Creating a Necrodancer Sprite Mod

This is an easier, no bullcrap guide on how to make a Crypt of the Necrodancer sprite mod. No third party programs needed!

Introduction

I welcome you to my first ever guide on Necrodancer Modding, if you are reading this it means you are interested in how to make sprites for Crypt of the Necrodancer and the guides around are not really helping you. I understand how you feel.

So, lets get to it!

Prerequisites

The things you need to make this kind of mod is:

- Crypt of the Necrodancer
- Any Web Browser

Thats it. Im not gonna have you install paint.net or GIMP or whatever just to replace a few pixels on a torso.

0. They Implemented a Mod Making Tool?

Adding this section on Christmas Eve, December 24th, 2024!

Apparently they added a Mod Making Tool two years ago and I was none the wiser because I stopped playing the game lmao.

Originally posted by Maryuku:

As of v3.2.0, there's an in-game asset extraction tool. You can access it via Pause -> Customize -> Resource Packs -> New Mod, then select which image/audio/data files you'd like to extract.

Quoted from a reddit post asking where to find the Synchrony DLC sprites.

What the tool does is that it auto-creates the folder your mod goes in, thumbnail and everything, and allows you to extract the exact sprites you'd like to modify. On that same Resource Packs menu there is the Share Mods button, which makes the process of uploading the mod WAY easier.

Do note, this is the only way to get the sprites for the Synchrony DLC and any DLC made after.

Feel free to skip the first step of the guide, it'll still be here for those who wish to explore the local files themselves!

1. Locating the Sprite Folder

Lets get this started!

First you need to find the game sprites, as these will serve as your base for pretty much anything that you want to make new sprites for.
In case you dont know how to find the Local Files for the game, simply right click it, "Manage
> Browse local files"
(Of course, if you somehow have the old Steam UI, you're gonna have to navigate through the Properties window.)



Welcome to your game files! Double click on the "data" folder. In these files you will find many of the game sprites. To save you the time for looking, here a list of folders and the sprites they contain:

• entities: These contain the majority of the sprite library, having spritesheets for characters, enemies and some other things (King Conga's throne, Dead Ringer's Gong, chests, shadows and the Conductor's instruments).
  
• gui: Hearts, Buttons, HUD. Everything that the GUI has and the boss images shown when you enter a boss floor.
  
• items: Items, weapons, coins and a small explosion spritesheet.
  
• level: Floors, walls, shrines, doors, wall torches and transmorgify tiles.
  
• main menu: Things that appear when you open the game.
  
• particles: Particles, shields, skeleton heads and helmets.
  
• spells: Spell effect spritesheets.
  
• swipes: Swipe effects for the various weapons.
  
• traps: Traps and shop runes.

Im going to change the sprite of a character as an example, since thats what I believe you are here for, but you can use this guide for changing the sprites of pretty much anything in the game (this file list might be useful for Total Conversion Mods). Just know, not everything for a character applies to other sprites.

Double click on entities.
You'll be confused at first looking at all these sprites, but you'll come to understand real quick that the sprites you are looking for are (player1_ / char#_)armor_body and (player1_ / char#_)heads. Each number corresponds to a different character, but player1 (Cadence) and char9 (Bard) are common bases to be used. Now copy and paste the sprites you want to edit to a new folder located preferably in the desktop for easy access.

2. Editing the Character Sprites

Now that you have a copy of the sprites to use, we should head on the fun part of the process.
Editing the sprites!

You want to open your web browser (you most likely have Chrome) and go to www.piskelapp.com. Again, you wont be installling anything, for in Piskel you can just make pixelart online through the browser.
Making an account is optional, and not really recommended. The size of the armor_body spritesheets are too big for the webpage to save online (or maybe thats something with the CotN AMPLIFIED spritesheet, for every torso and armor has three duplicates with a different colored outline). So just click Create Sprite.

Welcome to the editor, if you look at your right you will see five icons, click on the folder and then Browse images, right under Import from Picture.

Now find player1_/char#_(either head or body) file and import it.

Now, you will come across the following. Click on "Import as spritesheet", set the frame size to 24x24 and click import.
(If instead of an import button you get a "next" button, click on it and then press Replace).

UPDATE 22/7/24: For Dorian, import as spritesheet with Frame Size 33x32. His sprite is larger than the rest, for some reason.




















(Remember, both heads and armor_body spritesheets need to be 24x24, otherwise the sprites wont be aligned!)
Congrats! You have imported the spritesheet into piskel.

Now that your sprites are in the app, you are free to edit them! However, I suggest you review the first four sprites, as they are basically the entire movement of the character.

Like I said before, the AMPLIFIED spritesheet actually triples all the sprites but with different colored outlines. This is because the sprites change to these when on the electric wire tile normally present in Zone 5. I suggest you triple the sprites you made and give them white, yellow and orange outlines (and make sure to white out the eyes in the heads!) so people don't come complaining that your sprite doesnt work in Zone 5.

You may repeat this process with the other part of the sprite.


Once you're done with your sprites, go back to the right side of your screen and click the picture icon, not the save icon, the picture icon for the Export menu.


As of currently, the guide is made using the AMPLIFIED spritesheets. Once I look at the non-DLC spritesheet I will upload the respective bits for the export process for them. Feel free to experiment though.



Make sure everything is set like the image on your right, Scale to 1.0x, Resolution on 24x24, image set to PNG, and set the Spritesheet Layout Options to 16 Columns, 14 Rows (again, AMPLIFIED spritesheet). This is important.

Now proceed to hit the Download button on Spritesheet File Export, locate the new spritesheet and rename it to something. Move it to preferably the same file you made on your desktop with the copies of the original sprites.

You have obtained your NEW SPRITESHEET! Now make a second copy of it (or download it again from piskel) as a just in case something goes wrong. Believe me, you might need it.

3. Loading the New Sprites

Your first task is to return to the game's Local files.

Do you see the mods folder? Double click on it.
Make a new folder, name it "Your Mod Name" and enter it. Inside of this, make a new folder and give it the name of whichever folder you got the original sprites from. If you need a refresher, the names of said folders are back in section 1, or just manually locate them. Since I guess you (again) came here for custom character sprites, name the folder "entities".

Inside of this folder paste one of the two copies of the sprites you made and rename it to what the original sprites name was.
If its a character and you want to test it out inmediately, name it "player1_(armor_body or heads, depending on the spritesheet)" to change Cadence's sprite. Of course, you can also name it "char#_(armor_body or heads, depending on the spritesheet)" to apply it to another character's sprite.

With Cadence being player1_, below is the numbering that applies the sprite to its respective character (You are supposed to change the # in "char#" to said value).

1. Melody
   
2. Aria
   
3. Dorian
   
4. Eli
   
5. Monk
   
6. Dove
   
7. Coda
   
8. Bolt
   
9. Bard
   
10. Nocturna (AMPLIFIED)
    
11. Diamond (AMPLIFIED)
    
12. Mary (AMPLFIED)
    
13. Tempo (AMPLIFIED)

Now with your sprites named correctly in the correct place, go ahead and open the game.

Once everything is loaded, head into the lobby and press Esc on your keyboard.

Go to MODS, located under Custom Music.
Now enter PLAY A MOD and select [Your Mod Name]. The game will now load you back to where it was.
If everything was correct and you renamed the character skin to be Cadence, your mod should of loaded. If the skin was renamed to another character, then become that character and check if your mod applied successfully.
If you are playing AMPLIFIED, you might want to visit Zone 5 to check on the "charged" sprites of your character and make sure nothing is wrong with those.

Congratulations, you have successfully modded the game sprites! Now, you might want to consider uploading your work to the workshop.

4. Publishing your Mod

So you have made your sprite and want to upload it to the Workshop. Good luck for you, you can inmediately upload the mod from the game itself!

But before you do, let me tell you about thumbnails.

You need to make sure the image you are uploading as a thumbnail is a square JPEG. Not a PNG, a JPEG. You do not know the small amount of frustration I had figuring out why my mod wouldnt upload with a thumbnail. It can be the size of your choosing.

The thumbnail has to be named [Your Mod Name], and it needs to be located in the mods folder, outside of the folder also named [Your Mod Name]. Like this:


With all that set and done, return to the game (or reopen it, I don't know if you closed it) and open the menu (by pressing Esc) and go back to the MODS menu. Instead of Play a Mod, go to PUBLISH A MOD and select [Your Mod Name]. It should publish your mod inmediately, no questions asked.

(UPDATE 12/24/24): They allow PNG's for thumbnails now. Also, the Resource Packs menu has the Share Mods option. Clicking on it shows you the mods you've made and selecting the mod you want to upload will let you change its name and make a description for it. Finally, press UPLOAD.

You have successfully uploaded a mod to the Workshop, and you can check on it by going into the Workshop and searching [Your Mod Name] so you can add some details, such as a description and if your mod requires DLC.

End

And thats it! You have located, edited, tested and uploaded a Crypt of the Necrodancer Sprite Mod. Hopefully I covered everything correctly, and if theres any confusion then let me know. I'm also planning on editing this to answer common questions I find in the comments, so please, if you have any doubts, let me know. I'd be more than happy to answer them.

Please check out the one and only mod I made for this game using the various confusing guides I had to check. Thanks for reading!

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1902920255


Update Log 24/12/24: Added Section 0 after becoming aware of the Modding Tools implemented into the game.

[Sapphire]

Nocturna has an extra row of spirtes, I found out that to import it into piskel the frame size has to be 25x27, I am not sure however how it would import back into the game / if would be consistent with other character spirtes. Help would be appreciated

[Gli7cH]

Did some research, apparently the Synchrony sprites are not in the files but are to be extracted with an in-game extraction tool, quote from Marukyu at the reddit post I fouind:

"As of v3.2.0, there's an in-game asset extraction tool. You can access it via Pause -> Customize -> Resource Packs -> New Mod, then select which image/audio/data files you'd like to extract."

[lady noir]

I'm wanting to make a skin for Klarinetta but I can't find the spritesheets..... I know people are able to make Klarinetta skins but HOW!!! :(

[Clione_desu]

I have to be honest with you...I am grateful to you.
Because I spent a year just changing the thumbnails for the texture pack mod...
Just when I was about to lose my mind, I found this guide!
I had no idea that all I had to do was change the png to jpeg!
Thank you so much!

[Gli7cH]

Sorry for the delay! You're right, his sprites aren't 24x24. For some reason his sprites are actually 32x32, but for it to format right on Piskel you have to set it to 33x32.

[Wrench Dressing]

Now what about Dorian? His sprites don't seem to be 24 x 24

[Gli7cH]

I can't sadly. I'd help you troubleshoot but the game doesn't run well since I switched to a laptop.

[Just a Player]

hey, my game is closing when i try publishing the mod, do you think you can help?

[PixlWarren]

PERFECT!! Thank you so much :D

[Gli7cH]

No, it doesn't have to be on the "black" outline alone. You can add as many extra pixels as you like! It's your sprite, and I fully encourage experimenting with it.