I was mimicking one of the demo versions trees(castle) to see if the sprite shadows would work.
Basically copied the code but the same effect doesn't come even with me trying to mess with most settings.
Step event:
as for the create event its this. Every other variable is basically for just setting image alpha to 0.5 when player goes behind it. No idea what could interfere.
depth=-y
spritename = sprite_index
active = true
alphacount = 1
init = false
shadow = new Crystal_ShadowSprite(id, sprite_index, image_index, CRYSTAL_SHADOW.STATIC);
shadow.angle = 0;//random(360);
shadow.fixedBase = true;
shadow.followLightAngle = true;
shadow.Apply();