# Skybound Semirealistic Magitech Fantasy Art Pack

**Date**: 2026-04-24  
**Project**: Skybound Protocol  
**Author**: Codex  
**Status**: Superseded by semirealistic second pass  

## 1. Direction

Skybound's 2D visual identity was first redirected toward **Stylized Casual Magitech**, then corrected into **Semirealistic Magitech Fantasy** after visual review.

The corrected target tone is a top-down survival shooter inspired by clear mobile action readability, but with more mature fantasy material treatment:

- reduced outlines
- dark iron and brass material language
- controlled lighting
- glowing crystalline cores
- corrupted magical enemies
- ancient magitech ruin backgrounds
- high contrast at small gameplay sizes
- color-coded enemy and weapon readability
- playful magitech forms instead of realistic military hardware

## 2. Core Art Rules

### Silhouette

Every gameplay object must remain readable at 36-72px on canvas.

- Player vehicles use triangular forward-facing silhouettes.
- Normal enemies use compact diamond/bug-like silhouettes.
- Elite enemies use wider, more decorated silhouettes.
- Bosses use tall central hulls with visible side modules and glowing cores.
- Weapons and drops use symbolic icons instead of detailed illustrations.

### Linework

Use value contrast and glow separation instead of heavy cartoon outlines.

Purpose:

- separates sprites from busy scrolling backgrounds through lighting
- keeps bullets, drops, and enemies visible during VFX-heavy combat
- supports a grounded semirealistic style

### Lighting

Lighting is controlled and directional. Avoid noisy photorealism, but use subtle brushed metal, stone, and crystal texture.

Allowed:

- small inner highlights
- soft magical glow behind important objects
- subtle bevels
- material grain
- controlled shadow

Avoid:

- toy-like flat panels
- low-contrast smoke
- tiny greeble details

### Palette

Corrected palette:

- Void: `#080a12`
- Dark iron: `#1c2029`
- Aged brass: `#a57a37`
- Dark sapphire: `#102a52`
- Forest green: `#164535`
- Crimson: `#671a20`
- Arcane blue: `#36cdff`
- Neon purple: `#b03eff`
- Plasma red: `#ff4149`
- Molten orange: `#ff7a21`

## 3. Generated Asset Coverage

The following runtime assets were regenerated in-place under `public/sprites`:

- player airframes: `Falcon.png`, `rayce.png`
- charge shot: `chargeshot.png`
- normal enemies: `normal_enemy/enemy01.png` through `enemy09.png`
- elite enemies: `elite_enemy/elite01.png` through `elite16.png`
- bosses: `boss/tile000.png` through `tile010.png`
- turret atlas: `turret/turret_sprites.png`
- item drops: `item_drops_sprite.png`
- stage backgrounds: `background/stage_tile_1.png` through `stage_tile_8.png`
- weapon and skill icons under `sprites/missiles`
- core bullet, shield, currency, VFX sprites
- comms portraits: `portraits/hq_commander.png`, `portraits/pilot_standard.png`

## 4. UI Skin Coverage

The UI skin was added through:

- `src/features/game/styles/magitechArt.css`
- imported from `src/App.css`

The skin aligns:

- HUD panels
- level-up cards
- comms overlay
- hangar/action buttons
- warning text
- canvas saturation/contrast

## 5. Generator

The art pack is reproducible through:

`scripts/generate_magitech_assets.py`

This script uses the bundled Python runtime with Pillow and generates vector-like raster PNGs. It intentionally avoids relying on one-off manual image files so future palette or silhouette changes can be regenerated consistently.

## 6. Preview Sheet

Generated preview sheet:

`public/sprites/magitech_art_contact_sheet.png`

The preview sheet is for art review only and is not currently consumed by the game runtime.

## 7. Follow-up Art Tasks

Recommended next art pass:

1. Add animation frame variants for normal and elite enemies.
2. Split skill icons into a formal UI icon atlas instead of relying on individual PNGs.
3. Add boss-specific silhouettes matching the narrative names in `bossRegistry.ts`.
4. Add projectile color language documentation for player, enemy, boss, and gimmick bullets.
5. Replace remaining CSS vocabulary from older cyber-neon UI with magitech naming over time.

## 8. Second Pass Correction

After user review, the first art pack was judged too childish/cartoon-like. The generator and UI skin were rewritten.

Second pass changes:

- removed thick outlines
- added brushed metal / stone noise
- added stronger shadows and glow-based separation
- changed vehicles into darker magitech airships
- changed enemies into corrupted mechanical/stone silhouettes
- changed backgrounds into darker stone grid ruins with broken circuitry
- changed UI from bright toy-card framing to dark iron/crystal framing

The reproducible generator remains:

`scripts/generate_magitech_assets.py`
