Question: How do you change a sprite in GameMaker?

Answer

Changing a sprite in GameMaker is something you'll likely need to do often, whether it's for animating a character or updating the visuals of an object based on certain conditions. Below is how you can accomplish this:

### Step 1: Choose the Object
First, determine which object's sprite you want to change. Objects are what you use in GameMaker to interact with the game world.

### Step 2: Use the `sprite_index` Variable
Every object in GameMaker has a built-in variable called `sprite_index`, which holds the index of the current sprite that is being used. To change the sprite, simply set this variable to another sprite resource.

Here's an example of how to make this change:

```gml
// Suppose we have two sprites: spr_player_idle and spr_player_jump

// Change the object's current sprite to 'spr_player_jump'
sprite_index = spr_player_jump;

Step 3: Adjusting Image Index (If Necessary)

If your sprite has multiple sub-images (like frames of an animation), you might also want to set the image_index to start at a particular frame.

image_index = 0; // This will reset the animation to the first frame.

Step 4: Timing Your Sprite Change

Often, you'll want to change a sprite in response to an event such as a collision or a button press. You can include the code to change the sprite within the appropriate event code block.

For example, if changing the sprite when the player jumps:

if (keyboard_check_pressed(vk_space)) {
    sprite_index = spr_player_jump;
}

Optional Parameters

You may also want to adjust other related properties, such as:

• image_speed: Controls how fast the sprite animates.
• image_xscale and image_yscale: Scale the sprite in the x or y direction respectively.
• image_angle: Rotate the sprite.

Remember to always ensure the sprite you're trying to switch to exists and is correctly imported into your project resources. Otherwise, you'll run into errors when trying to assign a non-existing sprite.

Hope this helps you understand how to change sprites within GameMaker!
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