(Using Unity)
I’ve looked around and can’t seem to find an answer on how people animate 2D pixel sprite animation that allows for customization. Let’s use Stardew Valley as an example since it’s popular and does what I’m talking about.
So far I have tried using multiple sprites for each body part but that proved to be not as customizable as I thought without needing to animate every possible combination.
I’m currently using a shader I wrote that uses two sprite sheets that work together using UV coordinates for the shader. This has been great, because it allows me to create one animation for each animation I need, then I can change the one of the sprite sheets and the shader will change the animations to the correct image I need.
This works for dynamic changes to the player’s appearance and I can even use the same shader for every NPC, then just change the sheet for that NPC to look how I want them.
Unfortunately, although I can change the appearance, I can’t make the character any other shape. For example if I need them to wear gauntlets or armor, the armor would have to stay within the bounds of the character, because my shader can only alter the colors used.

So what the best way to approach this, or better yet how is it being done?