Modes

Use this file when the user's wording leaves room for multiple valid asset plans.

Asset Types

player: controllable overworld hero
npc: role-readable town or field character
creature: monster, beast, spirit, boss, summon
character: side-view or non-overworld humanoid unit that is not specifically a player or NPC
spell: castable magic or skill sequence
projectile: loopable traveling object such as orb, arrow, fireball, bullet, beam segment
impact: hit burst, explosion, contact FX
prop: item, weapon, shrine object, pickup, deployable
summon: conjured unit or creature entrance asset
fx: generic visual effect sheet

single: one static sprite
idle: looped breathing / stance / aura cycle
cast: spell or skill wind-up / release
attack: attack-only body animation; for controllable heroes/main characters, wide slash arcs and hit FX should be separate fx/impact sheets
shoot: ranged attack body action; projectile and muzzle flash should usually be separate assets
jump: airborne takeoff / rise / fall / landing action
hurt: damage reaction
combat: combined attack + hurt sheet
walk: travel loop
run: faster travel loop
hover: airborne idle / travel loop
charge: power-up or dash prep
projectile: loopable travel motion
impact: contact burst
explode: stronger impact or destruction burst
death: defeat / vanish / collapse sequence

single_asset: one sprite or one sheet
unit_bundle
- default: idle + combat
- optional: walk
spell_bundle
- default: cast + projectile + impact
combat_bundle
- default: idle + attack + hurt
line_bundle
- default: 1-3 forms
- per form, choose only the needed sheets
hero_action_bundle
- default: one sheet per action, often idle + run + attack or shoot + jump
- keep projectiles, muzzle flashes, slash arcs, weapon trails, impacts, and dust as separate assets unless the runtime supports wider per-action cells plus explicit origins
- body action sheets should preserve idle/run body scale; split wide FX rather than letting it shrink the body in a fixed cell
- assemble an engine atlas only after each action passes QC
engine_atlas
- delivery format only when it combines unrelated actions
- build from processed action sheets, not from one mixed-action raw image

1x4
- projectiles
- simple looping FX
2x2
- standard idle
- attack / hurt / impact
- compact side-view walk
2x3
- cast sequences
- death sequences
- slightly richer combat actions
3x3
- large creature idle
- boss aura loops
- high-value showcase idles
4x4
- topdown 4-direction player walk sheet
- non-directional 16-frame action sequence when the user asks for richer casting, summoning, charging, transformation, or death animation
5x5 or custom_grid
- use as raw generation only for one coherent long action sequence, prop packs, tileset-like atlases, or another single action family
- use as a delivery atlas for mixed actions only after separate action sheets have been generated and QC'd

"make a 4-direction main hero" -> player + player_sheet
"make a side-view hero with idle, run, shoot, and jump" -> player + hero_action_bundle; generate one action sheet per action and keep projectile/impact assets separate
"make a side-view hero melee attack" -> player + hero_action_bundle; generate a body-only attack grid and separate slash/impact FX when the attack needs a wide arc
"make a healer npc" -> npc + single_asset, role=healer
"make a healer npc walk sheet" -> npc + walk
"make a boss idle" -> creature + idle; prefer 3x3
"make a wizard throwing a magic orb" -> spell_bundle
"make a fireball projectile" -> projectile + projectile; prefer 1x4
"make a hit explosion" -> impact + impact; prefer 2x2
"make a summon entrance" -> summon + cast or impact
"make a full fire samurai creature line" -> line_bundle; plan 1-3 forms, then choose sheets per form

Keep these mappings working:

use shared_scale=true for any multi-frame sheet unless inconsistent scale is intentional
use align=bottom or feet for grounded actors
use align=center for floating effects, projectiles, and detached FX
use component_mode=largest when raw sheets contain detached sparkles or edge debris
use component_mode=all when detached effects are an intentional part of the asset silhouette
for body-only controllable hero actions, use component_mode=largest; for projectile, impact, aura, slash FX, or intentionally detached FX sheets, use component_mode=all
reject fixed-cell hero/player body actions when the body visibly shrinks compared with the accepted idle/run scale; split the wide FX or use a runtime with wider per-action cells and explicit origins
use a layout guide for prop packs, tileset-like atlases, fixed atlas rows, and non-directional 16-frame VFX-heavy action sequences; avoid making it the default for 4-direction walk sheets

any sheet mode: transparent sheet + per-frame PNGs + GIF
player_sheet: plus direction strips and four GIFs
single_asset: cleaned transparent PNG
hero_action_bundle: per-action folders, per-action GIFs, separate projectile/impact assets when needed, and optional assembled engine atlas
bundles: one output folder per asset inside the bundle root