Generating Sprite Rotations (8-Directional Sprites)
Turn one character sprite into all eight facings for top-down and isometric games, keep them consistent, and animate every direction.
Top-down and isometric games need a character that can face several directions. Instead of drawing each one, you can turn one sprite into all eight facings in a single generation. Here's how.
Start from one clear view
Begin with a finished, background-free sprite facing forward or to the side, generated with the Character type or uploaded. A clear full-body view gives the best turns.
Generate the rotations
Open the sprite in the editor and click Generate Rotations. All eight facings come back together in about 20 seconds for 10 credits: down, down-right, right, up-right, up, and the left side mirrored from the right. Because the views are drawn together, the outfit, colours and proportions match in each.
Pixel-art sprites at 32, 64 and 128 px work too; they keep their own palette and stay on the pixel grid.
Check the set
Click through the views and look for:
- The same size in every facing, so the character doesn't grow as it turns.
- The same details: a sword in the same hand, the same colours.
If a view is off, delete that set and generate again.
Animate every direction
With the facings ready, make movement for each one:
- The Animation set menu has a top-down walk preset that makes a walk for every direction in one pass.
- Turn on Flip to left side before you animate, and only the right-facing turns are animated; the left, up-left and down-left animations are mirrored from them for free.
Use them in your engine
Download the rotation sprites from the panel's download button. In your game, pick the facing from the movement direction: one sprite (or one walk animation) per direction.
Fewer directions
For a four-direction game, use the down, right, up and left views and ignore the diagonals.