Question: How do you draw a sprite in GameMaker?

Answer

In GameMaker, drawing a sprite refers to the process of displaying an image or graphic (the sprite) on the game screen. To do this, you'll typically use the draw_sprite function within the Draw event of an object. Here's how to perform this action, along with a simple code example.

To draw a sprite, you need to know three key pieces of information:

1. The sprite index (spr_index) - This is the name you gave your sprite resource.
2. The sub-image (subimg) - If your sprite has multiple frames (like for animation), this indicates which frame to draw. If you want the first image or there's only one frame, you would use 0.
3. The x and y coordinates where the sprite should be drawn on the screen.

Here is the basic syntax of the draw_sprite function:

draw_sprite(spr_index, subimg, x, y);

An example of using draw_sprite in an object's Draw event could look like this:

// Draw event of an object
draw_sprite(spr_player, 0, x, y);

This example takes the sprite with the index spr_player, draws the first sub-image (frame), and places it at the object's current x and y position.

If you want to animate the sprite, you can use the image_index property, which automatically cycles through sub-images if the image_speed is greater than 0. Here's how that might look:

// Draw event of an object with animated sprite
draw_sprite(spr_player, image_index, x, y);

Remember that all drawing functions must be called within a Draw event; putting them in other events, such as Step events, will not work as expected.

For more advanced drawing, you may want to manipulate the sprite before drawing it (e.g., scaling, rotating, changing the alpha), which can be done with functions like draw_sprite_ext that offer additional parameters for transformation and manipulation.

In summary, drawing a sprite in GameMaker involves calling the appropriate drawing function within an object's Draw event and providing the required parameters such as the sprite index, sub-image index, and position.