0xheycat Isometric Art Direction
Overview
The difference between a hobby project and a polished game is consistency. This skill produces a one-page style sheet that every other asset skill must obey, so 200 generated assets look like one game instead of a random asset dump.
When to Use
- Before generating the first tile, sprite, or building.
- Assets already look mismatched and need a unifying standard.
- Multiple people or sessions will generate art.
Process
- Fix the projection: true 2:1 isometric (dimetric). Write it down.
- Fix the light direction (e.g. top-left) and keep it identical on every asset.
- Define a tight color palette (8-12 swatches) and forbid off-palette colors.
- Define the tile base size in pixels (e.g. 128x64) and the anchor point.
- Pick ONE shading style (soft painterly / cel / pixel) and one reference image.
- Write all of this into a single STYLE.md and link it from every asset prompt.
- Generate 3 test assets and confirm they look like the same game before scaling up.
Rationalizations (Stop Lying to Yourself)
| Excuse | Reality |
|---|---|
| "I will keep the style consistent in my head" | Your head is not version-controlled. Write the style sheet. |
| "I can fix the style later" | Restyling 150 assets later costs 10x more than agreeing now. |
Red Flags - STOP if you catch yourself:
- No written style sheet exists.
- Light direction changes between assets.
- Color palette grows uncontrolled with every generation.
Verification
You are NOT done until every box is checked:
- A STYLE.md exists with projection, light, palette, scale, anchor, shading.
- 3 test assets visibly belong to the same game.
- Every asset prompt references the style sheet.