TL;DR: I automated part of my art pipeline so I can publish more characters while still having time to create new animations

So if you've checked around my other stuff you'll know there's a variety of characters already developed for the gumdrop template.  The source aseprite for the project is massive and there's a lot of variety I can put out with what I've already made.   Unfortunately the process of manually getting sprite sheets out of the source file was pretty slow despite some useful automation.

For example.  For previous characters I would need to select every layer on every orientation for every part that was needed and manually replace the colors for particular layers if I wanted to release multiple palette swaps.  This was a long process prone to error and it really discouraged me from releasing anything new. 

As you can see below I've taken the time to smooth out that process.  I can now use aseprite's data fields to just say which parts a character needs and I can manage it from a dialog box or factor them into a larger automated export script.

It's also worth mentioning that each part now has its own space on the color palette so color changes are extremely fast and can also be factored in to a larger pipeline.

I don't know how to gauge interest  for it but all these utility scripts will be made available with documentation in a package meant just for aseprite users.  For those who downloaded this template with plans of fully developing a character this would definitely be the best way to go about it as you're going to go insane doing anything complex directly on the sprite sheets.

It was suggested a long time ago that I build a character generator for these assets.  If that's something that interests you speak up.  I'd like to work on it, but I think building a more versatile character roster and animation set or creating a wider ecosystem for the gumdrop assets should be a higher priority if there isn't a lot of organic interest in the character generator idea.

These characters only took a couple of clicks to export with the new system.  I'm not sure what form I'll be releasing this content in but I still plan on releasing it for free