Card Art Specification

This page defines the shared visual and asset standard for Team 6 card artwork in Sprint 2.

Owner: Team 6 Member 4
Task: #156 — Survival Cards and Art/Asset Integration

Team 6 supplies illustration-only artwork. The UI team composites the final card face at runtime, including card name, cost, description, type, rarity, borders, icons, and other card information.

Related pages:

• Survival Cards
• Initial Cards
• Card Data Model

Locked Art Standard

Item	Standard
Aspect ratio	4:3 landscape
Working resolution	512 × 384
Final resolution	1024 × 768
Upscaling	Nearest-neighbour only; do not use smooth or bicubic interpolation
File format	PNG
File size	Under 500 KB
Artwork	Illustration only
Baked UI	None — no name, cost, description, rarity, type, borders, icons, or rules text
Filename	Exact lowercase snake_case card ID
Location	source/core/assets/images/cards/
JSON path	images/cards/ + card ID + .png

Upgraded cards reuse the base card artwork and do not require a second image.

A very large file size may indicate that the image was generated or resized as a smooth render rather than retaining the intended pixel-art style.

Shared Prompt

Only replace the card-specific subject description. Keep the shared style section unchanged so the final card set remains visually consistent.

[DESCRIBE YOUR CARD HERE: the subject, what it is doing, and the one visual idea that makes this card recognisable], horizontal composition, 4:3 wide framing, pixel art, 16-bit SNES JRPG style, limited color palette, crisp hard-edged pixels, visible pixel grid, aged brass and deep indigo palette with warm amber highlights, astrolabe and orbital ring motifs, dark background, strong silhouette readability, centered composition, subject within central 80% of frame, clean empty margins

Negative prompt:

text, letters, numbers, words, watermark, signature, UI, border, frame, card layout, icons, logo, flat vector style, cluttered edges, blurry, anti-aliased, smooth gradients, painterly, 3d render, photorealistic

Keep the subject to one clear visual idea rather than listing every card effect.

The composition should reflect the card's role. For example, a focused single-target attack should have a concentrated subject, while an area effect may use a wider composition.

Card artwork should show the spell, action, object, or event represented by the card, rather than relying on the same player portrait for every image. Small character silhouettes are acceptable when they support the action being shown.

Composition

• Keep the main subject within the central 80% of the frame.
• Leave clean margins so the UI can crop or frame the illustration safely.
• Avoid very small details that disappear at in-game card size.
• Keep the primary silhouette easy to recognise.
• Do not include text, card borders, cost icons, rarity symbols, or other UI elements.
• The artwork should function as an illustration rather than a completed card face.

Reference Artwork

The four Survival cards follow the shared visual and dimension standard:

Card ID	Asset
makeshift_shelter	source/core/assets/images/cards/makeshift_shelter.png
rubble_barricade	source/core/assets/images/cards/rubble_barricade.png
emergency_salve	source/core/assets/images/cards/emergency_salve.png
purify	source/core/assets/images/cards/purify.png

The current Survival assets use:

• 1024 × 768 resolution
• 4:3 landscape composition
• PNG format
• illustration-only pixel art
• no baked UI or card information

File-size optimisation to the shared target of under 500 KB is still part of the final asset pass.

See also: Survival Cards

Existing Card Assets

Existing assets currently use mixed dimensions and presentation styles. The final Sprint 2 art standard is 1024 × 768 landscape illustration-only pixel art.

Set	Current size	Notes
Survival (4)	1024 × 768	Regenerated to this specification on task/survival-cards-art-assets.
Sprint 1 (6)	691 × 1056	Correctly linked assets exist, but the current images use older card-face / placeholder presentation and need a final art pass.
Ray's four (starfall, rift_lance, astral_ward, resurrection)	1024 × 1536	Full card-face assets with baked UI information. These need to be replaced or regenerated as 1024 × 768 illustration-only artwork by the card owner.
Remaining Sprint 2 cards	Mixed	Check dimensions, presentation style, filename, path, and file size before final integration.

Each card owner is responsible for updating their own final artwork.

Shared Artwork Workflow

Each Team 6 member produces the artwork for their own cards using the shared prompt and specification.

Member 4 is responsible for:

• maintaining this specification
• providing Survival reference artwork
• checking image dimensions and aspect ratio
• checking file size
• checking filenames and texturePath values
• checking overall visual consistency
• performing the final 26-card asset audit
• verifying in-game display after integration

Member 4 does not need to regenerate every other member's artwork. Problems should be reported to the relevant card owner for correction.

Final Card Library Asset Check

The final Team 6 library contains:

• 6 Sprint 1 cards
• 20 Sprint 2 cards
• 26 official cards in total

Complete the following audit after every member has submitted final artwork:

• Every official card has a texturePath
• Every texturePath uses images/cards/ plus the card ID and .png
• Every referenced PNG exists
• Every final image is 1024 × 768
• Every final image uses a 4:3 landscape composition
• Every final image is PNG
• Every final image is under 500 KB
• Artwork follows the shared pixel-art visual direction
• No card name is baked into the artwork
• No energy cost is baked into the artwork
• No description or rules text is baked into the artwork
• No type or rarity information is baked into the artwork
• No border, frame, icon, or other UI element is baked into the artwork
• No missing textures appear in-game
• No important subject matter is obviously cropped
• Images remain visually readable at in-game card size
• Card information is displayed correctly through the game UI
• Final in-game screenshots are recorded as verification evidence

Current Status

The locked Sprint 2 art standard is:

1024 × 768, 4:3 landscape, illustration-only pixel-art PNG.

The four Survival assets on task/survival-cards-art-assets have been regenerated to this standard.

Remaining work includes:

• other Team 6 members updating their own card artwork
• completing the final 26-card asset audit
• verifying card display in-game
• verifying the hover / card-information UI
• collecting final screenshots for #156