AnimatedSprite VS AnimationPlayer

KanataEXE

When making 2D games, Godot provides two ways of animating characters: AnimatedSprite and Sprite-AnimationPlayer.

AnimatedSprite offers a simplistic way to do it, but ironically, it's also its downside.

AnimationPlayer is a powerful tool, but at the same time too much for simple animation.

It is also possible to use both methods at the same time since I'm also currently using them this way.

Which one do you choose and why? And what's the right time to use it?

DeanOrTori

I use animation player. I like how you can animate the hit boxes and such so they go along with the attacks.

for whens the right time to use which , i'm still pretty new, so im not sure the 'correct' answer. just know what i do.

coding-culture

I dont like Spritesheets and would like a mix between animation player and animated sprite, but usually i must use animation player becuz yes.

TwistedTwigleg

On a whole I use the AnimationPlayer when doing animations, simply because if I need to expand or add things later, I generally don’t have to redo a bunch of work and can just add the additional track(s) to the animation. That said, it is slower to get initially setup than an AnimatedSprite, so I can see the appeal of using an AnimatedSprite and only changing to an AnimationPlayer or hybrid solution if needed. Especially since the AnimatedSprite API is pretty similar to the AnimationPlayer (at least for playing animations), most of the time to switch is probably just in the Godot editor itself. Ultimately I’d go with whatever works for you and your workflow. :smile:

KanataEXE

Yeah, it's one of those things.

This is my best guess. AnimatedSprite is for objects while AnimationPlayer is for Player and Enemies.

Player and enemies have complex animation, hence AnimationPlayer is used. Objects, being "simple" to animate, use AnimatedSprite. Assuming the sprite sheet has the animation, of course.

Parker911

AnimationPlayer is I think my favourite thing in Godot, I'll use it anywhere I can