CRIA Sprite Forge v2

Mission

Build the visual content of CRIA DO TATAME as a reproducible production system rather than a pile of generated images.

The Forge receives requirements from Production OS v03 and turns them into candidate art packages that are identity-locked, measurable, reviewable, rights-traceable and ready for Godot only after every applicable gate passes.

The Forge is not:

• a second runtime;
• a gameplay authority;
• a BJJ rules authority;
• a canon source;
• a legal-clearance authority;
• an automatic shipping promoter.

Godot remains the only runtime. shipping=false is the default.

Authority order

1. data/production/ executable contracts and completion matrix;
2. active canon and narrative authorities;
3. .agents/skills/cria-art-direction/SKILL.md and canonical visual data;
4. BJJ graph/rules/reducer authorities for combat semantics;
5. assets/manifest_v2.json + Asset Pipeline v2 sidecars;
6. data/visual/sprite_qa_profiles_v1.json;
7. data/visual/sprite_forge_contract_v2.json;
8. data/visual/sprite_forge_requirements_v2.json;
9. this operational skill.

If two authorities disagree, stop and resolve the upstream conflict. Do not blend contradictory data into an image prompt.

Production coverage

Never create the visual TODO list by memory.

Run:

python tools/art/derive_sprite_forge_v2_requirements.py
python tools/art/validate_sprite_forge_v2.py

The derivator reads the roster, world locations and BJJ sources and materializes every required authoring unit. Missing authoritative BJJ data remains a blocker rather than being replaced by invented techniques.

The materialized requirements are authoring obligations, not release evidence.

Non-negotiable pixel contract

Normalized gameplay frame:

• 128x128 RGBA;
• upright pivot [64,96];
• nearest-neighbor resampling only;
• integer scaling only;
• smoothing disabled;
• binary alpha after normalization;
• candidate generation may happen at higher resolution;
• raw generated images never enter runtime paths;
• detached FX stay separate from body sprites by default.

Preserve the existing quantitative v1 gates and action-specific profiles.

Character identity lock

Every playable fighter requires an identity reference chain before production animation.

Minimum master artifacts:

• identity master;
• turnaround;
• front combat pose;
• back view;
• side view;
• palette signature;
• silhouette signature.

The same character must remain recognizably the same across:

• GI and NO-GI variants;
• world locomotion;
• upright combat;
• clinch;
• ground control;
• transitions;
• portraits and emotes.

Never allow a generator to silently change:

• face;
• body proportions;
• skin/hair characteristics;
• clothing identity;
• patches/logos;
• belt/variant;
• equipment;
• left/right asymmetry.

Generated identity cannot approve itself. Human visual review remains mandatory.

Directional authoring

Canonical authored directions:

• down/front;
• up/back;
• side-right.

Left may be mirrored only when the character/action asymmetry contract permits it. If clothing, grips, scars, tattoos, patches, stance or equipment make mirroring semantically wrong, author a separate left-facing asset.

Reference-conditioning order:

1. approved identity master;
2. same-action reference when available;
3. target direction.

Changing direction must never change attack type, equipment, GI/NO-GI semantics or character identity.

Frame extraction and content bounds

Do not assume generated 2x2 cells are already normalized.

For every frame:

1. extract candidate cell;
2. detect nontransparent contentBounds;
3. record x,y,width,height;
4. measure body height/body span;
5. determine feet/contact anchor;
6. normalize scale against approved identity/action profile;
7. place on canonical frame/pivot;
8. verify no edge touch or clipping;
9. run palette/alpha cleanup.

Use tools/art/sprite_preview_harness.html for offline inspection before Godot promotion.

The preview harness is not gameplay authority and does not replace Godot runtime evidence.

Model adapters

Generation providers are interchangeable authoring adapters, never runtime dependencies.

Each adapter must record:

• provider/model or tool id;
• endpoint/revision when available;
• known failure modes;
• prompt patches/negative constraints;
• reference images used;
• output terms/license review status.

A model adapter may compensate for predictable problems such as:

• wrong facing direction;
• text or watermark hallucination;
• fake grid/divider lines;
• inconsistent background;
• scale drift;
• identity drift.

A model adapter may not:

• define canon;
• define BJJ legality;
• invent scoring;
• choose shipping status;
• bypass human/rights review.

External research policy

data/production/external_tool_registry_v1.json is the only external-tool authority.

Current high-value references include:

• 0x0funky/agent-sprite-forge — permissive upstream concepts already adapted in v1;
• poirotw66/Sprite-Animator — processing/QA concepts only because current license is noncommercial;
• blendi-remade/sprite-sheet-creator — direction/reference/content-bounds/preview concepts only because no license is published at the pinned revision;
• Qwen Pixel-Art LoRA — candidate generation only, never automatic shipping;
• PixelSRPG-Forge — taxonomy/reference only; collected asset rights are not trusted.

Never copy source code or assets from a no-license/noncommercial/unknown-rights source into CRIA commercial shipping.

World art manufacturing

A generated flat map is a concept, not a shippable game map.

Every production world location is decomposed into runtime-addressable layers:

1. background;
2. terrain/base;
3. structures;
4. props;
5. decals;
6. collision/navigation metadata;
7. characters;
8. foreground occlusion;
9. weather FX;
10. lighting FX;
11. HUD outside the world renderer.

Walkability, collision and navigation come from game/runtime data, never from image-model guessing.

Regional fidelity review must verify the visual identity of the Baixo Sul without turning real places or cultures into random generic tropical scenery.

At minimum review:

• vegetation/ecosystem;
• coastline/river/mangrove logic;
• urban/rural material language;
• tatame/academy logic;
• lighting/time/weather;
• readable paths and playable silhouettes;
• foreground occlusion that never hides critical combat/navigation information.

Paired BJJ animation

Never generate BJJ through a generic attack prompt.

A technique package exists only if the graph-valid transition exists upstream.

Required synchronized phases:

1. anticipation;
2. entry;
3. establish;
4. stabilize;
5. response;
6. recovery.

Each paired package records:

• technique id;
• from/to positions;
• attacker/defender roles;
• GI/NO-GI modality;
• pivot policy;
• sync points;
• contact points;
• attacker frames;
• defender frames.

Contact validation includes:

• limb continuity;
• grip target;
• body contact;
• head/hip orientation where relevant;
• no GI-only grip in NO-GI;
• no frame teleportation;
• no unexplained side swap;
• no impossible body intersection outside the technique contract.

Expert biomechanical review is mandatory before human approval.

Preview gate

Before Godot handoff, preview each package with actual frames.

Required checks:

• idle loop;
• directional locomotion;
• scale consistency;
• anchor stability;
• mirror/asymmetry correctness;
• one-shot transition/action playback;
• alpha/background cleanliness;
• content-bounds overlay.

Paired BJJ additionally requires:

• shared pivot;
• phase order;
• contact continuity;
• synchronization;
• attacker/defender spacing.

frames_checked == 0 can never become PASS.

Provenance

Every candidate/promotion package must preserve a sidecar containing:

• asset_id;
• originating production requirement id;
• authoring method;
• model/tool;
• model/tool revision;
• source references;
• license/terms status;
• human editor;
• QA evidence;
• human approval;
• rights status;
• shipping.

Unknown source or rights status blocks promotion.

Manufacturing workflow

A. Refresh obligations

python tools/art/derive_sprite_forge_v2_requirements.py
python tools/art/validate_sprite_forge_v2.py

B. Select next requirement

Order:

1. P1 Ruan/Davi identity + locomotion;
2. Terreiro + Arena do Dique layered world package;
3. P1 combat/BJJ paired packages;
4. full roster identity masters;
5. full world locations;
6. full BJJ after authoritative 40/120/10 graph exists;
7. polish/FX.

C. Produce candidate

Use generation or manual art outside runtime paths. Preserve prompt/tool/model/reference metadata.

D. Normalize

Run Asset Pipeline/Sprite Forge normalization and measurement. Candidate art does not bypass the v1 quantitative gates.

E. Preview

Open:

tools/art/sprite_preview_harness.html

Load actual PNG frames and inspect bounds, pivot, scale and loop.

F. Technical gates

npm run validate:asset-protocol
npm run validate:sprite-forge
npm run validate:sprite-forge-phase1
npm run validate:sprite-forge-v2
npm run test:sprite-forge
npm run test:sprite-forge-phase1
npm run test:sprite-forge-v2

G. Human/rights gates

Do not infer these from technical success.

H. Godot handoff

Only after technical + human + rights gates:

npm run assets:spriteframes

Then integrate into a real scene and gather runtime visual evidence.

Stop conditions

Stop instead of promoting when any of these is true:

• identity drift;
• canon conflict;
• unknown provenance/license;
• no approved identity master;
• scale/anchor threshold failure;
• edge-touch or empty frame;
• flat generated map being treated as final map;
• collision/navigation inferred from pixels rather than authored metadata;
• generic attack generation used as BJJ authority;
• paired technique missing sync/contact map;
• technique not present in authoritative graph;
• GI/NO-GI mismatch;
• human or rights approval inferred automatically;
• Android/device evidence inferred instead of measured.

Definition of done — visual unit

A visual unit is done only when:

requirement exists
+ authority resolves
+ candidate provenance exists
+ identity/style contract passes
+ normalization passes
+ preview contains real frames
+ applicable paired/world contract passes
+ human review passes
+ rights review passes
+ asset registry handoff passes
+ Godot runtime evidence exists

Anything less is work-in-progress, even if the PNG looks excellent.

Validation

Always finish Forge changes with:

npm run validate:external-tools
npm run test:external-tools
npm run validate:sprite-forge-v2
npm run test:sprite-forge-v2
npm run quality