title: Customizable player avatar in a 2D Game
body: <p>How can I have that functionality in my game through which the players can change their hairstyle, look, style of clothes, etc., and so whenever they wear a different item of clothing their avatar is updated with it.</p>
  
  <p>Should I:</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li><p>Have my designer create all possible combinations of armor, hairstyles, and faces as sprites (this could be a lot of work).</p></li>
  <li><p>When the player chooses what they should look like during their introduction to the game, my code would automatically create this sprite, and all possible combinations of headgear/armor with that sprite. Then each time they select some different armor, the sprite for that armor/look combination is loaded.</p></li>
  <li><p>Is it possible to have a character's sprite divided into components, like face, shirt, jeans, shoes, and have the pixel dimensions of each of these. Then whenever the player changes his helmet, for example, we use the pixel dimensions to put the helmet image in place of where its face image would normally be. (I'm using Java to build this game)</p></li>
  <li><p>Is this not possible in 2D and I should use 3D for this?</p></li>
  <li>Any other method?</li>
  </ul>
  
  <p>Please advise. </p>