Phaser API Documentation

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aseprite(key, [textureURL], [atlasURL], [textureXhrSettings], [atlasXhrSettings])

Description:

Aseprite is a powerful animated sprite editor and pixel art tool.

You can find more details at https://www.aseprite.org/

Adds a JSON based Aseprite Animation, or array of animations, to the current load queue.

You can call this method from within your Scene's preload, along with any other files you wish to load:

function preload ()
{
    this.load.aseprite('gladiator', 'images/Gladiator.png', 'images/Gladiator.json');
}

The file is not loaded right away. It is added to a queue ready to be loaded either when the loader starts, or if it's already running, when the next free load slot becomes available. This happens automatically if you are calling this from within the Scene's preload method, or a related callback. Because the file is queued it means you cannot use the file immediately after calling this method, but must wait for the file to complete. The typical flow for a Phaser Scene is that you load assets in the Scene's preload method and then when the Scene's create method is called you are guaranteed that all of those assets are ready for use and have been loaded.

If you call this from outside of preload then you are responsible for starting the Loader afterwards and monitoring its events to know when it's safe to use the asset. Please see the Phaser.Loader.LoaderPlugin class for more details.

To export a compatible JSON file in Aseprite, please do the following:

  1. Go to "File - Export Sprite Sheet"

  2. On the Layout tab: 2a. Set the "Sheet type" to "Packed" 2b. Set the "Constraints" to "None" 2c. Check the "Merge Duplicates" checkbox

  3. On the Sprite tab: 3a. Set "Layers" to "Visible layers" 3b. Set "Frames" to "All frames", unless you only wish to export a sub-set of tags

  4. On the Borders tab: 4a. Check the "Trim Sprite" and "Trim Cells" options 4b. Ensure "Border Padding", "Spacing" and "Inner Padding" are all > 0 (1 is usually enough)

  5. On the Output tab: 5a. Check "Output File", give your image a name and make sure you choose "png files" as the file type 5b. Check "JSON Data" and give your json file a name 5c. The JSON Data type can be either a Hash or Array, Phaser doesn't mind. 5d. Make sure "Tags" is checked in the Meta options 5e. In the "Item Filename" input box, make sure it says just "{frame}" and nothing more.

  6. Click export

This was tested with Aseprite 1.2.25.

This will export a png and json file which you can load using the Aseprite Loader, i.e.:

Phaser can load all common image types: png, jpg, gif and any other format the browser can natively handle.

The key must be a unique String. It is used to add the file to the global Texture Manager upon a successful load. The key should be unique both in terms of files being loaded and files already present in the Texture Manager. Loading a file using a key that is already taken will result in a warning. If you wish to replace an existing file then remove it from the Texture Manager first, before loading a new one.

Instead of passing arguments you can pass a configuration object, such as:

this.load.aseprite({
    key: 'gladiator',
    textureURL: 'images/Gladiator.png',
    atlasURL: 'images/Gladiator.json'
});

See the documentation for Phaser.Types.Loader.FileTypes.AsepriteFileConfig for more details.

Instead of passing a URL for the JSON data you can also pass in a well formed JSON object instead.

Once loaded, you can call this method from within a Scene with the 'atlas' key:

this.anims.createFromAseprite('paladin');

Any animations defined in the JSON will now be available to use in Phaser and you play them via their Tag name. For example, if you have an animation called 'War Cry' on your Aseprite timeline, you can play it in Phaser using that Tag name:

this.add.sprite(400, 300).play('War Cry');

When calling this method you can optionally provide an array of tag names, and only those animations will be created. For example:

this.anims.createFromAseprite('paladin', [ 'step', 'War Cry', 'Magnum Break' ]);

This will only create the 3 animations defined. Note that the tag names are case-sensitive.

If you have specified a prefix in the loader, via Loader.setPrefix then this value will be prepended to this files key. For example, if the prefix was MENU. and the key was Background the final key will be MENU.Background and this is what you would use to retrieve the image from the Texture Manager.

The URL can be relative or absolute. If the URL is relative the Loader.baseURL and Loader.path values will be prepended to it.

If the URL isn't specified the Loader will take the key and create a filename from that. For example if the key is "alien" and no URL is given then the Loader will set the URL to be "alien.png". It will always add .png as the extension, although this can be overridden if using an object instead of method arguments. If you do not desire this action then provide a URL.

Note: The ability to load this type of file will only be available if the Aseprite File type has been built into Phaser. It is available in the default build but can be excluded from custom builds.

Parameters:

name type arguments description
key string | Phaser.Types.Loader.FileTypes.AsepriteFileConfig | Array.<Phaser.Types.Loader.FileTypes.AsepriteFileConfig>

The key to use for this file, or a file configuration object, or array of them.

textureURL string | Array.<string> <optional>

The absolute or relative URL to load the texture image file from. If undefined or null it will be set to <key>.png, i.e. if key was "alien" then the URL will be "alien.png".

atlasURL object | string <optional>

The absolute or relative URL to load the texture atlas json data file from. If undefined or null it will be set to <key>.json, i.e. if key was "alien" then the URL will be "alien.json". Or, a well formed JSON object.

textureXhrSettings Phaser.Types.Loader.XHRSettingsObject <optional>

An XHR Settings configuration object for the atlas image file. Used in replacement of the Loaders default XHR Settings.

atlasXhrSettings Phaser.Types.Loader.XHRSettingsObject <optional>

An XHR Settings configuration object for the atlas json file. Used in replacement of the Loaders default XHR Settings.

Returns:
Description:

The Loader instance.

Since: 3.50.0