🥊 Episode 8 · Improver · Stages

Build the Arena
Episode 8: Make a Stage

A stage is three things: a floor, a camera and a background. Build your own arena and your fighter finally has a home.

👶 Ages 10+ ⏱️ ~50 mins 🥊 MUGEN ✓ Free workshop
🏙️ Stage def 📷 Camera 🎨 Background 🎵 Music
🏙️ Start Step 1 ← All Episodes
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Build it in our MUGEN Studio too: set up a fighter, add sprites and poses, place hitboxes and export a real fighter folder in the browser, with no install. Open the MUGEN Mod Studio →
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Ember says: start by copying a stage that works, change its picture, then move the camera. Copy, change, test. Same loop every time.
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🏙️
The Stage def
Three sections
Active
🎯
Goal for this step

Read a stage def.

  • 1[Info] names the stage and the author.
  • 2[Camera] and [StageInfo] control the view and the floor height (zoffset).
  • 3[BGdef] points at the background sprite file.
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Fill in the Blanks
+15 XP
The floor height of a stage is set with .
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Knowledge Check
+15 XP
Which section sets the floor height?
A[StageInfo], via zoffset
B[Info]
C[Music]
2
📷
The Camera
How far you can walk
Locked
🎯
Goal for this step

Set the camera bounds.

  • 1boundleft and boundright limit how far the fighters can spread.
  • 2A wide stage needs a wide background so you never see the edge.
  • 3Start close and widen once it looks right.
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Fill in the Blanks
+15 XP
The camera limits are called boundleft and .
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Knowledge Check
+15 XP
What do boundleft and boundright do?
ALimit how far fighters can spread
BSet the music
CChange the floor colour
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The Background
Paint the place
Locked
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Goal for this step

Give the stage its own picture.

  • 1The background is a sprite in the stage .sff, pointed at by spr in [BGdef].
  • 2A single big picture is the simplest start.
  • 3Later you can add parallax layers that move at different speeds.
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Fill in the Blanks
+15 XP
The background sprite is pointed at by spr in the section.
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Knowledge Check
+15 XP
What does the spr line point to?
AThe background sprite file
BThe music file
CThe select screen
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🎵
Add Music
Set the mood
Locked
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Goal for this step

Give the stage its own track.

  • 1The [Music] section sets the background tune.
  • 2Keep the file small so it loads quickly.
  • 3A stage with the right music feels ten times better.
✏️
Fill in the Blanks
+15 XP
The stage tune is set in the section.
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Knowledge Check
+15 XP
Which section sets the background music?
A[Music]
B[StageInfo]
C[Camera]
5
🧪
Fight On It
Play-test the stage
Locked
🎯
Goal for this step

Run a match on your stage and fix anything odd.

  • 1Check the fighters do not float or sink: adjust zoffset.
  • 2Check you never see past the background: widen it or tighten bounds.
  • 3Then register the stage in select.def so it shows up.
✏️
Fill in the Blanks
+15 XP
Fighters floating or sinking means the is wrong.
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Knowledge Check
+15 XP
Fighters look like they float. What do you adjust?
Azoffset
BThe music
CThe palette
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A Stage of Your Own!
You built an arena. Next you teach a computer to play your fighter.
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Total XP
1
Level
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Accuracy
Next: Episode 9: AI →