# Skybound Nova Burst Icon and Effect Fix

**Date**: 2026-04-24  
**Project**: Skybound Protocol  
**Author**: Codex  
**Status**: Raw follow-up fix for skill-specific visual mismatch  

## 1. Screenshot Issue

`Nova Burst` looked like a lemon-shaped projectile icon.

This did not match the actual skill behavior.

## 2. Skill Meaning

`Nova Burst` is not a missile, crystal shard, or thrown projectile.

Actual gameplay behavior:

- automatic radial AoE shockwave
- triggers around the player
- damages enemies inside the radius
- knocks enemies outward
- cooldown-based burst every few seconds
- evolves into `Nova Guardian`, which adds stronger golden guardian behavior

## 3. Art Direction Correction

The icon should communicate:

- central arcane core
- circular shockwave expansion
- radial force
- rune-like magitech energy
- area control around the player

It should not communicate:

- lemon
- fruit
- single projectile
- gem pickup
- missile tip

## 4. Fixes Applied

The procedural generator now creates `Nova Burst.png` with a dedicated `nova` icon shape.

New visual structure:

- cyan circular shockwave rings
- central navy magitech core
- arcane core light
- radial spokes showing outward force
- subtle purple secondary energy ring

The in-game Nova Burst renderer was also adjusted:

- center sprite is smaller and treated as a rune core
- expanding shockwave ring is now the main visual read
- added translucent pressure disk
- added segmented rune ring
- kept Guardian variant as gold/orange

## 5. Changed Runtime Paths

Important changed paths:

- `/Volumes/Data/project/Antigravity/Skybound/scripts/generate_magitech_assets.py`
- `/Volumes/Data/project/Antigravity/Skybound/src/features/game/systems/GameRenderer.ts`
- `/Volumes/Data/project/Antigravity/Skybound/public/sprites/missiles/Nova Burst.png`

## 6. Verification

Asset generation completed successfully.

Production build completed successfully with:

```bash
npm run build
```

The existing `/sprites/player.png` static asset warning remains non-blocking.