Sprites and different formats?

I have a question that I have been searching for quite some time. Usually when I include sprites in my programs I do them from scratch. I mean I actually type them in number format into a two dimentional array. I know this probably sounds crazy to most, but it is the only way I know how. I have not been programming long, and have seen many sprite editors for download, but they always save the sprite as a strange file type which I do not know how to use. My question is, is there a Sprite editor that will created a sprite and give me the information for it in a two dimentional array. I mean actually give me the numbers. I have never used a file to load a sprite from, and I understand that is the way it is done. If anyone could shed some light It would be greatly appreciated. And also if you could let me know how to include sprites in programs the proper way that would be great.

-a confused novice programmer!

Well it actually doesn't matter how you store your sprites. Bitmaps are good and easy. JPEGs are good too. The main concern with a newbie is to just be able to get the sprite from the file to the screen. So I'll give a quick run down of bitmaps. You can find the actual file format on msdn.microsoft.com. Anyways, like most formats bitmaps store pixels in a 1d array. There is a file header that gives you information such as the width, height, and the number of bits per pixel.

Long story short, there are a ton of libraries for reading common files such as bitmaps. Bitmaps can also be stored within a exe.

I just store my sprites in one bitmap, then load them into seperate sprites.

I've made a palette library for SDL, which will take a bitmap file containing multiple entries, or "sprites" and load them. Then you can access each individual one by passing an index. If you want it, PM me.

Most libraries have built-in bitmap loading routines.. like sdl has SDL_LoadBMP() and OpenGL has something like GLaux_LoadBMP() (I know that's not correct).

What is a good sprite format to use. I see stuff like RLE and others. The compiler I am using is Borland C 3.1. It's pretty old but free and easy to use for a novice. Which format would work best in 3.1. Also, can you draw your sprite with Paint that comes with the Windows OS, and how does it have to be saved? One other question, is it possible for a BMP to be changed to a 1d array that can be cut and past into a program? Thanks.

The format that is _best_ for a sprite is the format that meets the needs of your program and you. If you can canabalize someone elses code and use their format, fine-- as long as it meets your needs.

A sprite, for _any_ program is going to have the following basic elements:

pixmap - 1 to n bits deep, color image
bitmap - 1 bit deep, mask
rectangle - bounding box
palette - sprite's colors


If you are handling x,y coords manually, that is an _old_ style way of doing things. move onto using bitmaps and pixmaps.

SDL supports transparency in files like, say, PNG, if they have an alpha channel, which makes it real easy on you for your sprites.

I'd be interested in that library/thingy that was mentioned above, just to see how it works.