Free Pixel Art Character - The Mana Seed "Farmer Sprite System"
A downloadable asset pack for Windows and macOS
TL;DR - The Mana Seed Farmer Sprite System (this asset) is a fully game-ready system for farming sim player characters or NPCs. It includes a wildly diverse set of animations for farming and socializing as well as a built-in character customization system, featuring multiple layers of color-swappable clothing and hairstyles, for near-limitless potential.
Please note: While you CAN repurpose many of the farming tool animations into weapon strikes, I don't recommend using this sprite for an action RPG character.
If you need something with more combat options (though without all the outfit customization), then you should check out the Mana Seed Character Base, instead (use one or the other, the sprites are not interchangeable).
Do you have questions about this asset? Please try the FAQ before commenting.
The Mana Seed Farmer Sprite System
This is a complete paper doll system ready to be implemented into your farming sim-style game. It comes with a ton of related animations, and a variety of suitable outfits and hairstyles. Implemented properly, this sprite will allow your player to customize their character and change their outfit or hair in-game. The farmer sprite is around 32 pixels high (centered in a 64x64 sliceable cell) and is meant to work well with the rest of the tilesets and animated NPCs and monsters in the Mana Seed collection. Here's an abbreviated list of the 150+ animations the Farmer Sprite System is capable of out of the box:
- Walk, run, jump, push, pull, and climb
- Pick up something and hold it over your head, walk, run, and jump with it, then throw it, Zelda-style
- Lots of farming sim animations:
- Sing, play guitar, flute, drums, or piano (includes 21 unique instrument sprites)
- Mount, ride, and soothe your horse.
- Pet the dog or horse
- Drink from a glass (both standing up or sitting at a bar)
- Lots of fun emotes for interactions or cut scenes:
- Hug your friends
- Laugh out loud
- Be shocked and amazed
- Wave hello or goodbye
- Tap your toe impatiently
- Look around
- Get stomping mad
- Hang your head in sadness
- Give a big happy thumbs-up
- Sit in a chair or throne
- Sit on the floor
- Sit on a ledge and kick your feet wistfully
- Sit and meditate (zen style)
- Sleep at a bar (you drunkard)
- Sleep in a bed
- Some basic combat stuff
- Overhand, forehand, and backhand strikes (includes sword, axe, mace, and club sprites)
- Shoot a bow (includes 2 different types)
- Evade attack, get hit, fall down
- And maybe more...?
All associated tools and equipment for these animations are included in this pack. Some even come with visual variations.
There is a comprehensive animation guide and cell reference sheet that explains how every animation is meant to work. However, you are encouraged to mix and match frames from different animations to come up with your own unique actions.
Hair and Clothes Included
In addition to the various animations listed above, the Mana Seed Farmer Sprite System also includes a bunch of different hairstyles and clothing elements that you can mix and match to make your own outfits. Or let your players do it for full character customization. With all the different clothing and hairstyle elements, you've got millions of possible unique combinations, and that's not even potential color swaps! All hair and clothing elements are on their own sheets, laid out exactly like the body sprites, so they can be animated together in a paper doll-style system. And best of all: ALL HAIR AND CLOTHING COVERS ALL ANIMATIONS!
Here's an incomplete list of all the stuff that comes in the pack:
- Socks at 3 lengths (includes high stockings)
- 5 shoe types (includes boots and sandals)
- Undergarments (boxers, undies, bra)
- Swimsuits (trunks, one piece, bikini)
- Shorts and long pants
- Overalls and shortalls
- Short- and long-sleeved shirts
- Frilly skirt and dress
- Gloves, vest, and suspenders
- Scarf, mantle, and cloak
- Glasses and sunglasses
- 12 different hairstyles
- 6 different hats
All upper body clothing (like shirts, dresses, overalls, etc) have versions both with and without noticeable boobs. If you want to see exactly what all these things look like, please see the "Full Clothing List" image below for an example of each item. As an added bonus, I've also included a 16x16 inventory icon for each clothing element, so you can let your players dress themselves in-game (if that's what you're into).
This is an "Advanced" Game Asset
PLEASE NOTE: This is not a quick and easy RPG Maker-type asset. Each component (hairstyle, outfit, tool, effect, etc) is on its own sheet, which must be layered on top of the body sprite during animation. Experience with a more feature-rich game engine is required to be able to use the Mana Seed Farmer Sprite System to its fullest potential (Unity and Godot are popular choices in the Mana Seed Discord server). Here are some things you'll need to code into your game engine to take full advantage of this system:
- You'll need to set up animations with frames from different parts of the sheet (some frames are shared across multiple animations, so they're not all in sequential order).
- You'll need to flip/mirror some frames within the same animation.
- You'll need to attach props (tools/weapons) and effects from separate sheets and line them up manually, flipping or rotating during the animations as necessary.
- You'll need to move those props behind or in front of the character sprite as required by the animation.
- You'll need to assemble a "paper doll" system in your game engine if you want to be able to customize your outfits in-game (each clothing/hair layer moves and animates with the body sprite).
- You may need as many as 20 "paper doll" layers on your sprite to use everything as intended.
- You'll need to be able to swap color palettes at run-time if you want your players to customize their outfits or hair colors. The outfits and hairstyles in this pack only come in one universal color palette to make runtime palette swapping easy.
Sprite Customizer Included
If you want to use the Farmer Sprite System, but don't want to implement a full layered outfit-changing system into your game, you can just use the Farmer Sprite Customizer to whip up a character in minutes. This is a stand-alone app available for Windows and Mac (note: may not be compatible with ARM-based (M1-3) Macs) that lets you build a character using every element of the Farmer Sprite System, customize them with official Mana Seed color palettes, and then export them to a single flat sprite sheet, ready for animating! Maybe it's a small game that isn't worth the energy of building an outfit system, or you're using a game engine that has trouble with the concept, or maybe you just want some quick NPCs that don't hog so many resources. Whatever your situation, feel free to use the Farmer Sprite Customizer at no additional cost.
If you're still new to game development, you can visit the Mana Seed Discord server (link below) and speak with other devs using this asset. The Mana Seed community is friendly and helpful (so long as you don't show up with an attitude). Hope to see you there!
Compatible Assets
Looking for more game assets in the same SNES-inspired pixel art style? Check out the entire Mana Seed collection! Here are just a few that will go great with the Farmer Sprite System:
Third-Party Compatible Assets
These assets will help you with or expand the Farmer Sprite System in some way. They have an official endorsement from yours truly (Seliel the Shaper), but you'll need to contact the creators directly if you have any issues.
- Visit the Mana Seed Website
- See the full Mana Seed Collection
- Buy everything in one bundle
- Support me on Patreon or Ko-fi
- Commission new Mana Seed assets
- Join my Discord Server
- Read the Mana Seed User License
Download
Click download now to get access to the following files:
Development log
- Eyes Asset Launch38 days ago
- Mana Seed Hero Base Beta PreviewMay 24, 2024
- Rideable Horse Now Available!May 13, 2024
- MacOS Customizer Added!May 03, 2024
- Rideable Horse Now in Early AccessApr 18, 2024
- Character Animator for Godot 4 released!Feb 22, 2024
- Rideable Horse Coming Soon!Feb 20, 2024
- Full Sprite Sheet Customizer Now Included!Feb 12, 2024
Comments
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How do I download the full pack? Happy to pay I'm just not sure what the price is and how to get it. Thanks!
After you click the "Download Now" button, just click the "Pay with Paypal" or "Pay with card" button. It's automatically pre-set to $29.99, which is the minimum payment necessary to unlock the full asset.
Great, thanks!
I’m going to create a new OC named Janette.
Cool 😎 👍
Thx friend!
Thanks for this
hello ! Quick question , im trying to use the walking animation but the sprite sheet is missing three steps to complete the animation and making it fluent
Please refer to the included animation guide.
Thank you for the free assets, I want to use them as a learning tool, I'll be sure to purchase the paid one in the future soon after.
Dear Saliel the Sharper, any chance for shovel dig animation?
There's a slim possiblity I might add one in a distant update. In the meantime, you might try the frames for an overhead chop in reverse, and see how that looks.
Right, thank you so much for a quick answer!
hi I just wanted to know if I can add my own custom skin colors
Yes, you can change the skin to any color you want. Download the free sample to experiment with it.
like eg: pink, blue, etc? Cuz I tried the application for the sprite customisation and it only has light to dark shades(skin colors) not like pink, etc so like if I want to add any colour of my choice how can I do it? Sorry I’m not coming off clearly for understanding
You must be leaving some vital information out of your question because I have no control over what color you make your sprites. That's going to be done in an art program (I recommend Aseprite) or programmatically with something like a color-swapping shader.
oh okay I use unity and was using your mana seed sprite customiser application it had only selected colours I’ll try in aseprite tho
The color ramp options within the sprite customizer are limited, you can't change those. But once you export your custom sprite, you can edit the colors of the PNG as you would normally.
How does one add weapons to these sprites?? is there a tutorial video?? im using unity and understand setting up animations and using the animator, when trying to add the attack sprites it just deletes my character so I know im doing something wrong
This is definitely a Unity question. You should look up Unity tutorials on what's called a "paper doll" system. You'll need to understand how to attach different frames of the weapon sheet during each frame of an attack animation, and have those weapon sprites display at the right position, rotation, etc, based on whatever kind of attack you want to make.
Thank you so much!
Hi, I've downloaded the Mac OS customizer and it doesn't work. I have all permissions set to allow any program to open. It just gives an error saying the program can't be opened and doesn't explain why. I am using an intel Mac.
2019 MacBook Pro 16 inch 8 core intel i9 Processor with
AMD Radeon Pro 5500M 8 GB Video Memory
64 GB 2667 MHz DDR4 Ram
I really hope this can be fixed because I would love to use the new customizer app.
We've heard reports that it doesn't work on the newer Macs. The Mac version was made by the Godot compiler, so unfortunately we don't really have a way to make any fixes. We'll try it again after the next version of Godot. But until then, we're just out of luck. Sorry 🙏🏽
I don't have a newer Mac. Mine is an intel. I read that it doesn't work with the ARM processors. It's confusing that you have a Mac version but it's not even working on an intel one. Ah well, I tried at least, thank you.
I have a mac and the way it worked for me is DONT double click to unzip unzip with unarchiver and once unzipped click and open the application and go to settings and then privacy & security and then scroll to the bottom until you find open anyways and then open it you will only need to do this once then simply double click and it’ll work
thank you, this solution worked for me!
I can also confirm that this solution works! Idk if it'll solve everyones issues, but i was going crazy until i saw the comment. Thanks!
Where are the instruments shown in the demo spritesheet?
In the "farmer_base_effects" folder, find the animation sprites in the "farmer props 32x32 v00.png" file, and the inventory icons in the "farmer icons 16x16 v00.png" file.
Sorry I was not clear. I was talking about the demo application to build the spritesheets. I can find the play animation but no instruments. Also no piano playing.
By "demo application" I'm guessing you mean the Sprite Customizer? That app makes flattened sprite sheets with your desired clothing, hair, and color palette. The animation you need to create yourself using the Animation Guide.
Hey, just bought this but have a quick question. When I export sprites using the sprite customizer then it doesn't seem like any walk animation for west/left comes with it. I can only seems to see walking north, east and south. Maybe I am missing something? I basically just need the normal walk animation for the sprites, nothing else.
Would the correct way to handle this be taking the walking animation for right and reverse it so it becomes a left side walking animation or is there a better way to handle it?
Please consult the "farmer base animation guide.png" found in the "_supporting files" folder. It will explain how to make all the animations.
I might be misunderstanding something here, but that guide still only shows animation for walking up, right and down, there is no left side walking animation. So am I supposed to take the "right" walking animation and reverse it?
The key at the bottom right of the animation guide may offer some assistance.
EDIT: Sorry feel free to ignore this, just read the FAQ - Love this, think I will pick it up. It sounds like this is the better of the 2 between this and the Character Base, apologies if you've been asked this before but are there any plans to add more of the animations unique to the character base to this? Appreciate your time
I will eventually update this to add more animations, but combat moves are not likely. That's not the kind of game this was intended for. Something like riding a bike, ice skating, or dancing, would be much more appropriate for this asset than fighting with a spear, for example.
That sounds great, mostly just wanting to be sure this is the set-up that will keep being added to. Appreciate the reply
Hey! How's everything. i tried to but the full set but Got the demo version twice. What is the proper link to get it all? I already asked to cancel both purchases. Sorry. I still want it tho! :) Cheers from Chile!
Right now it's on sale, so you need to enter at least $14.99 in the checkout box (it shows $5 by default). That will make all the files accessible 👍
oooooh gotcha! Problem solved then haha!
For ramp color, I don't know how to use it. After looking at the Sprite Customizer, I always feel that the colors don't match in my game. Can you give me some suggestions
I have no idea what could be happening to cause your colors to look different. If you join the Mana Seed Discord server, you can share your problem in a channel specific to your game engine, and maybe someone will be able to help 🤷♀️
Okay, thank you
I have the same question on how to use ramp color. I got the textures only, dont know where to set the base ramp, how to apply new ones?
I'm not sure I understand your question. The base ramps and the potential replacements are all in the palettes folders. The clothing and hair all use the base ramps already. Use those as the reference point for swapping out the replacement ramps. There's a color ramps image in the supporting files folder that demonstrates how they work. If you're having trouble grasping the concept generally, I invite you to take a look at the customizer app. Change the color ramp of a layer and see how it affects the sprite.
If you're asking how to set them up to change in your game, that's not something I can do for you. You need to program that yourself. If you're using Godot, there's a plugin linked on this page to help (MSCA). If you're using another engine, you'll need to look up tutorials on palette swapping.
i c, tyvm
Hi. i like both farmer character base and character base, because i need the variety of combat animation of character base + farming animation of this one. My question is: is there anyway to buy both in discount? Are the animations in these two assets compatible?
Sorry, they're not compatible. My advice is to choose whether you would rather make a farming sim or an action rpg, and limit your scope to increase your chances of finishing and releasing a game. Good luck!
Thanks for the quick reply, i intend to use the character base assets, but is there the same stand alone tool to custom hair and outfit and generate spritesheets as farmer sprites assets has?
No, the Farmer Sprite System is far more robust than the Character Base. You will need to draw your own outfits and hairstyles if you use the latter.
kk,tyvm
Hello there, I am curious how the process of layer the sprites together works? Is there a tutorial listed somewhere by chance? Thanks for any insight on this, I'm a newbie and would but I really like your style. I would like to create a single character with the animations and incorporate it into a stardew valley like if possible.
The process is going to be different depending on which game engine you use (Unity, Godot, GMS, Unreal, etc). You should search for tutorials about something like a "paper doll system" or "layered character animations" within your game engine. You basically need all layers to animate in unison, showing the same frames at the same time. If you have trouble with something, you can try joining the Mana Seed Discord server (linked at the bottom of the page) and ask other devs who are using your game engine.
Thank you for the heads up! I'll look around online and see what I can find
Heya! Just picked up the Farmer Base after I got your older character base. I don't see an Aseprite file in this newer character base, is that by design? Or am I missing the file in the folder somewhere?
That's intentional, I'm afraid. The Farmer Sprite System does not include an outfit canvas. Sorry! 🙏🏽
Ahh ok, no problem!! Thanks so much for the response.
I don't understand, can i download it for free and use it on my project ? then can i sell the game ? or not i mean sell in steam or to someone or somthing like that, is anything req for me to do so in free ? like giiving credit or paying or what ?
Yes, you can download the free sample and use it in a video game, and sell that video game on Steam. You are not required to credit me.
There's a link at the bottom of the page called "Mana Seed User License" that explains everything in more detail, as well as additional restrictions that may or may not apply to your game.
Is every animation 4 directional? Including combat?
No, not every animation is in 4 directions. Not where it doesn't need to be. Most of the emotes are only facing down. However, all of the farming/combat animations are in 4 directions. You can see everything in the free sample.
Can I use your game assets for a cross-platform online game?
The platform(s) your game is released on shouldn't pose a problem, but feel free to check out the User License just in case: https://selieltheshaper.weebly.com/user-license.html
Thank you!
Hello, I used this asset pack in my game "Warm drinks for freezing winter", as part of the "Cozy Winter Jam 2023".
This is exactly what I needed!
That's lovely, what a cozy game! Good job 😁👍
When I purchased this asset it didn't apply the 67% discount and still charged me $29.99. Is there a way to fix that?
It doesn't actually charge you anything. You need to enter the amount you want to pay yourself. In this case, $9.89, as demonstrated on the sale page:
The value defaults to a $5 tip (for the free sample), but it looks like you manually typed in $29.99, because on my end it just says you gave me a $20.10 tip.
Itchio doesn't give us the power to issue refunds; you would need to either go through itchio support, explaining your mistake, or wait until I receive your payment in January, at which point I can send you the money through PayPal. If you don't want to pursue either of those options, I can give you a $20.10 discount on another asset now. Just send me a private message on Discord, Twitter, or Ko-fi (links on my website), or send me an email (which you can find at the end of the Mana Seed User License), let me know which asset(s) you'd like the discount on, and I'll give you a special link 👍
Hello, how are you? Congratulations on the package, I plan to buy a lot of your assests for my game. Can you tell me if the tilesets, characters, animations etc work in rpg maker maker mz? I may need to adapt the sizes, but is it compatible?
I'm afraid none of my assets are designed explicitly to work with any version of RPG Maker. You can resize this asset, but you'll need a plugin to use the 6-frame walk and run animations, among other things.
The FAQ addresses this question: https://seliel-the-shaper.itch.io/farmer-base/devlog/523176/farmer-sprite-system...
Hello, can I use it directly on paid games after purchasing it, or do I need to tell you?
You don't need to tell me. But it'll help your visibility if I share it. You can read the full license by following the link at the bottom of the page
If you ever upload ((it's pribably a lot of work so dw about it tho)) upload the aseprite animated version for purchase, I can actually use dragonbones on map sprites to input every individual frame of into rpg maker xD I know how. Done it with custom sprites before, but trying to seperate from the sheets and line up the animation frames is gonna be the hardest part xD
((Ik your stuff isn't meant for it though!)) beautiful work btw
I'll consider it someday, thanks 👍
Small side note, but every frame is appropriately positioned in a 64x64 cell, so you shouldn't need to line up any frames if you copy each cell into its own frame of a 64x64 canvas.
I'm gonna be honest-if it's not something you have on hand it might not be worth it for you. ((I really don't want you to waste your time)) idk how many people would have the patience, but for beautiful sprites like these? Hell yes lol
Oh shoot, that actually fixes my problem, tysm!!! owo
I literally feel so dumb rn, this said download for free, is the one I can buy availiable for sale yet or no? xD ((sorry if this is a dumb question btw lol))
Yes, you need to change the price when you click "download now". You'll see that there are two files, and one will be grayed out until you set the price up to $29.99 (or $9.89 if you already own my old Character Base). If you pay at least that much, then you have access to the full asset 😊👍
OH THANK YOU SM xD Yess!
May I ask is there has any asset plan to customized a wonderful horse? Or other amazing mount?
I'm actually planning a rideable animated horse sprite after the Farmer Sprite System is finished (version 1.0).
I’m super excited for this! Combat animation for spear or bow while on a horse would really put the cherry on top for me.
I have all of these assets inside Photoshop. Is there a specific layer order for these like the old mana seed base or are these designed to just fit on top or behind the body perfectly for each sheet?
I probably won't be making any combat animations for this asset, sorry.
If you're having trouble with setup, please refer to the documentation and animation guide included with the pack.
No, I’m not having trouble with setup. It was a simple question if it worked the same or not as the old pack because I didn’t see anything in documentation regarding it but I could have missed it since I jumped right in and easily added all the clothing into layers and groups in my art program of choice already.
I wrote a lot of documentation and created an animation guide. There's also a FAQ linked at the top of the page. If you didn't see anything, look more closely, please. It should be clear what's the same or different if you take a moment to look at the asset.
license to use? videogame commercial?
There's a link to the Mana Seed User License at the bottom of EVERY product page. You didn't need to post this question in seven different places.
Looks great! I love the enhanced layering. Do you intend for the future "fantasy action RPG" system to be compatible with this one?
No, it will be a different thing entirely.
Thanks for the clarification!