Got busy with conventions so hadn't had much time to work on this project, but now I'm finally free! So far I've been updating the character sprites for Skyler and Ethan, cause I've been wanting to add more character expression variations like I did for the last sprite, Naomi. Downside to this is it would mean like 30 different sprites per character just for the facial expressions... which is not the most practical...
For the more minor characters this wasn't that big of an issue cause they didn't have that many variations... but Skyler and Ethan also get costume changes later in the game in addition to all the expressions (they can't just wear their work uniforms the entire game lmao), so I'd need an ungodly amount of sprites if I exported them all as individual images. So I'm obviously not doing that. Instead, I'm going to format them as layered images, which let me just lay the different individual expressions, outfits, etc, on the base sprite in game instead of exporting everything individually. Great! Much easier.
This does however mean editing the sprites so that the clothes and expressions are separate from the base sprite, which needs to remain consistent. Not too big a deal, the expressions are already on separate layers, it just means making a no clothes version for the outfits. but oh if I want different poses/hand gestures I need the arms to be on a seperate layer. so I guess I need a base sprite with no clothes and...
...no arms...
oh...