How do I give more "realism with animation" to enemies

Hi guys...big question

I would like to do this:

An enemy who randomly walks arround a platform...than shoots a few bullets...than walks again ( maybe oposite direction)...

I understand that I can have in one SPRITE more animations...I think thats the way how it starts...eight ? how do I proceed ? And how can I make this become random movements ?

thanks

in order for it to become random movements you need to track the current movement so you can then modify it with Random(x,x).

Or you can randomly make changes...here's something off the top of my head:

Not sure how many enemies are on the screen at a time but you could use a 'regular' Timer that fires every 1 or 2 seconds. OnTimer Event(when elapsed time has finished)->Call up a random number between 1 and 20, if the number is 5,6,7 then change enemy's direction/speed/shooting etc.. (use Pick random instance to select a random enemy.)

thanks...i try it