# Art direction

## Creator decision — 2026-09-27

**Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008 CGI series)-inspired rendering is the project's
chosen visual style.** This selects style 5 from the character studies. AFK Arena
remains the gameplay genre reference; the visual-style comparison is complete.

## Rendering and proportions

- Angular sculpted forms and clear geometric planes.
- Favor expressive animated CGI simplification over detailed realistic AAA
  character rendering. New IP inspirations for clothing or cybernetics do not
  change this locked rendering style.
- Matte painted surfaces, restrained texture, and broad readable tonal shapes.
- Dimensional lighting that makes characters read as solid objects.
- Character-specific proportions and silhouettes: slender droids and lean humans
  are valid. Do not force Brutus-like bulk, short limbs, or oversized heads.
- The forty-character study explicitly requires varied ages, body types, alien
  anatomy, machines, and integrated cybernetic modifications. Keep long-limbed,
  heavy, small, and lean characters distinct and readable at phone size.
- Actual gameplay sprites readable at phone display size, with clear poses and
  weapon silhouettes. Single-frame masters need clean transparency and padding
  around the entire character and equipment.

The creator requires the style to be described in words, without AFK Arena image
references. The latest text-only example is the
[Clone Wars-inspired B1 study](../artwork/characters/troopers/style-study-v1/b1-05-clone-wars.png).
It illustrates the selected rendering direction; its tight antenna padding still
needs attention before use as an animation master.

Earlier studies remain historical exploration. The style is approved; individual
character designs, production assets, and animation masters still require review.
This decision does not approve the B1 or stormtrooper as final roster members.

## Reusable character prompt baseline

For faction-specific costume and material direction, use the
[faction lookbook](faction-lookbook.md). It adds faction identity to the shared
rendering style. The creator rejected roster v1 and its uniform faction palettes;
use [current written roster v3](character-roster-v3.md). Individual concept images
remain subject to visual review and are not approved animation masters.

Append the character's identity, anatomy, costume, equipment, and action to this
baseline. Describe the rendering verbally; do not attach AFK Arena artwork.

> Create one full-body mobile-game character sprite in a stylized CGI visual
> language inspired by Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008 animated series). Use
> angular sculpted forms, matte painted surfaces, broad light and shadow planes,
> restrained texture, and clear dimensional lighting. Preserve this character's
> distinctive proportions and silhouette. Keep the pose and equipment readable
> at small phone display sizes. Use a genuinely transparent background with
> adequate padding around every extremity. No UI, captions, environment, or
> splash-art composition.

The same rendering language guides environments and ships; asset-specific camera,
composition, and export requirements remain to be established. Detailed UI styling
has not yet been designed.

## Production pipeline

Codex built-in character image generation → reviewed master → Seedance animation
video → extracted and cleaned sprite frames → Godot 4 with GDScript.

The dimensional appearance is a rendering choice for the sprite assets. The
selected engine and video-to-sprite animation workflow remain in place.