Thats great for a stand alone animation but different timing per frame makes extra coding work for me.
All things are extra work.
You're a programmer right? So maybe there's some trick you use like an array for each frame's delay??
Well there's no trick exactly but there are different ways of implementing the data.
You could fill out an array by hand directly into your code if you want.
But I wouldn't call it that the cleanest solution.
Another way is to fill out a text file by hand, write a quick parser, then write a txt file for each character/object that's formatted in the way the parser needs.
Here's an example of that by
Tyrannotorus.
You could simplify the process by writing some code that creates the formatted text file for you after you fill out some input boxes and hit a button, that way you don't have to work directly in notepad.
Or you could use another format like xml if you don't want to write your own.
Or store it in binary if you feel like it.
Another way would be to make a sprite sheet with duplicated frames for holds, have the code count the number of duplicates, save that to game usable data, then reprint the sprite sheet without the duplicates.
That way getting the number of delays would be automated.
The comparison could be done by checking all the pixels per frame, or you could use an alternating color code in the top left pixel or something like that.
Or you could use a colored pixel in the topleft and convert its r channel into delays.
Or you could just have oversized textures with duplicated frames and not worry about it.
Or you could write your own pixel editor that saves all your image data just the way you want it and not use sprite sheet images at all.
Or just a delay editor that loads in the texture and lets you set delays, then save them somewhere.
There are many other solutions.
Certain structures exist out there and you can find them if you look.
But most of the time as a programmer you just make stuff up.
If your game doesn't support variable frame delay I think you're missing out on something that will potentially make it look a lot better.
But even without it you can make a great game.
What are you programming in?
I've done C, C++, C#, and some other stuff.
I haven't done an animation structure in a while but we could probly talk thru it.
If you want to talk more about it PM me sometime.
Also I said say that if you are doing a simple game with only a few animations, hard coding all your data directly isn't that bad.
But bigger projects go a lot smoother if you build stuff for integrating content.
And it's more likely you'll use the same formats/tools on future projects so you can improve them over time.
