Show HN: Natural Language Sprite Animator

1 gametorch 0 6/30/2025, 3:30:57 AM gametorch.app ↗
I made a huge breakthrough in sprite animation today.

I originally asked image models to generate all the frames of a spritesheet corresponding to an animation (e.g., "running to the left" or "jumping") in one image. It didn't really work. Only about 10% of the time would it give me a satisfactory result.

Then, I tried to generate all the frames with separate requests to the model in a loop, passing in all the other frames for reference. This significantly improved the likelihood of the model getting the animation correct on a conceptual level. But the subject in each frame was perceptibly different from the others --- over the course of the animation, hair would grow longer and shorter; muscles and skin tone would change; etc.

I finally landed on this approach. I am very, very satisfied with the results. It's not perfect. But it works well enough that I can actually use it in the games that I make.

Let me know what you think!

Comments (0)

No comments yet