supported in AppGameKit although it has Spine export

I can't say, because I was interested in using the 2D spines but didn't like the prices of the programs for the two spine formats that AppGameKit supports.

I was left thinking.... do I really need in-code bone control (2D Rag-doll?), or just a tool to develop 2D spritesheets.

I decided to go with the latter, and didn't want to pay $70 for a simple tool for 2D skeletal animations.

So, I am making my own tool with AppGameKit, and I know that AppGameKit supports Atlases and Spritesheets in PNG format.

I just want a simple 2D skeletal animation tool so that I can swap out images for the body parts and generate the spritesheets for new characters of any saved animation I have created.

So, without trying to get my hands on any of those other packages output files for testing the AppGameKit commands, I decided to stick to more of an old school approach to my 2D stuff.

My first effort is to allow up to 20 bones, with each having up to four (4) images associated to it for layering of skeleton, skin, clothes, and armor (or anything else).

Thanks to another recent thread on the subject of 2D animation, I am also incorporating size and placement manipulation of any sprite on a per frame basis.

That will allow for simple effects, like a breathing torso, without the use of bones by direct sprite manipulation.

I want to keep it as simple as possible, because a lot of tools for simple things are far too complex in my opinion.

I shouldn't have to read 100's of pages of documentation to learn how to create a spritesheet for one character's walk animation.

Conclusion:
Consider what you want as an end result, and what it is going to take you to get there.

Choose the package that has the best interface for your workflow, because you will probably be spending more time dealing with that than with the integration of the output files with AGK.

I am a 2D animator and using Moho + OpenToonz, but I can only export image sequance from there. Possibility to import rigged and animated file format without bloating the memory is a really cool thing!

Yeah sure, but casual games don't need loads of high end graphics and effects anyway.

You don't even need the bones really, just a multidimensional array to store the sprite placement data.

When all is said and done, the new method could consume a lot of space too if you get carried away with it.

The only problem with traditional sprite sheets is all the transparent space being wasted.

Even with trimming and packing the images tight, there is still a lot of area that is blank around the details of the objects.

I am kicking around ideas to use these areas for data storage, instead of letting those unseen RGB values sit there doing nothing.

Working out a system now for using those spaces to contain all of the bone and sprite placement data (offsets/rotations,visibility,etc.) for the frames.

That will eliminate the flat files for storing that data, and the need to encrypt them, and it will have all the images and data scrambled into one compact image.

That is not the output for in game assets though, that is for saving the animation data and required images needed to create the spritesheet.

I am going to use the blank spaces on the spritesheets too though... the plan is... not one byte will be wasted because of transparencies.


There are a lot of things that can be done with traditional spritesheets that most people don't even consider.

I feel there is still room for improvement with the old ways before moving on to new ways that require tools that cost almost as much as (or more than) AppGameKit itself.

When I have more money than time, then I will hire someone else to make my tools for me, and until then, I will keep having fun tinkering.

Yeah sure, the new way is great, especially if you are going to be procedurally generating crowds of zombies, or armies, or something and such.

However, IMO mobiles should stick to casual games, and let the advanced games stay on the other platforms that are not as memory restricted.

Yeah, it is a cool thing, but I still think you would be better off picking the tool that works best for your workflow rather than basing it on AppGameKit integration, since they both are compatible.

As an avid 2D animator, you'll probably end up buying them both anyway.

Honestly I would rather stick with programs I already know for 2D animation, but more detailed animation means more frames, so in my case something like Spine/Spriter is a must if I want to save ram memory.

Since nobody is answering your question, maybe PM the guy from this thread.
https://forum.thegamecreators.com/thread/222160
He uses Spriter and the animations look really good.

will do, tnx!

There is a free spriter version that provides all basics. This version may also be used commercially. maybe this version will be enough for you? You can at least experiment with it.

They are both just a tool for me, how to animate in them it's not an issue for me, I am more curious about AppGameKit commands integration, is there any benefit of choosing one over another?