How to Share or Download Custom Characters | Smack Studio

Learn how to share or download custom characters from Smack Studio. Note: this is the Early Access method which is subject to change in the future.

Share a Character on Steam Workshop

1. First, you'll need to prepare your character for sharing. We recommend you create a character portrait which will appear on the character selection screen. It can be whatever you'd like, although we recommend selecting one that represents your character. Formatting-wise, an image with a transparent background at 64 pixels tall by 64 pixels wide works best. Save it somewhere and make sure you select the "Portrait" button and select the file and hit Accept.
   
   
   
   
2. Next, click "Finalize" and "Upload to Steam." If your character isn't finalized, you won't be able to upload it.
   
   
   
   
3. You'll begin the readiness check. This does a quick review of your character to look for potential balancing issues or oversights. You aren't required to satisfy these checks to upload, but we recommend you pay attention here.
   
   
   
   
4. Next, select "new file." If you're updating an existing Steam Workshop item you've already uploaded, select a character title from the list.
   
   
   
   
5. Fill in your upload's description (an example will be provided for you to replace).
   
   
   
   
6. Next, select an image to be the preview graphic for your workshop entry. Ideally it will be 16:9, and it must be below 1MB. Smaller file sizes are more stable. Compressed 1920x1080 .PNG images work great.
   
   
   
   
7. Next, check each box to agree to the terms of our agreement. By using Workshop, you agree to not include NSFW or otherwise offensive content in your uploads.
   
   
   
   
8. Click "Upload to Steam" to begin the upload process. You may need to wait a minute or two for this to complete.
   
   
   
   
9. After a while, a confirmation message should appear. You can now open your profile's Steam Workshop collection and see your item. From here you can edit it by adding more screenshots, videos, and editing whatever other properties you'd like.
   
   

Download a Character on Steam Workshop

1. Before you launch the game, open Smack Studio's Steam Workshop page.
   
   
   
   
2. Browse to the item you'd like to download and click "Subscribe." Next time you open Smack Studio, this character will be available to play in your roster.
   
   
   
   
3. If the game's already open, close it, and open it again. Clicking the "Manage" button on the character select screen will let you decide which workshop characters are selectable.
   
   
   
   
4. Workshop characters you disable won't be visible on the character select screen, nor will they be accessible when players select "random."
   
   
   
   Note: if a character doesn't not show up on this list, it's because either you aren't subscribed to them, or the item was deleted.

To find the local files from your subscribed workshop items, open your Steam folder and navigate to steamapps > workshop > content > 1739300. You'll find a series of folders inside of these with the IDs of the workshop items you've subscribed to. Full path will look something like this: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\workshop\content\1739300

Share your custom character (non-Workshop)

1. First, you'll need to prepare your character for sharing. We recommend you create a character portrait which will appear on the character selection screen. It can be whatever you'd like, although we recommend selecting one that represents your character. Formatting-wise, an image with a transparent background at 64 pixels tall by 64 pixels wide works best. Save it somewhere and make sure you select the "Portrait" button and select the file and hit Accept.
   
   
   
   
2. Next, you'll want to finalize your character. To do this, click "Finalize for VS" in the top right corner. Confirm your character's name, click Save, and then wait for the finalization to complete (about 20 seconds).
   
   
   
   
3. Now you're ready to share your character. Close out of Smack Studio and open Steam.
   
4. Right click Smack Studio from the list, and click Properties.
   
   
   
   
5. Select "Local Files" from the left-hand side and then click 'Browse...'.
   
   
   
   
6. In the Explorer window, navigate to the following folder directory: SmackStudio > Data > Characters_custom. The full path will be something like C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Smack Studio\SmackStudio\Data\Characters_custom.
   
   
   
   
7. Locate the folder with the character name you want to share. Then, place the preview.png file you created earlier into it.
   
   
   
   
8. Next, use file archiver software like 7-Zip[www.7-zip.org] to create a .zip of that character folder.
   
   
   
   
9. Finally, visit our Discord server[smackstudio.com] and upload that .zip folder to our #characters channel. Feel free to include a brief summary of your character along with the upload!
   
   

Download a custom character (non-Workshop)

1. Download the .zip file for the character you want to use in Smack Studio.
   
2. Open Steam.
   
3. Right click Smack Studio from the list, and click Properties.
   
   
   
   
4. Select "Local Files" from the left-hand side and then click 'Browse...'.
   
   
   
   
5. In the Explorer window, navigate to the following folder directory: SmackStudio > Data > Characters_custom. If the folder doesn't exist, create it. The full path will be something like C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Smack Studio\SmackStudio\Data\Characters_custom.
   
   
   
   
6. Now move the .zip folder of the character you want to use to that directory.
   
   
   
   
7. Finally, extract the contents of the .zip file (it should be a folder with the character's name). You can do this in Explorer or by using a file archiver software like 7-Zip[www.7-zip.org]. You may now delete the .zip file if you wish.
   
   
   
   
8. Now when you open Smack Studio's Character Editor, the name of the character you downloaded will appear in the list!
   
   Note: if the game crashes when loading the character, you've probably accidentally nested the folders. Make sure the folder's name is the just the character's name, and the files are immediately within it, not buried in another folder inside of it.

[skeleton dude]

hi davidvkimball in your (Share your custom character (non-Workshop)) instructions specifically the (7th) one there is an atlas image called (atlas0.png) is it an animation sprite sheet or not ? thanks in advance

[imaginaryZenith]

I tried importing a 16-bit sprite I made in an effort to animate it more easily, but after adding and binding the bones the entire character turns into a weird blobby mess in the preview. Please help!