starcup wiki - User contributions [en]

Dev:SpeciesDocumentation

2025-09-09T08:52:46Z

Skcb: Skcb moved page Dev:SpeciesDocumentation to /w/Species Documentation

#REDIRECT [[/w/Species Documentation]]

Species Documentation

2025-09-09T08:52:46Z

Skcb: Skcb moved page Dev:SpeciesDocumentation to /w/Species Documentation

== How A Species Is Made ==
''When a mommy coder and a daddy spriter love each other very much...''
==== The .YML Files ====
'''Resources/Prototypes/(_namespace)/Species/[species].yml'''
<br>
This file contains the '''species''' prototype, which contains some of the information needed for the character creation menu. This includes...
* '''id''' (recommended): the internal name of the prototype, which is generally just the species name.
* '''name''' (required): the user-facing name of the species; point this to a locale string.
* '''roundStart''' (required): whether the species is available at roundstart, IE the character creation menu in the lobby.
* '''prototype''' (required): what mob prototype the player entity will inherit the features of. defined elsewhere (see below).
* '''dollPrototype''' (required): what mob prototype will be used in certain menus, such as the character creator. defined elsewhere (see below).
* '''sprites''': the sprite prototype that makes up the player entity. defined in this file (see below).
* '''markingLimits''': the marking limit prototype that sets how many markings and what kind the species can have. defined in this file.
* '''dollPrototype''' (required): what mob prototype will be used in certain menus, such as the character creator. defined elsewhere (see below).
* '''skinColoration''' (required): which method of skin coloration is used. existing options include: HumanToned, Hues, TintedHues, & VoxFeathers.
* '''defaultSkinTone''': default skin tone for species with a non-HumanToned skin coloration. defaults to white.
* '''defaultHumanSkinTone''': default skin tone for species with HumanToned skin coloration. defaults to '''20''', on a scale from '''0''' (gold/yellow) to '''100''' (dark brown).
* '''maleFirstNames''', '''femaleFirstNames''', '''lastNames''', (etc): namelist prototypes to reference for different name components. defaults to the basic human namelist.
* '''naming''': the naming rules for the random name generator. defaults to FirstLast. other existing options include: First, LastNoFirst, TheFirstOfLast, FirstDashFirst, LastFirst, FirstDashLast, & FirstCodeLast.
* '''sexes''': a list of valid sexes for the species to be. this can include some combination of Male, Female, and Unsexed.
* '''minAge''', '''youngAge''', '''oldAge''', '''maxAge''': these integers define breakpoints for this species age. '''minAge''' is the youngest a character of this species can be, and is implied to be an "age of majority". '''youngAge''' and '''oldAge''' define whether a character is described as young (under '''youngAge'''), middle-aged ('''youngAge''' to '''oldAge'''), or old (over '''oldAge'''). '''maxAge''' is the oldest a character of this species can be, and is implied to be a "maximum reasonable lifespan". in order, these default to '''18''', '''30''', '''60''', and '''120'''.
* '''baseScale''': this takes two float numbers, which are applied as modifiers to the character's sprite scaling in X and Y (i think) respectively. defaults to '''1, 1'''.
* '''minHeight''', '''maxHeight''': float numbers which define the minimum and maximum heights a character can be set to in the character creator. defaults to '''0.95''' and '''1.05''', respectively (at least in starcup). these are applied as a modifier to the '''baseScale''', above (I think).
* '''defaultHeight''', '''defaultWidth''': float numbers which define the starting scale factor for a character's height and width (obviously). both default to '''1'''. these are applied as a modifier to the '''baseScale''', above (I think).
* '''scaleHeight''', '''scaleWidth''': boolean. whether the character is scaled vertically or horizontally (respectively). both default to '''true'''. you probably shouldn't change these.
<br>
This file also typically contains the '''speciesBaseSprites''' prototype, which defines what sprites will be rendered on a given humanoid visual layer. If an entry is empty, the visual layer is assumed not to be in use and will be ignored.
<br>
The following list of existing layers and their definitions are pieced together as best as I can without spending all day reading rendering code. From what I can tell, the order of ''this'' list does not matter (but it very much does in other locations!), so I have ordered in the most sensible way I can imagine. Not all of these are necessary for all species.
* '''Head''' (usually species-specific; governs the base Head part)
* '''HeadTop''' (usually MobHumanoidAnyMarking; a type of head marking)
* '''HeadSide''' (usually MobHumanoidAnyMarking; a type of head marking)
* '''Eyes''' (usually species-specific ''if'' the species has a unique eye sprite. many use the human one)
* '''Snout''' (usually MobHumanoidAnyMarking; a type of head marking)
* '''Hair''' (usually MobHumanoidAnyMarking; it's hair)
* '''FacialHair''' (usually MobHumanoidAnyMarking; it's hair)
* '''UndergarmentTop''' (usually MobHumanoidAnyMarking; it's a type of marking)
* '''UndergarmentBottom''' (usually MobHumanoidAnyMarking; it's a type of marking)
* '''Chest''' (usually species-specific; governs the base Chest part)
* '''LArm''' (usually species-specific; governs the base LArm part)
* '''RArm''' (usually species-specific; governs the base RArm part)
* '''LHand''' (usually species-specific; governs the base LHand part)
* '''RHand''' (usually species-specific; governs the base RHand part)
* '''LLeg''' (usually species-specific; governs the base LLeg part)
* '''RLeg''' (usually species-specific; governs the base RLeg part)
* '''LFoot''' (usually species-specific; governs the base LFoot part)
* '''RFoot''' (usually species-specific; governs the base RFoot part)
* '''Tail''' (usually MobHumanoidAnyMarking; it's a type of marking)
* '''TailBehind''' (usually MobHumanoidAnyMarking; this uses the new tail code recently ported from floof, wikidocs pending)
* '''TailOversuit''' (usually MobHumanoidAnyMarking; this uses the new tail code recently ported from floof, wikidocs pending)
<br>
Species-specific sprite parts are defined with a '''humanoidBaseSprite''' prototype. These simply have a single component, '''baseSprite''', containing the '''sprite:''' [path_to_parts.rsi] and '''state:''' [body_part].
[[Category:Development]]

Species Documentation

2025-09-09T08:51:55Z

Skcb:

Species Documentation

2025-09-08T23:34:54Z

Skcb: Adding info about the baseSprites prototype

Species Documentation

2025-09-08T23:11:07Z

Skcb: A best-effort documentation of how new playable species are constructed in SS14, specifically under the starcup codebase.