Get the editor¶
Modular Sprite Editor is free and open source. It runs on Windows, macOS and Linux.
Download¶
Open the latest release and download the file for your computer:
| Your computer | Download |
|---|---|
| Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit) | ModularSpriteEditor-windows.zip |
| Mac with Apple silicon | ModularSpriteEditor-macos.zip |
| Linux (64-bit, for example Ubuntu 22.04 or newer) | ModularSpriteEditor-linux.tar.gz |
The export_sgdk downloads are for programmers who build Mega Drive games. You do not need them to make sprites.
Start it¶
Unpack the zip file into a folder of your choice and start ModularSpriteEditor.exe.
The editor is not signed, so Windows may show "Windows protected your PC" the first time. Choose More info, then Run anyway.
Unpack the zip file and move ModularSpriteEditor to your Applications folder.
The app is not signed, so macOS refuses to open it with a double-click the first time. Right-click it, choose Open, then confirm with Open. If macOS still refuses, open System Settings ▸ Privacy & Security and choose Open Anyway. After the first time it opens normally.
Unpack the archive and start ModularSpriteEditor in the unpacked folder. Your system needs glibc 2.35 or newer, which Ubuntu 22.04 and later have.
Get the example projects¶
The example projects are part of the source code. On the release page, download Source code (zip) and unpack it. The examples are in its examples folder:
examples/sgdk/PoP_WW.json: Prince of Persia, with the Swordfight sceneexamples/sonic/sonic.json: Sonicexamples/adventurer/adventurer.json: a sheet of whole sprites
Open one with File ▸ Open... and keep the project file next to its image, where it already is. The example projects describes what to look at in each one.
Updating¶
Newer versions of the editor open projects made with older versions and upgrade them when you save. An older version opening a newer project shows a warning and can lose newer details when it saves, so keep everyone on a team on the same version.