Animations are predefined sequences of frames played with timing to produce the illusion of motion or action. OpenBOR uses animations as the basic framework of a model. Most in game actions are part of or require an animation.

Syntax

Unless otherwise noted defining an animation always consists of anim followed by the animation name. Individual frames are defined with the frame command followed by path to an image file. Offset controls the image placement in relation to entity position for a frame, and delay determines how long (in centiseconds) a frame stays on-screen. See the following example:

anim idle

     offset 100 200

     delay 10

     frame data/chars/some_guy/idle_0.png
     frame data/chars/some_guy/idle_1.png
     frame data/chars/some_guy/idle_2.png

Tip: You can use a different offset for each frame, but you should avoid doing so. OpenBOR auto trims images on load, so it’s beneficial to select a uniform image size and use one offset. Don’t ever use offsets to simulate movement, there are specific functions and settings for that elsewhere.

From this foundation, OpenBOR supports dozens of properties and commands to manipulate the behavior of a given animation, determine when it will play, and so on. One example might be an attack box to hit and damage other entities, and a body box that detects the incoming hits.

Script Access

IDs

Each animation has a unique identifier acessible through openborconstant(). Unless noted otherwise, the animation constant is always ANI_<ANIMATION_NAME>. See the following example script:

int current_animation = get_entity_property("animation_id");

if(current_animation == openborconstant("ANI_JUMP"))
{
     log("\n I'm jumping!");
}

Properties

Animation properties are attributes possessed by animations, such as number of frames, collision boxes, cancel points, and so on. Animation properties are accessible through the get_animation_property() and set_animation_property() functions.

Animations Vs. Frames: It would be logical to assume each animation has a set of frames with associated frame properties, but in actuality there is no such thing as a distinct frame collection in OpenBOR. Instead, any animation property specific to individual frames has an array of its own.

Use Cases

Get a property value. Properties and their behavior can vary wildly – see the property list for details.

 mixed x = get_animation_property(void <animation handle>, char <identifier>);

Modify a property value. Some properties are read only – see the property list for details.

mixed x = <value>

set_animation_property(void <animation handle>, char <identifier>, x);

List

• Name: The identifier used to access property through script.
• Type: The property value’s variable type.
• Description: A short description of what the property is and does.