AntiNRML Asset Builder

Game art docs

Quick reference for first-time creators and production-ready terminology for experienced game artists.

Open builder
QUICK START

Five checks before an asset enters the game

1

Choose what the asset is used for.

2

Clean the crop and alpha.

3

Match the project camera or deliberately stay screen-space for UI.

4

Preview scale, pivot and animation if applicable.

5

Export a lossless runtime file and keep the editable master.

REFERENCE PROJECT

Tiny Rooftop Studio

Tiny Rooftop Studio reference projectTarget result

One coherent 3/4 top-down world: Nara character, a rooftop studio room, reusable props, tiles, idle/walk animation and UI. Use this project as a visual ruler for scale, camera and ground contact.

Before and after asset preparationBefore → after

Raw source boards can still be useful. The builder turns them into single-purpose assets with clean bounds, consistent canvas, clear pivot and game-ready export.

Asset lifecycleSource→Editing→Validated→Game-ready→In-game
ASSET TYPES

Pick the workflow that matches the job

Character

Player, NPC, artist avatar

Use a consistent silhouette, ground contact and camera angle across every direction and animation.

Best practice

  • Keep feet/pivot aligned between frames
  • Use transparent background
  • Match the game camera before animating
  • Separate outfit layers when customization is planned
pivotsilhouettedirectional framessprite sheetmodular layers

Background / Room

Room, studio, environment

Background art establishes the camera. Build it first when many props must share one perspective.

Best practice

  • Use one camera/pitch across the whole scene
  • Keep walkable space readable
  • Separate foreground occluders from the base room
  • Do not bake UI into the artwork
camera pitchocclusionwalkable areaparallaxscene layer

Prop / Furniture

Chair, table, tool, decoration

Props need consistent perspective, a predictable pivot and enough empty alpha for clean placement.

Best practice

  • One prop per runtime file
  • Keep contact point/pivot stable
  • Show useful top planes
  • Test scale beside a character
originpivotbounding boxoccludercollision footprint

Tile / Terrain

Floor, grass, wall, terrain

Tiles must repeat cleanly and align to the gameplay grid before decorative detail is added.

Best practice

  • Use exact 48×48 cells
  • Check seamless edges
  • Avoid accidental perspective drift
  • Keep collision meaning consistent
tilesetautotileseamcollision tileterrain transition

Animation Sheet

Walk, run, emote, activity

Animation quality depends more on consistent framing and timing than on adding many frames.

Best practice

  • Stable pivot across frames
  • Preview at target FPS
  • Keep direction ordering explicit
  • Do not mix unrelated actions in one runtime clip
frame cadencelooponion skinfoot slidingframe atlas

UI / Icon

Inventory, button, badge, portrait

UI assets are screen-space art: prioritize readability, consistent padding and target pixel density over world perspective.

Best practice

  • Do not apply world perspective to flat UI
  • Test at actual mobile size
  • Keep transparent padding consistent
  • Export crisp lossless assets
screen-spacesafe areahit targetpixel densitynine-slice
CAMERA

Game camera · Elevated top-down 3/4

Beginner explanation

Look slightly down from above. You should see useful top surfaces, but the front of characters and furniture must still read clearly.

Pro reference · orthogonal-top-down-3q

Orthographic / dimetric-like camera over a square gameplay grid. Never diamond-cell isometric.

Rule of thumb: show useful top planes while keeping front faces readable. The gameplay grid stays square; do not convert it into diamond-cell isometric art.

PRESETS

Canonical output canvases

AntiNRML Character Runtime96×128character
AntiNRML Modular Layer96×144layer
AntiNRML Tile48×48tile
AntiNRML Prop96×96prop
EXPORT

Which format should I use?

Lossless WebP

Preferred runtime delivery. Smaller than PNG while preserving alpha and exact pixels.

PNG

Keep as an editable transparent master or interchange format.

Frames ZIP + JSON

Use for sliced animation/tiles when frame order, timing, pivot or metadata must remain explicit.

REFERENCES

Familiar tools and concepts

Construct Animation EditorExternal reference ↗Phaser Editor 2DExternal reference ↗Tiled Map EditorExternal reference ↗