Player Character Swap

[DerxwnaKapsyla]

A growing trend in the community as of late has been Protagonist Swap Runs, where you play the game as a character that isn't one of the default protagonists (This can be your own OC, this can even be Titania, it could be the Rejuvenation protagonists! or it could be renko/maribel from the touhoumon games ). It occurs to me that this trend can be confusing to people who don't know how to do it, yet want to. So, I've decided to write a guide up that should explain how to do it. Do note, this guide will not tell you how to make custom sprites. It is outside the scope of this guide, and if you're looking for spriting tutorials, I recommend looking elsewhere.

 

Step 1: Find the sprites you're replacing

The first thing you'll need to do is have the sprites ready for your character. This guide assumes you have them ready for insertion, so let's go over the files that need replacing. Left is Protagonist 1, Right is Protagonist 2.

Folder: Pokemon Reborn\Graphics\Characters - This folder contains the basic overworld sprites. the Trainer Card sprite, and the battle backsprite. Figure out which one you want to replace, and replace it.

 - Male Sprites

 - Female Sprites

 - Non Binary Sprites

 

Folder: Pokemon Reborn\Graphics\Pictures - The stuff in this folder is usually for miscellaneous attributes. The only things to change in here are the sprites used for the intro sequence (which only get used in that sequence), and the Fly Icon.

 

Folder: Pokemon Reborn\Graphics\Transitions - The stuff in this folder is used for the various battle transitions. All you'd need to change in here is the graphic that corresponds to your protagonist's Vs. Sprite cut-in.

 

 

Step 2: Insert your sprites
For the purposes of this guide, I will use my own set of sprites. You also do not have permission to use them, as they're for my own OC and her upcoming run.

When you have the sprites you want to replace identified, go about replacing those sprites with your own custom ones. Name the new sprites their appropriate filenames, and place them in the correct folders. I highly recommend having a backup of the original sprites just in case!

This is a sprite from each of the three relevant folders, with their relevant naming scheme. Again, make sure they are named exactly as the old files were, and are in the exact same folder!

 

Step 3: In-Game Testing
Finally, the fun part; testing the sprites in game! If you did everything correctly, you should see the sprites showing up just like any other sprite would.

 

And that's it! You have successfully inserted your very own protagonist! What will you use this new protagonist for- a Mono-Only Run? Roleplaying purposes? To tell a story? General Shitposting? The possibilities are endless! Just be sure to have fun with it!

[canse]

Great guide, well done! 

Don't forget to copy your characters folder in case you wanna switch back.

[Anime]

but how can i change the sprites!, do i use a certain program?

[DerxwnaKapsyla]

Just drag and drop them into the folders! It's as easy as that!

[Anime]

10 minutes ago, DerxwnaKapsyla said:

Just drag and drop them into the folders! It's as easy as that!

Thanks  and do i start a new save or do i continue from where i left?

[Greninja]

7 minutes ago, Amine elhedhili said:

Thanks  and do i start a new save or do i continue from where i left?

You can just continue where you left off because you only change the sprite not the entire game.

[Anime]

Just now, Lightseeker said:

You can just continue where you left off because you only change the sprite not the entire game.

i put titania's sprite in the character's folder and nothing changed, well i tried lol

[Greninja]

2 minutes ago, Amine elhedhili said:

i put titania's sprite in the character's folder and nothing changed, well i tried lol

Did you name them correctly?

4 hours ago, DerxwnaKapsyla said:

Again, make sure they are named exactly as the old files were, and are in the exact same folder!

 

[Anime]

4 minutes ago, Lightseeker said:

Did you name them correctly?

 

i think i deleted the boy_walk sprite completely and i'll be stuck like this, when i move it's the boy's sprite

Edited January 10, 2017 by Amine elhedhili

[Greninja]

2 minutes ago, Amine elhedhili said:

i think i deleted the boy_walk sprite completely and i'll be stuck like this, when i move it's the boy's sprite

Then rename the sprite to "boy_walk" and take note while your charcter is running surfing riding a bike, etc. the new sprite wont show because you just replace the walk sprite.

[Anime]

thanks but  i still don't understand, so i'll ask someone to bring back the old sprite

[DerxwnaKapsyla]

You're on the right track! First and foremost, if you're just using Titania (or any other pre-existing sprite), you don't need to open it in paint or any other image editor.

 

So, here's Titania's sprite as it is in game, before any edits:

 

Since you're replacing the male set of sprites, what you do next is locate boy_walk (since that's what you replaced) and do the following:

 

 ->  -> 

Then, make a copy of the Titania sprite (because you dont want to flat rename it)

 ->  -> 

 

Now, as for boy_walk...

 

You'll need to rename it back yourself, but this is the vanilla e16 sprite.

 

After that, the sprites should load correctly.

[Colthorn]

On 1/10/2017 at 1:51 AM, DerxwnaKapsyla said:

Just drag and drop them into the folders! It's as easy as that!

I know that this is a really old thread lol, but does anyone know if changing the sprite while a game is in progress will break anything? I have a game going right now that's pretty far in and I don't wanna break anything on accident XD

[Dred]

5 hours ago, Colthorn said:

I know that this is a really old thread lol, but does anyone know if changing the sprite while a game is in progress will break anything? I have a game going right now that's pretty far in and I don't wanna break anything on accident XD

As long as you don't flat out delete sprites without replacing them, you can edit them to however you want.

[Colthorn]

1 hour ago, Dred said:

As long as you don't flat out delete sprites without replacing them, you can edit them to however you want.

Okay cool! Thanks a lot

[Moonlark]

Is this still possible? I want to do it, but if its not... 

[J Boi]

On 12/1/2023 at 10:01 AM, Moonlark said:

Is this still possible? I want to do it, but if its not... 

Yep, the only change as of E19 that I'm aware of is there are two more sprites you'll need to change to fully replace a character. in Graphics/Characters, you'll need to change trainer270 - trainer275 depending on which character you are replacing, and vsTrainer270 - vsTrainer275 in Graphics/Transitions. 

[auraontt]

On 12/23/2023 at 3:55 PM, J Boi said:

Yep, the only change as of E19 that I'm aware of is there are two more sprites you'll need to change to fully replace a character. in Graphics/Characters, you'll need to change trainer270 - trainer275 depending on which character you are replacing, and vsTrainer270 - vsTrainer275 in Graphics/Transitions. 

How do I find the number of a character? Do I need to go through them 1 by 1?