nim.lua

Basic animation library for LÖVE using aseprite sprite sheets.

Features

• Simple.
• Use aseprite sprite sheets.
• Support forward, reverse and ping-pong animations.
• Cache animations to avoid loading them twice.

Example usage

This really simple code loads an animation and displays it on screen.

local nim = require "nim"

function love.load()
  -- Actually load the animation only once (using a cache)
  player = nim.new("sprites/player.json", "walk")
  lost_dark_evil_player = nim.new("sprites/player.json")
end

function love.update(dt)
  player:update(dt)
end

function love.draw()
  player:draw(10, 10)
end

function love.keypressed(key)
  if key == "space" then
    player:setTag("attack")
  end
end

API

• nim.new(path, tag=nil)

  Create a new Animation loading JSON file at path. The JSON file must be created from aseprite (File > Export Sprite Sheet) with Array and Frame Tags options.

  The animation starts with an initial tag or paused if none is given.

  Each time a new animation is loaded, it's cached for efficiency.

• Animation:update(dt)

  Update the animation and return true if the animation finished on this frame. dt are the seconds elapsed since last frame.

• Animation:draw(x=0, y=0, r=0, sx=1, sy=sx, ox=0, oy=0, kx=0, ky=0)

  Draw the animation on screen. The parameters are the same as love.graphics.draw (i.e. x and y for position , r for rotation, sx and sy for scaling, ox and oy for an origin offset, and kx and ky for shearing).

• Animation:pause() and Animation:unpause()

  Pause or unpause the animation.

• Animation:getTag()

  Get the current tag's name.

• Animation:setTag(tag, forceReset=false)

  Change the current tag of the animation and restart if it's different from the current one. If forceReset is set to true, the animation will start over anyway.

• Animation:getWidth(), Animation:getHeight(), and Animation:getDimensions()

  Return the width, height or both of the animation.

• Animation:getDuration(tag=nil)

  Return the total duration of a given tag. If tag is set to nil, the duration of the current tag is returned.

External libraries

• The awesome LÖVE framework.
• The glorious aseprite sprite editor.
• The fantastic json.lua library.