How can i change the character image non Ruby Gosu - ruby

Question

im building a basic game in the style of the original pokemon games using the ruby gosu library. Ive managed to figure out how to move the originally loaded sprite about but i cant figure out how to clear that sprite and draw the new sprite e.g. back view in its place.
Ive been looking throught the documentation and came across the "insert" method, although im not sure if this is what i want. Any help?
im creating the var in the initialize method then drawing it later on like so:
def initialize
#character_image = Gosu::Image.new("media/images/char.png", :tileable => false)
end
def draw
#character_image.draw(#character_location_X, #character_location_Y, 1)
end

Answer 1

You need to make a class for your character, which needs an update and draw function. In the update function, when input such as WASD is received you can switch the image of the sprite. If you don't have a sprite sheet, you'll have to load multiple images and switch between them.
Here's some ruby pseudocode to help you:
#back_image = Gosu::Image.new("media/images/back.png")
#front_image = Gosu::Image.new("media/images/front.png")
#left_image = Gosu::Image.new("media/images/left.png")
#right_image = Gosu::Image.new("media/images/right.png")
current_image = front_image
This goes in your update function:
if up
current_image = back_image
elsif down
current_image = front_image
elsif right
current_image = right_image
elsif left
current_image = left_image
end
Then in your draw function all you need to do is
def draw
#current_image.draw(#character_location_X, #character_location_Y, 1)
end
This is a pretty basic way, but if you use a sprite sheet, you can create your own animation class that Gosu can use that allows you to select between certain ranges of frames of your character spritesheet.