# Phaser Asset Sourcing > a Phaser 4 game needs actual… - Skill: `codyswanngt/phaser-asset-sourcing` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add codyswanngt/phaser-asset-sourcing` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/codyswanngt/phaser-asset-sourcing/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Coding & Dev Tools, DevOps & Infra - Author: codyswanngt (https://skillmd.com/u/codyswanngt) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/codyswanngt/phaser-asset-sourcing --- # Phaser 4 Asset Sourcing ## Why this skill exists The `phaser-asset-pipeline` skill is **packing-only**: it assumes raw art already sits in `assets/src` and turns it into atlases + typed keys. It never says where that art comes from. Left to fill the gap, agents reach for the path of least resistance — `this.add.graphics().generateTexture(...)` white rectangles — and ship a wireframe that *typechecks and boots* but looks like programmer art. **Procedural placeholders are art debt, not an art strategy.** A shipped game needs real, licensed, cohesive assets. This skill is the missing step: how to **get** the art before you pack it. Read it *before* `phaser-asset-pipeline`. ## The sourcing decision, in priority order Work top-down. Only fall to the next tier when the one above genuinely can't serve the need. ### 1. Curated CC0 sources (default — reach here first) Real, cohesive, commercially-usable art exists for free under CC0. These are the recommended starting points; all are CC0 or CC0-equivalent (verify per pack — see the license gate below): - **[Kenney.nl](https://kenney.nl/assets)** — hundreds of packs (top-down, platformer, UI, tiles, isometric, audio), **all CC0**. The single best first stop for cohesive, atlas-friendly art. - **Pixel-boy & AAA — [Ninja Adventure Asset Pack](https://pixel-boy.itch.io/ninja-adventure-asset-pack)** — a full CC0 JRPG kit: characters with directional idle/walk/attack strips, monsters, tilesets, UI, portraits, FX, and music. Ideal for top-down / RPG-shaped games (this is what the reference implementation uses). - **ansimuz (Luis Zuno) — [CC0 packs](https://ansimuz.itch.io/)** — parallax backdrops, environments, effects. Check each pack's license: the base packs are typically CC0; some have paid add-ons that are **not**. - **[OpenGameArt.org](https://opengameart.org/)**, **filtered to CC0** (`CC0` in the license facet). Great breadth; licenses are per-submission, so you MUST verify each asset individually — OGA also hosts CC-BY, CC-BY-SA, and GPL art that the license gate rejects. - **[itch.io](https://itch.io/game-assets/assets-cc0)** game assets filtered to the CC0 license. Prefer one or two packs with a shared visual language over a magpie mix — a single Kenney pack reads more cohesive than ten sources stitched together (the art-director persona will flag the mismatch otherwise). ### 2. Deriving / editing CC0 art (allowed freely) CC0 waives all rights, so you may recolor, crop, re-slice, retag, upscale (nearest-neighbor for pixel art), and recombine freely. This is usually how a pack becomes *this game's* assets: slice a sprite sheet into per-frame PNGs, rename frames to your content refs, restitch strips. Record exactly how in the ingest script (below) so the derivation is reproducible. ### 3. Ask the human (bespoke quality, paid tools, commissioning) When the art bible demands a bespoke look no CC0 pack delivers — a signature character, a specific illustrated style, licensed audio — **stop and ask the human**. Do not silently downgrade to placeholders and do not buy/commission on your own. Surface the decision: > "The art direction calls for ``. No CC0 source covers it. Options: (a) adapt > the closest CC0 pack `` and accept the style delta, (b) you provide/approve > a paid pack or commission, (c) ship a tracked `generateTexture` placeholder > against issue `#NNN` until real art lands. Which?" Paid assets, CC-BY with attribution, or any non-CC0 license are allowed **only with explicit human approval**, recorded in `assets/LICENSES.md` with the terms. ## Hard rules ### License gate — CC0 or equivalent only - **Accept**: CC0 1.0, public domain dedication, or an explicit "use freely in commercial games, no attribution required" grant equivalent to CC0. - **Reject** (unless the human explicitly approves and the terms are recorded): CC-BY (attribution burden), CC-BY-SA / GPL (copyleft — forces your project's license), CC-NC (no commercial), "free for personal use", and anything unlicensed or license-unknown. - For **every** pack, record in `assets/LICENSES.md`: the pack name, author, source URL, the exact license, a **verbatim license quote**, and the **evidence URL** where that quote lives (the itch page, the in-pack `LICENSE.txt`, the OGA submission). "It looked free" is not evidence. ```md | Pack | Author | Source | License | Evidence | |------|--------|--------|---------|----------| | Ninja Adventure – Asset Pack | Pixel-boy & AAA | https://pixel-boy.itch.io/ninja-adventure-asset-pack | CC0 1.0 | In-pack `LICENSE.txt` (full CC0 text); itch page "Creative Commons Zero v1.0 Universal" | ``` ### Provenance — the source must be reproducible The packs themselves are often large and need not be committed, but **how you got from a pack to `assets/src` must be**. Two acceptable patterns: - **Committed ingest script** (`scripts/ingest-assets.mjs`) that records, per frame, which pack / file / cell it came from and re-slices deterministically. Re-running it against a fresh download reproduces `assets/src` byte-for-byte. This is the provenance record — it documents the source layout (e.g. "Ninja Adventure character `Idle.png` is 64×16 = 4 direction cells; `Walk.png` is 64×64 = 4 direction columns × 4 walk rows") and doubles as the derivation log. - **Committed raw sources** under `assets/src` directly, when the art is small, hand-authored, or already per-frame. Either way: `assets/LICENSES.md` + a reproducible path from source to `assets/src`. Adding art from a **new** source requires both, every time. ### Procedural `generateTexture` placeholders are TRACKED ART DEBT A scene MAY ship `generateTexture` / `graphics`-drawn placeholder art **only** when it is tracked by a linked art-debt issue. It is never the finished state, and it is never described as a best practice. In particular: - **Never** write comments like "zero binary assets, zero licensing risk" as if placeholders were the goal. They are a temporary stand-in, and that framing is exactly what produced wireframe games. - Keep a visible ledger of the debt (e.g. a `LEGACY_GENERATED_TEXTURE_KEYS` map in the pack script, or a checklist in the issue) and delete each entry the moment the real asset lands. - The art-director persona treats a placeholder-only scene as a **blocking** finding (see its review checklist). ### Characters get real animation Static single-frame sprites are a placeholder smell. A character/creature ships at minimum an **idle** and a **walk** cycle; most CC0 character packs already provide directional idle/walk/attack strips, so there is no excuse to ship a frozen frame. Name frames so the pipeline and the official **`animations`** skill can build the animation from them (e.g. `/walk--`), and drive them with `anims.create` / `anims.play`, not a static texture. The asset-pipeline skill covers frame naming; the official `animations` skill covers playback. ## Verification - Every entry in `assets/LICENSES.md` is CC0-or-equivalent (or human-approved with terms recorded) and carries a verbatim quote + evidence URL. - `assets/src` is reproducible from a committed ingest script or is itself committed raw source. - No scene ships `generateTexture` placeholder art without a linked art-debt issue; the debt ledger matches reality. - Characters render with a playing idle/walk animation, not a static frame — confirm in the **real browser** (the art-director persona reviews rendered screenshots, not code). Once the art exists in `assets/src`, hand off to **`phaser-asset-pipeline`** to pack it and codegen the typed keys.