AnimationWML

Animation and sound

Several key/tags of the [unit] and [attack] tags do not affect gameplay, but are available to control the way units and their attacks will be animated and heard.

All images assume that units are facing right; when units are facing left the images will be reversed. If a unit is attacking north or south then an "orthogonal" image may be displayed for the unit's missile (see [missile_frame]). The input file is displayed when the unit is attacking northwards, and flipped horizontally when the unit attacks southwards.

All times (see begin, end, time) are measured in milliseconds, or 1000ths of seconds. Unit movement is automatically animated based on these times; the attacking unit or missile begins in the center of the hex at the lowest begin time, then slides continuously to the center of the defender's hex, which it reaches at time=0. If the attack is short-range, the unit will then slide continuously back onto its own hex until the highest end time.

• [frame] In WML, animations are made using the [frame] tag. It describes one frame of an animation. The following keys are recognized for [frame]:
  • begin when to start displaying this frame
  • end when to stop displaying this frame
  • image the image to display during this frame to represent the unit
  • halo comma separated list of halo images to be displayed around the unit. These images will be given equal amounts of time, based on the time between begin and end. It is recommended that you allow for at least 50 time units per image; i.e. end - beginning > 50 * number of halos. halo is generally used only for long-range attack animations (both [frame] and [missile_frame]).
  • halo_x,halo_y pixel offset between the center of the halo images and the center of the unit.

The following display key/tags are recognized for [unit]:

• image the unit image displayed on the main map when the unit is resting, and on the status table when the unit is selected. Also the default for all other unit images.
• profile the image displayed when the unit is talking. See [message], InterfaceActionsWML.
• image_moving the image displayed while the unit is moving.
• image_long the image displayed while the unit is using a long-range (ranged) attack (can be overloaded; see [frame], [attack]).
• image_short the image displayed while the unit is using a short-range (melee) attack (can be overloaded; see [frame], [attack]).
• image_leading,image_healing the images displayed for this unit while using the 'leadership', 'heals', or 'cures' ability, if present. See also AbilitiesWML.
• [teleport_anim] describes an animation for when this unit teleports.
  • [frame] see [frame] above. The frames before time 0 are displayed at the original location; the ones after are displayed at the new location.
• image_defensive default for image_defensive_long and image_defensive_short this is deprecated in 1.1.x see [defend].
• image_defensive_long default image when the unit is defending against a long-range attack. This is deprecated in 1.1.x see [defend].
• image_defensive_short default image when the unit is defending against a short-range attack. This is depecated in 1.1.x see [defend].
• [defend] describes an animation for when this unit defends. Multiple [defend]s tags can be used.
  • range if this key is present, the attack must be at this range in order for the animation to trigger. Values 'short', 'long'.
  • hits if this key is present, the attack must either hit('yes') or miss('no') in order for this animation to trigger.
  • [frame] defense animation. See [frame] above.
• get_hit_sound the sound played (at time=0) when this unit is hit.
• die_sound the sound played (at time=0) when the unit dies.
• [death] describes an animation for when this unit is killed. Times before 0 are not allowed for this animation; the first frame's begin time will be displayed immediately following the unit's defense animation, regardless of whether it is before or after 0.
  • [frame] death animation. See [frame] above.
• [extra_anim] (1.1.x only) describes a unit animation that will be displayed on a [animate_unit] wml action
  • flag this tag will be used to choose the animation to play. If a unit has more than one animaiton with a given tag, a random one will be choosen
  • [frame] the animation itself, see [frame] above

The following display tags are recognized for [attack]:

• [frame] unit's attack animation. For melee attacks (range=short), this animation is moved toward the enemy; otherwise it is stationary. See [frame] above for syntax.
• [missile_frame] missile's animation during the attack. Only valid for ranged attacks (range=long).
  • begin,end,halo,halo_x,halo_y same as in [frame] above.
  • image the image to display when the unit is attacking orthogonally.
  • image_diagonal the image to display if the unit is attacking diagonally.
• [sound] describes a sound to play during the attack
  • sound the sound to play if the attack hits
  • sound_miss the sound to play if the attack misses
  • time when to start playing the sound

See Also

• UnitWML
• ReferenceWML