BaseCharacter

Overview

The BaseCharacter class is the foundation of the character system in Friday Night Funkin’. It handles character rendering, animations, positioning, and gameplay interactions. Characters are stage props that respond to the music and player inputs.

Class Hierarchy

Bopper
  └── BaseCharacter (abstract gameplay logic)
        ├── SparrowCharacter (Sparrow atlas rendering)
        ├── AnimateAtlasCharacter (Adobe Animate rendering)
        ├── PackerCharacter (Packer atlas rendering)
        └── MultiSparrowCharacter (multiple Sparrow atlases)

Key Concepts

Character Origin

Characters are positioned relative to their feet (horizontal center, vertical bottom). This makes it easier to position characters on stages consistently.

// Character origin is at the bottom-center
var characterOrigin = character.characterOrigin; // FlxPoint at feet
var feetPosition = character.feetPosition; // Absolute position on stage

Character Types

Characters have different behaviors based on their type:

BF (Boyfriend): Player character, responds to inputs
DAD (Opponent): CPU-controlled character
GF (Girlfriend): Plays combo/drop animations
OTHER: Only plays idle animations

Properties

characterId

String

Unique identifier for the character

characterName

String

Human-readable name of the character

characterType

CharacterType

The type of character (BF, DAD, GF, or OTHER)

holdTimer

Float

default:"0"

Tracks how long the character has been singing (in seconds)

isDead

Bool

default:"false"

Set to true when the character is dead

cameraFocusPoint

FlxPoint

Point where the camera should focus, centered on the character

currentStage

Null<Stage>

Reference to the current stage

Methods

`new(id:String, renderType:CharacterRenderType)`

Creates a new character instance.

var character = new SparrowCharacter('bf');

String

required

Character ID matching the character data JSON file

renderType

CharacterRenderType

required

Expected render type (must match character data)

`resetCharacter(resetCamera:Bool = true):Void`

Resets the character to its original state and position.

character.resetCharacter(true);

`setScale(scale:Null<Float>):Void`

Sets the character’s scale while maintaining foot position.

character.setScale(1.5); // 150% size

`playSingAnimation(dir:NoteDirection, miss:Bool = false, ?suffix:String = ''):Void`

Plays the appropriate singing animation for a note direction.

// Hit animation
character.playSingAnimation(NoteDirection.LEFT, false);

// Miss animation
character.playSingAnimation(NoteDirection.UP, true);

// Alt note animation
character.playSingAnimation(NoteDirection.RIGHT, false, 'alt');

dir

NoteDirection

required

Direction of the note (LEFT, DOWN, UP, RIGHT)

miss

Bool

default:"false"

If true, plays the miss animation instead

suffix

String

default:"''"

Optional suffix for animation name (e.g., ‘alt’)

`isSinging():Bool`

Checks if the character is currently singing.

if (character.isSinging()) {
  trace('Character is performing!');
}

`getHealthIconId():String`

Returns the ID of the health icon for this character.

var iconId = character.getHealthIconId();

`initHealthIcon(isOpponent:Bool):Void`

Initializes the health icon in the PlayState.

character.initHealthIcon(true); // For opponent
character.initHealthIcon(false); // For player

Character Implementations

SparrowCharacter

Renders characters using Sparrow V2 atlas spritesheets.

class SparrowCharacter extends BaseCharacter
{
  public function new(id:String)
  {
    super(id, CharacterRenderType.Sparrow);
  }
}

Features:

Loads from Sparrow XML atlas
Supports pixel art mode
Automatic antialiasing control

AnimateAtlasCharacter

Renders characters using Adobe Animate texture atlas.

class AnimateAtlasCharacter extends BaseCharacter
{
  public function new(id:String)
  {
    super(id, CharacterRenderType.AnimateAtlas);
  }
  
  public function getAtlasSettings():AtlasSpriteSettings
}

Features:

Adobe Animate support
Advanced animation features
Custom atlas settings

Animation System

Singing Animations

Characters automatically play singing animations when notes are hit:

singLEFT, singDOWN, singUP, singRIGHT - Hit animations
singLEFTmiss, singDOWNmiss, etc. - Miss animations
singLEFT-alt, singDOWN-alt, etc. - Alt note animations

Hold Animations

If a -hold animation exists, it plays after the initial sing animation:

singLEFT → singLEFT-hold (looped)
Animation holds until the note is released

End Animations

If an -end animation exists, it plays when releasing a held note:

singLEFT-hold → singLEFT-end → idle

Special Animations

Combo Animations (GF type only):

combo50 - Plays at 50 combo
combo100 - Plays at 100 combo

Drop Animations (GF type only):

drop10 - Plays when dropping a 10+ combo
drop50 - Plays when dropping a 50+ combo

Event Handlers

`onNoteHit(event:HitNoteScriptEvent)`

Called when a note is successfully hit.

public override function onNoteHit(event:HitNoteScriptEvent)
{
  super.onNoteHit(event);
  if (event.eventCanceled) return;
  
  // Automatically plays sing animation
  this.playSingAnimation(event.note.noteData.getDirection(), false);
}

`onNoteMiss(event:NoteScriptEvent)`

Called when a note is missed.

public override function onNoteMiss(event:NoteScriptEvent)
{
  super.onNoteMiss(event);
  if (event.eventCanceled) return;
  
  // Automatically plays miss animation
  this.playSingAnimation(event.note.noteData.getDirection(), true);
}

`onUpdate(event:UpdateScriptEvent)`

Called every frame.

public override function onUpdate(event:UpdateScriptEvent):Void
{
  super.onUpdate(event);
  
  // Manages hold timer and animation transitions
  // Returns to idle after singTime expires
}

Usage Example

// Create a character
var boyfriend = new SparrowCharacter('bf');
boyfriend.characterType = BF;

// Position the character
boyfriend.x = 770;
boyfriend.y = 450;

// Add to stage
stage.addCharacter(boyfriend, BF);

// Play animations
boyfriend.playSingAnimation(NoteDirection.LEFT, false);

// Check singing state
if (boyfriend.isSinging()) {
  trace('Boyfriend is singing!');
}

// Reset character
boyfriend.resetCharacter(true);

Best Practices

Always use setScale() instead of directly modifying scale.x and scale.y. This ensures the character’s foot position remains correct.

Character origins are at their feet, making vertical alignment on stages consistent. The camera focus point is automatically calculated at the character’s center.

The holdTimer prevents sing animations from flickering between notes. Characters hold sing poses for at least singTime beats (defined in character data).

Core

Audio

Play

Data

Modding

BaseCharacter

Overview

Class Hierarchy

Key Concepts

Character Origin

Character Types

BaseCharacter

Properties

Methods

`new(id:String, renderType:CharacterRenderType)`

`resetCharacter(resetCamera:Bool = true):Void`

`setScale(scale:Null<Float>):Void`

`playSingAnimation(dir:NoteDirection, miss:Bool = false, ?suffix:String = ''):Void`

`isSinging():Bool`

`getHealthIconId():String`

`initHealthIcon(isOpponent:Bool):Void`

Character Implementations

SparrowCharacter

AnimateAtlasCharacter

Animation System

Singing Animations

Hold Animations

End Animations

Special Animations

Event Handlers

`onNoteHit(event:HitNoteScriptEvent)`

`onNoteMiss(event:NoteScriptEvent)`

`onUpdate(event:UpdateScriptEvent)`

Usage Example

Best Practices

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Core

Audio

Play

Data

Modding

​Overview

​Class Hierarchy

​Key Concepts

​Character Origin

​Character Types

​BaseCharacter

​Properties

​Methods

​new(id:String, renderType:CharacterRenderType)

​resetCharacter(resetCamera:Bool = true):Void

​setScale(scale:Null<Float>):Void

​playSingAnimation(dir:NoteDirection, miss:Bool = false, ?suffix:String = ''):Void

​isSinging():Bool

​getHealthIconId():String

​initHealthIcon(isOpponent:Bool):Void

​Character Implementations

​SparrowCharacter

​AnimateAtlasCharacter

​Animation System

​Singing Animations

​Hold Animations

​End Animations

​Special Animations

​Event Handlers

​onNoteHit(event:HitNoteScriptEvent)

​onNoteMiss(event:NoteScriptEvent)

​onUpdate(event:UpdateScriptEvent)

​Usage Example

​Best Practices

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Overview

Class Hierarchy

Key Concepts

Character Origin

Character Types

BaseCharacter

Properties

Methods

`new(id:String, renderType:CharacterRenderType)`

`resetCharacter(resetCamera:Bool = true):Void`

`setScale(scale:Null<Float>):Void`

`playSingAnimation(dir:NoteDirection, miss:Bool = false, ?suffix:String = ''):Void`

`isSinging():Bool`

`getHealthIconId():String`

`initHealthIcon(isOpponent:Bool):Void`

Character Implementations

SparrowCharacter

AnimateAtlasCharacter

Animation System

Singing Animations

Hold Animations

End Animations

Special Animations

Event Handlers

`onNoteHit(event:HitNoteScriptEvent)`

`onNoteMiss(event:NoteScriptEvent)`

`onUpdate(event:UpdateScriptEvent)`

Usage Example

Best Practices