AkameTheBulbasaur
Akame Marukawa of Iyotono
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Attack Animation Scripting
Click here to download everything in the thread at once! The file is 265 MB though, so beware if you have a slow internet connection!
Download last updated on September 18th, 2023
Firstly, before saying anything, I would like to extend my thanks to everyone who has contributed to Move Animations up to this point. This includes anyone who posted in the Move Resource Thread, ChaosRush (for making one of the first real tutorials), DizzyEgg (for making a list of all the known Tasks and Templates and giving me the idea to use ASM macros), and anyone else I can't remember the name of who contributed to documenting the Animation Scripting language. I would also like to like Ako the Pidgeot and the random Level 6 wild Diglett who helped me test all these Move animations over and over. They were real team players lol.
Ever since it was discovered that Move Animations were created with a scripting language (much like how Move effects use one too), I've been interested in how to make it as quick and easy as possible for the layman to create custom animations for their new Moves. The commands were discovered and documented, and a rudimentary scripting language exists, but there was a large component of Move Animation scripting that remained mostly unknown and undiscovered: Tasks and Templates.
Much of the actual animating is done via Tasks and Templates. While some are currently documented, most of them are not. There are 211 unique Tasks and 326 unique Templates. Why so many? It is likely that most of the Tasks and Templates were created specifically for the Moves they are used in. Many are only used in one or two Moves, but a few are more general purpose and are used in a larger number of animations. However, most of the Tasks/Templates that are only used in one Move still have arguments, meaning that they can be further customised! I then began the very long and strenuous process of documenting, to the best of my ability, the full effects of each Task and Template.
This thread is the result of close to four years worth of research. The hope is that using the information in the documents provided, ROM hackers will be able to create good quality Move Animations that they are satisfied with without needing to understand assembly and without needing to mess around with strings of hexadecimal bytes over and over.
Although this information was compiled with binary hacking in mind, this is also equally as applicable to anyone using the FireRed or Emerald Decomps since Animation Scripting is (I assume) still a thing there too.
What Is Here
- The Animation Scripting Book
This is a book that contains all of the information needed to start writing animation scripts. When I say it is a book, I mean it! It is over 1,000 pages long!
You aren't meant to actually read all 1,000 pages, at least not all at once. Most of those pages are dedicated to the reference material for the Tasks and Templates. Still, I will be kind and give you each section separately.
In this book (in order) we have:- The Animation Scripting Tutorial
- The Command Documentation.
- The Task Book
- The Template Book
- The Three Appendices
Of these, probably you will want to actually read the tutorial. The rest of the documents are meant as handy guides to look at in case you forget (or want to learn about) a Task or Template.
Also of note, the book has three appendices. Appendix A shows all of the Particles, Appendix B lists all of the possible sound effects and Appendix C shows all of the backgrounds.
- The Animation Script Helper
This booklet contains the command documentation and the three appendices mentioned above in one document. It's handy when you are writing scripts and want to see what a Particle or background looks like, or you forget what the arguments for a command are.
- The Sound Effects
Although I tried to give them descriptive names, it's awfully hard to describe a sound effect in one word. So, I'm including the sound effects as MP3 files so that you can listen to them and decide what you want to use.
- Task and Template GIFs
These are a set of .GIF files that show an example of what the Task or Template would look like in a battle. Keep in mind that since most of these have arguments and can be customised, it's impossible to completely convey all that a Task or Template is capable of in one GIF. However, they should give you a basic idea.
The Task GIFs are here and the Template GIFs are here.
- Animation Script Macros
Now, here's the part where you might be wondering how you would insert an animation script into your ROM. The way that I like to do it is by using the THUMB Compiler and an ASM Macro file. I made a tutorial on how to use ASM Macros to compile scripts which you can download as a PDF here.
The gist of it is that you make a folder on your computer where you can keep the macro file. Then, at the top of your script, you write:
.include "PATH TO YOUR MACRO FILE HERE"
Then, you can use the THUMB Compiler to compile your script as a binary file, which you can then copy-paste into your ROM.
Do you want to know what the fun part about doing it this way is? The language is universal! You heard that right, universal. If you do it my way, you would be able to use the exact same animation for both FireRed and Emerald. All you would need is the correct macro file.
I've included two macro files here, one for FireRed (named Animation.txt) and one for Emerald (named AnimationE.txt). If you make any changes (such as adding a custom Template), and you keep all your macros in the same place, then you only need to edit the file and recompile your animation (if needed).
- The Default Moves
This is a collection of all of the default Gen III animations (in the universal animation scripting language). These are useful because then you can see what Game Freak already did that you know works (or doesn't work, if you didn't like their animations much).
- Animation Decompiler
As a little bonus, I decided to include the tool I used to decompile the default Gen III animations with while doing research. It is written in Python (by me). It may have bugs, but it successfully decompiled all of the default Gen III Moves, so I can safely say that it's mostly functional.
It was mostly used for research, as opposed to being developed for use as a real tool, so it isn't perfect, but somebody might find it useful.
In conclusion, it is hoped that people will be able to create new and interesting Move Animations using the resources provided here. I've certainly found researching this to be rewarding. As mentioned earlier, experimentation is encouraged as there are near endless different ways that all of the Tasks and Templates can be strung together and customised!
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