How do I create new characters and give them abilities?

[Maskmaster64-code]

I am working on a game that will implement Eggman and Metal Sonic as playable characters, but I don't know where to start. I looked at the Player script and learned that the individual characters themselves don't have scripts.

[NeonSRB2]

Player-refactor branch has this i think, but is generally incomplete. If you want to use what you have now here's how it works: Each character has 2 main things: * an entry in Global.gd's CHARACTERS enum - Find this in Scripts/Global, or look in autoloads. This is how the engine knows what character you are. Additionally swn will check in several places for this value. Player.gd has plenty to handle super, i think hitbox sizes, and stats (if you don't care/know just use sonic's or a default. a lot of this is inconsequential) There are other stuff though too, Normal.gd needs a list of idles to play in order. Air.gd branches out for each character's ability, so put your activation code there. HUD.gd (and maybe another script for level completion? check scene.) needs your character's name and life icon. MonitorIcons need your life icon too, though you dont need to change code for that, just add it next to the other life icons based off of index. After all of this your character will probably not crash. * A PlayerAnimations scene - right on the tin, but these are wierd. They're found in Graphics/Players/PlayerAnimations, despite not necessarily being graphics in and of themselves and despite tails' containing a script. Dont change the names/locations of any nodes you see they are expected to be there with that name and location and will crash if they can't be found. Duplicate a scene you like (probably choose one that matches the hitbox you chose, because Crouchbox is there for some reason) and modify the inner stuff. You can add new animations or change existing ones in PlayerAnimation. You can swap out the texture with your custom sprites of a different character. And you can change their super palette data to be a different color. Adding new nodes is fine as well, if you need something like a second layer. This scene can be accessed as spriteController from a player. This sucks and it's why there is the refactor. Though if you don't like part of this process you can change it for yourself if you see yourself adding more characters, or if you want to keep a codebase going so you could base new games off of your old code and have your tech stack up over time to something greater. For cc right now the PlayerAnimations have been renamed as Characters and placed in Entities like they probably should. spriteController is a new Character type that has a bunch of callbacks and export vars for character properties instead of per-script checks, and each guy will inherit the type for their own character scripts with ability code in it. STATES has been replaced with a dictionary of node references so that you can just throw like, parent.set_state($AceBlazeBurst) and it just works if you have the node there, and can be placed in character scenes. I could try sharing code but that would involve basically stripping it of it's cc-ness, so I'll probably just leave those as source code releases of cc when they come. With the godot 3 repository *hopefully coming soon*, if not soon then when demo 2 drops or something.

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On Tue, Aug 4, 2026, 3:13 PM Maskmaster64-code ***@***.***> wrote: I am working on a game that will implement Eggman and Metal Sonic as playable characters, but I don't know where to start. I looked at the Player script and learned that the individual characters themselves don't have scripts. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#357?email_source=notifications&email_token=A4JOMPL7SPCSL5N2O4TEKXL5IIYXDA5CNFSNUABBM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2ENFZWG5LTONUW63RPGEYDKNJTGE4DJJTSMVQXG33OVJZXKYTTMNZGSYTFMSSWK5TFNZ2KYZTPN52GK4S7MNWGSY3L>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/A4JOMPLGSSUTKTP4PLRHZ635IIYXDAVCNFSNUABIKJSXA33TNF2G64TZHMZTKOJWGM2TSMBYHNCGS43DOVZXG2LPNY5TCMBVGUZTCOBUUF3AE> . Triage notifications, keep track of coding agent tasks and review pull requests on the go with GitHub Mobile for iOS <https://github.com/notifications/mobile/ios/A4JOMPKDGNSHFJIKIQI2BZT5IIYXDA5CNFSNUABBM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2ENFZWG5LTONUW63RPGEYDKNJTGE4DJJTSMVQXG33OVJZXKYTTMNZGSYTFMSSWK5TFNZ2KUZTPN52GK4S7NFXXG> and Android <https://github.com/notifications/mobile/android/A4JOMPORBON2UUB3OE3PWM35IIYXDA5CNFSNUABBM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2ENFZWG5LTONUW63RPGEYDKNJTGE4DJJTSMVQXG33OVJZXKYTTMNZGSYTFMSSWK5TFNZ2K4ZTPN52GK4S7MFXGI4TPNFSA>. Download it today! You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[QuartzTS]

I'm sorry but can you explain what's cc? 😅

[NeonSRB2]

Holy shit i wrote so fucking much aaaauuuggghhh

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On Wed, Aug 5, 2026, 12:04 PM Neon ***@***.***> wrote: Player-refactor branch has this i think, but is generally incomplete. If you want to use what you have now here's how it works: Each character has 2 main things: * an entry in Global.gd's CHARACTERS enum - Find this in Scripts/Global, or look in autoloads. This is how the engine knows what character you are. Additionally swn will check in several places for this value. Player.gd has plenty to handle super, i think hitbox sizes, and stats (if you don't care/know just use sonic's or a default. a lot of this is inconsequential) There are other stuff though too, Normal.gd needs a list of idles to play in order. Air.gd branches out for each character's ability, so put your activation code there. HUD.gd (and maybe another script for level completion? check scene.) needs your character's name and life icon. MonitorIcons need your life icon too, though you dont need to change code for that, just add it next to the other life icons based off of index. After all of this your character will probably not crash. * A PlayerAnimations scene - right on the tin, but these are wierd. They're found in Graphics/Players/PlayerAnimations, despite not necessarily being graphics in and of themselves and despite tails' containing a script. Dont change the names/locations of any nodes you see they are expected to be there with that name and location and will crash if they can't be found. Duplicate a scene you like (probably choose one that matches the hitbox you chose, because Crouchbox is there for some reason) and modify the inner stuff. You can add new animations or change existing ones in PlayerAnimation. You can swap out the texture with your custom sprites of a different character. And you can change their super palette data to be a different color. Adding new nodes is fine as well, if you need something like a second layer. This scene can be accessed as spriteController from a player. This sucks and it's why there is the refactor. Though if you don't like part of this process you can change it for yourself if you see yourself adding more characters, or if you want to keep a codebase going so you could base new games off of your old code and have your tech stack up over time to something greater. For cc right now the PlayerAnimations have been renamed as Characters and placed in Entities like they probably should. spriteController is a new Character type that has a bunch of callbacks and export vars for character properties instead of per-script checks, and each guy will inherit the type for their own character scripts with ability code in it. STATES has been replaced with a dictionary of node references so that you can just throw like, parent.set_state($AceBlazeBurst) and it just works if you have the node there, and can be placed in character scenes. I could try sharing code but that would involve basically stripping it of it's cc-ness, so I'll probably just leave those as source code releases of cc when they come. With the godot 3 repository *hopefully coming soon*, if not soon then when demo 2 drops or something. On Tue, Aug 4, 2026, 3:13 PM Maskmaster64-code ***@***.***> wrote: > I am working on a game that will implement Eggman and Metal Sonic as > playable characters, but I don't know where to start. I looked at the > Player script and learned that the individual characters themselves don't > have scripts. > > — > Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub > <#357?email_source=notifications&email_token=A4JOMPL7SPCSL5N2O4TEKXL5IIYXDA5CNFSNUABBM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2ENFZWG5LTONUW63RPGEYDKNJTGE4DJJTSMVQXG33OVJZXKYTTMNZGSYTFMSSWK5TFNZ2KYZTPN52GK4S7MNWGSY3L>, > or unsubscribe > <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/A4JOMPLGSSUTKTP4PLRHZ635IIYXDAVCNFSNUABIKJSXA33TNF2G64TZHMZTKOJWGM2TSMBYHNCGS43DOVZXG2LPNY5TCMBVGUZTCOBUUF3AE> > . > Triage notifications, keep track of coding agent tasks and review pull > requests on the go with GitHub Mobile for iOS > <https://github.com/notifications/mobile/ios/A4JOMPKDGNSHFJIKIQI2BZT5IIYXDA5CNFSNUABBM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2ENFZWG5LTONUW63RPGEYDKNJTGE4DJJTSMVQXG33OVJZXKYTTMNZGSYTFMSSWK5TFNZ2KUZTPN52GK4S7NFXXG> > and Android > <https://github.com/notifications/mobile/android/A4JOMPORBON2UUB3OE3PWM35IIYXDA5CNFSNUABBM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2ENFZWG5LTONUW63RPGEYDKNJTGE4DJJTSMVQXG33OVJZXKYTTMNZGSYTFMSSWK5TFNZ2K4ZTPN52GK4S7MFXGI4TPNFSA>. > Download it today! > You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread.Message > ID: ***@***.***> >

[NeonSRB2]

Oh yeah you also should add them to the character select. Its just a table of strings and an extra entry to switch to your character with it with said string's index. There's extra code for the characters in the center, but you probably won't be using this screen for anything other than debugging anyway, so you can just kind of ignore it. If it causes crashes somehow you can just remove that code lol

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On Wed, Aug 5, 2026, 12:04 PM Neon ***@***.***> wrote: Player-refactor branch has this i think, but is generally incomplete. If you want to use what you have now here's how it works: Each character has 2 main things: * an entry in Global.gd's CHARACTERS enum - Find this in Scripts/Global, or look in autoloads. This is how the engine knows what character you are. Additionally swn will check in several places for this value. Player.gd has plenty to handle super, i think hitbox sizes, and stats (if you don't care/know just use sonic's or a default. a lot of this is inconsequential) There are other stuff though too, Normal.gd needs a list of idles to play in order. Air.gd branches out for each character's ability, so put your activation code there. HUD.gd (and maybe another script for level completion? check scene.) needs your character's name and life icon. MonitorIcons need your life icon too, though you dont need to change code for that, just add it next to the other life icons based off of index. After all of this your character will probably not crash. * A PlayerAnimations scene - right on the tin, but these are wierd. They're found in Graphics/Players/PlayerAnimations, despite not necessarily being graphics in and of themselves and despite tails' containing a script. Dont change the names/locations of any nodes you see they are expected to be there with that name and location and will crash if they can't be found. Duplicate a scene you like (probably choose one that matches the hitbox you chose, because Crouchbox is there for some reason) and modify the inner stuff. You can add new animations or change existing ones in PlayerAnimation. You can swap out the texture with your custom sprites of a different character. And you can change their super palette data to be a different color. Adding new nodes is fine as well, if you need something like a second layer. This scene can be accessed as spriteController from a player. This sucks and it's why there is the refactor. Though if you don't like part of this process you can change it for yourself if you see yourself adding more characters, or if you want to keep a codebase going so you could base new games off of your old code and have your tech stack up over time to something greater. For cc right now the PlayerAnimations have been renamed as Characters and placed in Entities like they probably should. spriteController is a new Character type that has a bunch of callbacks and export vars for character properties instead of per-script checks, and each guy will inherit the type for their own character scripts with ability code in it. STATES has been replaced with a dictionary of node references so that you can just throw like, parent.set_state($AceBlazeBurst) and it just works if you have the node there, and can be placed in character scenes. I could try sharing code but that would involve basically stripping it of it's cc-ness, so I'll probably just leave those as source code releases of cc when they come. With the godot 3 repository *hopefully coming soon*, if not soon then when demo 2 drops or something. On Tue, Aug 4, 2026, 3:13 PM Maskmaster64-code ***@***.***> wrote: > I am working on a game that will implement Eggman and Metal Sonic as > playable characters, but I don't know where to start. I looked at the > Player script and learned that the individual characters themselves don't > have scripts. > > — > Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub > <#357?email_source=notifications&email_token=A4JOMPL7SPCSL5N2O4TEKXL5IIYXDA5CNFSNUABBM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2ENFZWG5LTONUW63RPGEYDKNJTGE4DJJTSMVQXG33OVJZXKYTTMNZGSYTFMSSWK5TFNZ2KYZTPN52GK4S7MNWGSY3L>, > or unsubscribe > <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/A4JOMPLGSSUTKTP4PLRHZ635IIYXDAVCNFSNUABIKJSXA33TNF2G64TZHMZTKOJWGM2TSMBYHNCGS43DOVZXG2LPNY5TCMBVGUZTCOBUUF3AE> > . > Triage notifications, keep track of coding agent tasks and review pull > requests on the go with GitHub Mobile for iOS > <https://github.com/notifications/mobile/ios/A4JOMPKDGNSHFJIKIQI2BZT5IIYXDA5CNFSNUABBM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2ENFZWG5LTONUW63RPGEYDKNJTGE4DJJTSMVQXG33OVJZXKYTTMNZGSYTFMSSWK5TFNZ2KUZTPN52GK4S7NFXXG> > and Android > <https://github.com/notifications/mobile/android/A4JOMPORBON2UUB3OE3PWM35IIYXDA5CNFSNUABBM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2ENFZWG5LTONUW63RPGEYDKNJTGE4DJJTSMVQXG33OVJZXKYTTMNZGSYTFMSSWK5TFNZ2K4ZTPN52GK4S7MFXGI4TPNFSA>. > Download it today! > You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread.Message > ID: ***@***.***> >

[DimensionWarped]

The process of adding a new character is not currently for the faint of heart. I had a document describing how to do it at a very low level, but only for characters that are the same general height as Sonic (different character heights fuck up so much little stuff it drives me crazy)

Here was the draft, but it's almost certainly incomplete, so expect some pitfalls. It's also based on the PlayerRefactor branch, so some details may differ if you use vanilla.

1. Navigate to Entities/PlayerAvatars/ -- pick out Sonic (if he's the best reflection of your current character -- maybe Tails if your character has something like a big bushy tail to control, maybe Knuckles if the sprite is just huge)

2. Duplicate the Sonic.tscn (or whatever avatar you are templating off of) PlayerAvatar scene to <new character's name>.tscn

3. Swap Sprite2D's Texture to the Texture belonging to your new character

4. Clean up your animations - I recommend using the Center Reference and Crouch Box to know how your sprite offsets should be adjusted. Use the Hands reference for animations that involve the user grabbing something.
   You'll want to make them visible first. Prefer repositioning the sprite in the sprite sheet when you can since setting sprite offsets is generally more work and can create weird results if you don't do it right.

5. Navigate to Scripts/Player/PlayerAvatars/ -- duplicate the <CharacterYouCopied>Avatar.gd script to <CharacterYouAreCreating>Avatar.gd

6. Detach your <NewCharacter>Avatar.tscn script fromt he old PlayerAvatar script and attach the new one from step 5.

(NOTE: Idle Animations are currently controlled in Normal.gd... we should move this to the PlayerAvatar script in the final version of PlayerRefactor)

7. Add the player's name to the GLOBAL.CHARACTERS enum

8. Add the new PlayerAvatar to the playeravatars list in Player.gd

9. If you haven't made your own character select system yet, CharacterSelect.gd has a few things you'll need to change.
   * Add character to one of the characterLabels
   * Add CHARACTER_ID enum for new character
   * Add match statement for new character in the match(characterID) block.

10. PlayerPalette needs duped to cover the new Charater's Palette

At this point, your character should be usable with the same core set of abilities as the character you copied at the start of this.


COMPLEXITIES

* larger/smaller characters will need hit boxes to be modified and possibly more -- coming soon (the Vector / Charmy udpate?)

[QuartzTS]

I think it'd be cool if I helped with completing the PlayerRefactor branch, especially since the last update was 7 months ago..

Edit 1: Btw, can't you define the hitboxes for other characters? Like Sonic and Knux' hitboxes are the same and Amy and Tails' are maybe slightly smaller, ain't it easy to define the hitboxes of the player avatar for characters like Vector or Charmy? It should work as intended, right? (Maybe I gotta try it myself or smth..)

Edit 2: It works, but it's just a lil bit janky, but works pretty well, which is good even tho I didn't wanna mention this since I still believe the physics code needs to be rewritten lol..

[DimensionWarped]

I'd be perfectly happy to have help wrapping up the player refactor branch. I kept getting stuck on side chores revolving around Shadow is my issue... especially the part where his sprite is poorly designed to have a proper super form. I'm not going to ask you to do that... I might have to break down and eventually offer someone like @Caverns4 a commission to get that done right since that kind of sprite work is a little too soul crushing for me to get through.

Little characters aren't always a problem, but they get there when talking about various collision objects related to them. The most obvious that comes to mind is the monkey bar system I put in stage 2 has problems that are especially prominent when playing as Amy. It's much less of an issue for Tails for some reason. I meant to go back over that and figure out more about it, but then I started doing the whole Player Refactor thing as well as refinement around some other gimmicks... then real life problems hit me pretty hard for about 9 months, I started a new job in March, and the past several months since then I've just been really low energy and sick a lot. I think I'll get adjusted soon enough though and then ready to jump back into the thick of things.

[QuartzTS]

So, uh.. anything code related that I can do after the invincibility barrier, and possibly the particles? (helping on documentation would be cool as well..)

[DimensionWarped]

Plenty of options. If you want something low difficulty, convert the horizontal bars to connectable gimmicks. If you want something a little more challenging you could do player refactor stuff -- I'm pretty sure there was some minor stuff I got stuck on with converting character actions over to the new system that you could tinker on.

Or you could always just do something completely out of left field like an enemy or a gimmick. Your call.

Documentation is good too. We could really use some good guides on all sorts of subjects.

[QuartzTS]

Actually no problem with both, even tho I haven't really gone too far with the gimmicks and I was just thinking of helping with the player refactor stuff, but I guess I'll try doing it.. so rn I just gotta complete the invincibility barrier and get to the particles then ima see what to do, speaking of the invincibility barrier, idk what else to do with it, aside of replacing the spritesheet with a one that has the S2 graphics, which is not really my department apparently, maybe we could talk about it in the SFGHQ server or smth.. (btw, I'm not sure if I can open and work on more than one pull request cuz I feel like I might accidentally mess things up if I tried to, somehow..)

For the documentation, there's the wiki, which hasn't been worked on for 3 years, so do I work on that or we do smth else for the documentation?

[DimensionWarped]

I think improving the wiki would be a good way to go yeah. It needs a lot though... all it has right now is some really basic stuff.

I'll make sure we get this issue resolved one way or another this weekend. Then we can convene to discuss goals for your next project. Hit me up on Discord if you can. If not I can arrange to be looking at the forums at some point or another, but it's going to take some planning to make sure.

[Techokami]

QuartzTS, I'd be glad to have you on board for helping with documentation. Check your email, and please let me know if you have a Discord account.