SpriteStack
A downloadable tool for Windows, macOS, and Linux
SpriteStack is a voxel editor suited for 2D artists featuring hand crafted retro renderer with animation support. It exports spritesheets, slices and vox models.
Editor
Editor is based on spritestacking technique which means drawing a model slice by slice.
Animator
Keyframe oriented animation is still experimental but you can already achieve nice results.
Exporter
Handcrafted exporter is what really makes it stand out. It provides interesting retro styled renders with customizable options. It can output spritesheets, slices and *.vox files.
Magica Voxel and Qubicle
If you don't feel comfortable with the editor you can import your models from Magica Voxel or Qubicle and use my juicy renderer.
Purchase
In order to download this tool you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $30 USD. Your purchase comes with a Steam key. You will get access to the following files:
Development log
- SpriteStack - Animated soldier breakdownSep 03, 2021
- SpritesStack 2021 Video MontageJul 05, 2021
- SpriteStack 2021 Status UpdateJun 29, 2021
- Upcoming Update / 2019Nov 25, 2019
- SpriteStack Update 3.20 - Sphere brush.Jul 30, 2019
- SpriteStack Update 3.0Jul 17, 2019
- Post launch hotfixJun 12, 2019
Comments
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This project appears abandoned. Unless word is heard from the developer after this post I don’t think you should consider purchasing this software as it is incomplete and highly buggy to have such an egregious price of $30.
This looked very promising and I would really like to see development continue. Hopefully this gets some form of response so we know what the state of the project is. I understand life happens, but radio silence is not the way to handle it.
The developer does have a web app that appears to have some similar functionality to this paid app some people may find useful. There are no links on their site to it and I had to crawl to find it.
https://spritestack.io/studio/
Supported this early on so I got what I got for pretty cheap but it's been in limbo for a long time now and so I don't think it's rude to recommend another project that seems slightly less in limbo but for 1/4th-1/2 the price called Smack Studio. This app is more PICO-like while Smack Studio is just a pixel editor with some neat rigging and rotation features. In my own bored journey I've moved past both apps to slicing SDFs in plugins like Mudbun or Clayxels. That way you can just render a 3D object and assign 2D sprites to points in your 3D graph and render them Daggerfall or Mario Kart style depending on the angle you're looking at them. Theoretically you could do way more angles than either of these programs support out of the box. We're talking about buying abandonware here cause it has its usefulness (try it on steam, return it if you don't like it). Smack Studio isn't abandonware and Mudbun and Clayxels are professional rendering plugins.
Where is this Smack Studio app? I cant in it here on itch or anywhere else.
Smack Studio - A sandbox fighting game
It appears to also be a game, but you can use it similar to this program, I guess.
hi. is the program dead? will there ever be an update? I bought the game in steam, I follow the news here... the program seems interesting to me, but it bothers me that nothing happens to it... everything is fine?
Pretty sure it's dead
Hi, I am reaallyyy new in game development and love sprite stacking. But I'm not sure if this app is what I'm looking for... Is there any place where I can download a demo or something? or even a discord where I can talk to other people who use this tool? (I don't wanna buy without making sure that's what I am looking for... I live in Brazil so $24 USD is equivalent to $100 for Brazilian cash (R$118,02 actually))
the program has not shown signs of life for a very long time ... I do not recommend buying it.
I am struggling with this are there any tutorials or a PDF with instructions on how to use this? I found a tutorial YouTube but it is 3years old. Also the Spritestack.io site doesn't seem to be working as I keep getting a connection timeout error from cloudflare.com showing spritestack.io has an error.
Just picked this up, really enjoying it so far, feels far more intuitive than other voxel editor software IMO! Really looking forward to the new version, and subbed to the Patreon - keep up the awesome work!
Heya. Bought this earlier this year, never really spoke up about this until now. There's a pretty big visual glitch with the editor. It flickers in/out whenever I change my cursor position in the viewport. Not too sure if there's a patch soon(tm) that'll fix this?
Rezoner is working on a completely new version. I think the one available to download is abandoned. More info on SpriteStack discord.
What happened to the Steam keys? Not seeing it in the downloads.
Lemme check. Maybe I need to add new ones.
edit: It says I still have 66 keys on Itch, but I have asked for new ones so maybe that solves a problem. However it can take up to a few days.
Welp, I've waited about two weeks and there still isn't an option to claim a Steam key on the download page. Did something go screwy because I purchased during a sale?
Email me and I will send you the key manually - rezoner1337 / gmail
Thank you very much for that.
I read a lot about it being an abandonned project. But I can see in the devlog that it's not, he's made an article on the his patreon as well to show the progress. So I believe it's still on track. I'm downloading it right now, can't wait to give it a try!
Hi, thanks. Yes I had a rough time and went a little overboard with the scope but never stopped to work on it :) Just please take a note that my recent showreels are not released yet and you are still getting this 2 years old version. I recognize your name by the way - I am using your mech models for testing purposes.
Oh Really? That's an honor for me :). I'm looking forward to see the net update, keep up the great job!
Dude awesome to hear this isn't dead! Hope the broken things are fixed soon and the software continues to grow, it has a crazy amount of potential. Cheers!
Apex Wingman
PLEASE READ BEFORE BUYING 4/24/2021
The creator has seemingly abandoned this product. I advise you to go with MagicaVoxel or the much more difficult to learn Qubicle.
The button for exporting to .VOX is broken, it just does absolutely nothing. Exporting sprite sheets is almost non-configurable in regards to changing desired formatting for importation into Gamemaker or other software. A cool piece of software but unfortunately the creator has abandoned whatever potential it had.
How to get .VOX export:
1. Install from itch.io app
2. Click the options button right of launch and click "manage"
3. Click "Switch to another version" and choose 3.21. That's the last version it worked on before it broke.
Unfortunately not working in MacOS 11.0.1 (Big Sur). Requires notarization.
Does this program still recieve updates? I want to buy it with the bundle but i'm afraid it turns a waste when i can use the web version for free :/
pls anyone help it seems the dev won't/can't answer
The last update to the Steam version at least was 24/09/19. There's a forum post where the dev replied to similar concerns on Jan 2021 to say its not dead. Seems there have been difficulties of some kind and the project is still going to be maintained, though it read to me at least that it may be a long time coming.
I'd recommend grabbing it as it is good for what is here, its just lacking a lot of quality of life tools and options.
Hope this helps.
An amazing tool.
It seems like the gif export gets cut off, is there a way to change this?
Cool program, but the export .vox file button is broken, and appears to have been broken for some time. Are there any newer fixed versions floating around somewhere?
someone in an older comment said running the program as administrator fixes the export. could you let me know if that works? I'm interested in buying this
Sadly run as administrator doesn't fix it
F. thanks so much for responding. the devs twitter's hasn't posted in like a year
Expensive but worth it (I didnt buy it cuz im broke but If I could I would)
It’s in a bundle at the moment!
im still to broke
Vox export does not work on Version 3.24 in windows.
Can you please at least add an option to download an older version of spritestack where the .vox export function is still working on itch.io?
Did you ever find an older version? I'm in the same boat
an older comment says they fixed this by running the program as administrator. could you let me know if that works, I'm interested in buying thi
You can use the itchio desktop app to download older versions of this app. Vox export works on version 3.21
Hi!
I was wondering if it's somehow possible to change the colours via hex values or maybe import a colour pallet. We are trying to use it for a project and not being able to use exact coluors is creating a tedious workflow of exporting -> importing into aseprite -> changing colours into intended colours on aseprite.
@rezoner, Sorry to have to comment on this board but I cannot find contact information for you.
I purchased the software and it will not save or export any work. Can you please refund the money I spent purchasing the product?
Thanks.
UPDATE: So I seem to have gotten the export working. Key is you have to run as administrator.
Hi, I was wondering if we could get version 3.21 added to the downloads page? Love the program. Some features I needed/used a year ago like .vox export and import aren't working in the latest version.
Hope you're doing well and staying safe.
Hello! Is spritestack abandoned? It's been quite a long time without news and it'd be a real shame, specially considering the upcoming update.
sorry for asking, but when is the new version gonna release?
The function to export .vox file does not work.
v3.21 was the last version it worked in
I want to know how to use the renderer in the game? I like the style very much and you mentioned the renderer and I'm using godot to develop my game, so how to make this effect in the 3d game scene? I just have some experiences in writing the shader script of Opengl ES.
Hiya, sorry to hear that.
Does the online version works for you ?
https://SpriteStack.io/studio
As an intermediate solution please create a FREE patreon account and let me know your username. I will unlock the online version for you. Sorry but that's the only thing I can do until the next release.
As rude as this answer is - No. :D
I mean it's so huge any estimation I make gets delayed. For sure earlier than April 2020.
ps: I have unlocked browser based spritestack version for your patreon account. It may take a while for the system to recache users.
Hello, i am back; the source of eternal comments. But well beeing the overthinker i am, i have realized that for the project i was considering the 128x128 size limit will make it difficult to create bigger, higher resolution structures, which was what i intended to use it for. Is there any chance that there will in the future be a significant increase in potential size limits? Maybe just as a tool for exporting spritesheets.
The new version will work exactly like MagicaVoxel. Single model size is still 128x128x128 - but - you can combine as many models as you want on a scene composer view.
Can these full scene compser views be exported as single spritesheet?
Aslo, is the 128 limit centrally built into the architecture of the program or is it something that is somewhat easy to change?
Yes you can export the whole scene as a spritesheet.
128 limit is due to performance. I could probably work around this to support even bigger sizes but it's not the focus of this software - it stops to look like "pixelart" at that level of details and you should consider more effective technique if you need voxel objects of that size - probably low poly 3D would be a better fit. SpriteStack is for making game objects like units, chracters, buildings that look like games from 90's
Thanks, the reason i was considering using the spritestack method is because of the limitations of GameMaker Studio 2. But thanks for the help anyway :)
Also, is there a way to snap-rotate the camera or a way to know if the preview is showing a side straight-on?
Just giving you a heads up on a typo. On the help page, you have "Hosuse".
Will there be an update on soccer.instantonline.io?
Thinking about purchasing this tool. Is it possible to export it as a spritesheet where each layer is one frame? Would be really usefull for my current project. I am making a game with a visual style inspired by the 4th generation of Pokémon games, in a 2D engine.
Also, is there a limit to how big the sprites can be?
If you mean animating your stuff voxel by voxel it's not supported yet but I do have such plans. Currently it's streamlined for more efficient bone based animation where each part is a separate voxel model. Single model can be 128x128x128 voxels in size. Models combined have no restriction (it works like Magica Voxel). There is a huge rework to be released with the new version so don't judge based on the current one :) There are so many excellent upcoming features that I will probably rise the price to 50$ next year.
Nah, its not with voxels. Im using a 2D engine (gms2) and i am rendering all the frames of the sprite on top of each other, relative to the position of the camera. As i got the impression it was layered sprites and not voxels i tought maybe the layers could be exported as seperate frames in a sprite sheet, and then imported to streamline my current process. May have been wrong. Seems it is mainly exported as rotating animations, an made as voxels. Would be cool if each vertical layer of voxels could be turned into an image (1 voxel = 1pixel) kinda like this. But what do i know, i haven't yet purchased it. No offense; looks really cool.
Sure it exports slices for spritestacking. And it's the only software that exports animated slices. Each row is a slice while each column is an animation frame. If you mean a technique used by NIUM game it totally does that.
Yeah, that should be what im looking for. Thanks :)
Ok, this might seal the deal
Will there be an update on soccer.instantonline.io?
One last thing i noticed, in an older video featuring and older version of this tool. It was mengtioned that only ~32 colours were avaliabe. Is this so that all the 256^3 colours are not avaliable? If that is the case that is a huge bummer. That really should be a subject of the rework you mengtioned.
And yes, i really am looking into what i am spening my money on before i do (maybe a bit too much, but whatever)
It's a palette based software. In older version there are 64 slots - in new version there will be 254 slots. You are allowed to use any color you like but there must not be more than 254 unique colors in your model - which I doubt you will ever need.
Man, this is an amazing tool! I'm no artist, yet I just bought this tool and made this awesome model in less than 10 minutes.
Oh, it's a mini drone I had on my table.
Looks great. I am really glad you like it :)
Keep exercising as the next update will let you get really productive with spritestack.
HI there. In the next version it will be easy to change origin (rotation) point of an object. You can still do that in animator module pressing pivot button.
What about hexagonal based games? It looks like, 60 degree rotations are impossible. SpriteStack is a great tool, but its strictly recommended adding 6 and 12 angles at 0, 30, 60, 90, 120, 150, 180, 210, 240, 270, 300 and 330 degrees.
Hey. Very good point. I will add custom count of angles.
Does it export to obj or vox yet?
VOX button is currently broken. It will be working again with the next update. Sorry that I cannot fix it right away but the update is huge and the software is in a state of open surgery :)
Thank you for the reply! I look forward to that feature. Great software!
Hi, this looks awesome, I'm a programmer not an artist and would love to test this program out maybe it's easier for me to create art in it before paying the 30$.
will there be any limited free version or a small test version soon just for testing?
Hi there. You can test editor in your browser https://spritestack.io/studio/
oh cool thanks
Hey, where is the best place to purchase the software? through Steam or Itch? If I was to buy via steam does it include access to the stand alone application or just steam?
You can probably find the EXE and make a shortcut to avoid using Steam Client after installing it (through Steam Client tho)
On Itch you get both manual download and Itch Client.
Anyway using Client will allow you to get auto-updates so I do recommend that.
So, how do we claim the steam key..?
It's on a purchase page. If you got it other way there is no Steam key attached. I can send you one. I am on a holiday until 15.08 without access to my pc.
Ive got it through Itch, but its not on the purchase page, if u wouldnt mind sending me one, theres no rush if u are busy on holiday though ...
Yeah, Im just getting this on the purchase page..
I will send you a key when I am back home from holiday. It's going to be around 15.08
Not a Prob .. Enjoy your Holiday ... !!
Could I have that key please ..?