#summary A short guide explaing graves and how to create and use them

= Graves =

== Explanation of graves ==

Graves are small images which appear when a hedgehog dies. Graves are chosen on a per-team basis. A grave can be either be unanimated or animated. Animated graves can consist of up to 8 frames (16 frames in 0.9.23).

== Creating graves ==

=== Unanimated graves ===

To create an unanimated grave, draw a PNG image of size 32×32 pixels. You _can_ use semi-transparency.

=== Animated grave ===

An animated grave can have 2, 4 or 8 frames. In Hedgewars 0.9.23 or later, 16 frames are also possible.

To create an animated grave, first you have to draw one image per frame, 32×32 pixels in size.

Those images have to be combined to a single image. The width of the final image is alwas 32 pixels, the height is _n_ · 32 pixels, where _n_ is the number of frames (single image in animation) you chose.

To combine: The first image is placed at the top, the next image is placed 32 pixels below that, the next one 64 pixels, and so on.

Each of these sub-images is a frame in the final grave animation. It starts with the topmost image, continues with the image below, and so on. After the last sub-image, the animation repeats with the first frame. Each frame lasts for 128 milliseconds.

The first image will be also the one which is shown in the team creation menu as preview. The grave will only be animated in the game.

== Installing graves ==

To install a grave, put it into `Data/Graphics/Graves` of the Hedgewars data directory.

Make sure the name of your file ends with “`.png”. The displayed name in Hedgewars equals the file name without the suffix.

== Sharing graves ==

Custom graves (graves which are not part of the official Hedgewars installation) are only visible to other players if they have the grave installed under the same file name.

In case the other player does not have the custom grave installed, the player will see the default grave (`Statue.png`) instead.

You are encouraged to share your graves in the thread “[https://www.hedgewars.org/node/2360 Graves! additions, submissions, information.]”, where submissions are considered for official inclusion into Hedgewars.