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There's a lot of really basic stuff I haven't dived into before, so I think I just post my thoughts here. So, I’m creating a platformer without any platforms. Something structured a bit like Splatterhouse, with single floor you walk along at. I guess this could be coded super cheap, excepts the jump which would need some physics.

I will need a lot of dormant enemy sprites. I guess I have to run through all sprites, and if they’re close enough to the x-position of the camera, I wake them up, meaning I use SetSpriteActive () and start doing stuff with them.

How do I change the animations of a character? Do I simply load a new animation sheet into the sprite, or is there more to it? I guess I could also just add all the characters animations to a single sprite sheet, and just play the relevant frames.

I need a repeated background. I could make a really super big sprite with its image repeating, but that sounds like something which would take a lot of resources. So I think I will try to go for a cheap hack instead: The background sprite is locked to the camera position. Moving the camera offsets the background sprites image accordingly.

Yes, this option.
I now use Spriter to make animated sprites, which is a much more elegant solution. As well as perfectly smooth movement, you can tween between animations, so going from walk to run is more natural for example.
Spriter Pro often appears in bundles on HumbleBundle.com


I have a similar situation at the moment. I have created layers, and each layer moves at a different speed to create the classic parallax effect. Each layer is made up of a number of tiles, which I scroll from right to left, and then they recycle back to the right when they have left the screen. I use 4 or 5 different images per layer and randomise the images as they are recycled to prevent the "Scooby Doo" style repetitive background. By doing this over 3 or 4 layers, you get a good enough effect to fool the viewer. I also make some of my tiles reversible, which effectively doubles the number of variations in tile background.
Finally, I add random scenery elements (such as trees), to make it more random and natural. I have a config file that defines which layers the elements are allowed to be placed on, and within what range (vertically) of the layer. Scenery elements allow you to overlap layers to make them "work together" rather than being several distinct strips of horizontal scenery.

Spriter sounds pretty good! Right now I'm doing classic animation in Krita. Really good animation features, especially considering that it isn't a dedicated animation software. But it has really been a while since I did a walk cycle. Last time I did it was back when I animated on paper. Digital drawing really has an advantage here.

Offsetting the sprites image to create movement was way easier than I had anticipated. Your method with randomization and parallax is really inspiring!

Graphics Gale is also free and quite good I particularly like the way it can turn an animation into a sprite sheet or visa versa
and supports allsorts of format https://graphicsgale.com/us/

I did create many things with Microangelo back in the day lol but they are asking way too much with whats out there already
for free

and for good old graphics software was Cyber Paint on the Atari. It had some great effects for movie animations done with
2d pictures. It could spin rotate and size pictures in all 3 dimensions all with 2d math calculations, The only way I can imagine doing
this today is the use of a 3dplane object