How do I choose between a new sprite or an instance variable?

What properties of an instance do you think about when you decide whether to make a new thing a brand new type or a variation of an existing type.

For example. I could have just one text box and use instance variables to set the properties and control the content, font and other properties with those. I could create many text box types, each predefined with the important properties.

The key thing I can think of is whether they are the same prototype (sprite, text etc…) and whether they have the same behaviors.

In a way it doesn't matter because if you don't use the object in a particular layout then it's fine. It comes down to making the code more efficient if you can use variables instead of a lot of redundant objects.

Is there any prejudice in terms of memory, though? 10 sprites is heavier than 1 sprite with 10 frames, or it's just the same?

JPatchZ to see exactly the impact in your project, you can make your own measurements and see the impact it has on your project.

You can then apply our memory usage tips accordingly.