Hey, nice to meet you. Welcome.
PSA is easy once you get the hang of it. It takes a few weeks of dedication to learn what you're doing, but from there, it only gets easier. I'd start with just the basic attacks, then learning what GFX are and how to use them. Or vica verca.
Anyway, I had a hard time learning PSA for a while, too- took me about three weeks to be able to loop a graphic effect without the Wii freezing. Then the metaphorical wall broke and I started understanding stuff- I haven't released anything on the vault so far, but I have made a few moves on PSA for other people, plus I'm working on my own secret projects for my soon-to-be-started macinima... So yeah, PSA will become easier after you work at it for a while.
Here's one piece of advice, once you get a couple basics mastered: look at others' PSAs, copy their code, and try to figure out what all the technical language means. Experiment and try changing a few pieces to see what happens. That way, you're not going into it blind.
Thanks
Post Merge: September 23, 2012, 12:26:49 AM
I didn't mention any subactions...
And if you want an in-depth description, here you are:
SubAction: The animation in question.
In PSA SubActions are numbered using Hexadecimal (google it) Wait1 is usually 0 while Attack11 could be something like 1D (varries) Either way, in PSA, if you scroll down the drop box there is something that will tell you what SubAction you're on. If you're looking at it in BrawlBox.67+ then you can actually jjust CLICK the attack by name. THAT is a subaction.
Offensive Collision: A HitBox. these can also be Special Offensive Collision. The difference is their capabilities.
HitBox: A hitbox is what the game records as actually causing the damage. These are spheres that are attached to character's bones (which you should know what bones are since you animate) You can increase the size/damage/knockback/position/flags of these.
ex: Captain Falcon's Falcon Punch has a few hitboxes placed along his arm.
Flags: The the stuff that makes attacks unique. Most commonly used for the sound the attack makes when it connects, the type of GFX that happens when it connects, and the type of hit. (EX: Falcon Punch sets you on fire)
Asynchronous Timer: This is a code that tells when the code below it when to start.
Synchronous Timer: This is a code that tells when the code below it when to start. BUT it happens after the previous Synchronous or Asynchronous frame happens.
ex:
Async Timer: 5
Hitbox
Sync Timer: 3
terminate collision
This means that at Frame 5 of the animation, the hitbox will appear. 3 frames later (frame 8 because 5+3=8) the hitbox will go away. (Thats what terminate collision means)
You can have multiple Hitboxes (offensive collisions) going at the same time. Marth's Sword for example has about 4 of them during any given attack he's doing. This is due to the size of them and having to cover the length of the sword.
No one taught me how to PSA. I had to learn like everyone else had to. And around these parts, self teaching is the best way to get help. Because no one will help someone who isn't interested in learning on their own. I had to learn that lesson too so forgive me if I sound pretentious.
The video I watched I believe by WackaAlpacka (probably spelled that wrong) were all I or anyone else needs to get a grasp on the basics. All you need to do is understand the terminology and spend some time looking at whats already PSA'd.
Open up any PSA in BrawlBox.67 and up (with the corresponding model) and watch some of the animations. BrawlBox actually shows you what part of the code is being executed at what time. There are just too many ways for anyone to say this is impossible to learn when so many others have done it on their own.
What does THIS mean then?
Offensive Collision: Id=0, Bone=LShoulderJ, Damage=3, ShieldDamage=0, Direction=361, BaseKnockback=0, WeightKnockback=15, KnockbackGrowth=100, Size=3, Z Offset=1.2, Y Offset=0, X Offset=0, TripRate=0%, HitlagMultiplier=x1, SDIMultiplier=x1, Flags=39030200
Offensive Collision: Id=1, Bone=BustN, Damage=3, ShieldDamage=0, Direction=361, BaseKnockback=0, WeightKnockback=10, KnockbackGrowth=100, Size=2.8, Z Offset=0, Y Offset=0, X Offset=0, TripRate=0%, HitlagMultiplier=x1, SDIMultiplier=x1, Flags=39030200
Offensive Collision: Id=2, Bone=LArmJ, Damage=3, ShieldDamage=0, Direction=80, BaseKnockback=0, WeightKnockback=15, KnockbackGrowth=100, Size=4, Z Offset=3.3, Y Offset=0, X Offset=0, TripRate=0%, HitlagMultiplier=x1, SDIMultiplier=x1, Flags=39030200
Asynchronous Timer: frames=3
Terminate Collisions
Asynchronous Timer: frames=6
Bit Variable Set: RA-Bit[16] = true
Asynchronous Timer: frames=9
Bit Variable Set: RA-Bit[22] = true
Asynchronous Timer: frames=15
Allow Interrupt
Asynchronous Timer: frames=1
?
