codex-game-studios/skills/art-bible/DETAILS.md

Art Bible Workflow

Use this workflow to create or maintain design/art/art-bible.md, the visual source of truth for the project. Work section by section. The user remains the decision maker; the skill supplies professional framing, agent drafts, and document maintenance.

Phase 0: Context Check

1. Parse an optional --review full|lean|solo argument.
2. If no review argument is provided, read production/review-mode.txt.
3. If no review mode is configured, default to lean.
4. Read design/gdd/game-concept.md.
   • If it does not exist, stop and tell the user to run $brainstorm first.
   • Do not create an art bible without a concept document.
5. Extract the concept context:
   • game title
   • elevator pitch
   • core fantasy
   • design pillars
   • Visual Identity Anchor
   • target platform
6. Read docs/technical-preferences.md if it exists.
   • Extract engine, language, platform, rendering constraints, input targets, and performance budgets.
   • If it is missing, continue with conservative placeholders and mention that $setup-engine can fill technical constraints later.
7. If an engine is configured, read docs/engine-reference/<engine>/VERSION.md when Section 8 needs version-specific asset or rendering constraints.

Target Document

• Primary output: design/art/art-bible.md
• Template source: ../../references/studio-docs/templates/art-bible.md
• First write may create design/art/ and a skeleton with the 9 section headings.
• Skeleton creation is allowed, but section body text must be written or replaced only after user approval.

Codex Structured Input

Use Codex request_user_input for bounded decisions. Follow these limits:

• Ask 1-3 short questions per call.
• Use 2-5 mutually exclusive options per question.
• Keep header to 12 or fewer characters.
• Use id in snake_case.
• Keep option labels to 1-5 words.
• Add (Recommended) to the recommended option when there is one.
• Use normal conversation for open-ended reference lists and write approvals.

Retrofit Mode

If design/art/art-bible.md already exists, inspect the 9 sections before asking new questions.

Classify each section:

• Complete: meaningful project-specific text exists.
• Empty: heading exists with no useful body.
• Placeholder: body contains TBD, TODO, bracket placeholders, or generic template copy.

Default behavior:

• Resume missing work by filling only Empty or Placeholder sections.
• Do not rewrite Complete sections.
• Revise a complete section only when the user explicitly names that section or asks for a targeted update.
• Preserve unrelated content, status notes, and earlier approved decisions.

Phase 1: Framing

Ask the scope with request_user_input:

• Full Bible (Recommended): author all 9 sections.
• Visual Core: author Sections 1-4 only.
• Asset Standards: author Section 8 only.
• Resume Missing: fill only Empty or Placeholder sections.

Then ask for reference titles, images, URLs, or art influences in normal conversation. This is intentionally free-form because reference quality matters more than preset categories.

If the concept includes a Visual Identity Anchor, state that it is the foundation for the art bible. Treat it as a constraint unless the user says to change direction.

Section Authoring Protocol

For every selected section:

1. Ask one focused question about the section's decision.
2. Offer clear options with tradeoffs when the choice is bounded.
3. Use the relevant Codex subagent workflow to draft the section.
4. Present the draft or a compact summary to the user.
5. Ask: May I write section <section name> to design/art/art-bible.md?
6. After approval, write that section immediately and preserve other sections.
7. If the user asks for revision, revise the draft and ask again before writing.

Do not batch-write the full art bible without per-section confirmation.

Sections And Agent Routing

Section 1: Visual Identity Statement

Purpose: define the one-line visual rule, the primary visual promise, and the non-negotiable art direction constraint.

Use art-director through Codex subagent workflow.

Section 2: Mood & Atmosphere

Purpose: define emotional targets, lighting attitude, density, pacing, and what the player should feel when looking at the game.

Use art-director through Codex subagent workflow.

Section 3: Shape Language

Purpose: define silhouettes, geometric or organic bias, proportion rules, visual rhythm, and readability priorities.

Use art-director through Codex subagent workflow.

Section 4: Color System

Purpose: define palette direction, color meanings, contrast rules, state colors, and accessibility constraints.

Use art-director through Codex subagent workflow.

Section 5: Character Design Direction

Purpose: define character silhouette, costume/material language, facial or body expressiveness, animation attitude, and player/NPC distinction.

Use art-director through Codex subagent workflow.

Section 6: Environment Design Language

Purpose: define world materials, environmental motifs, navigational readability, scale cues, and progression of spaces.

Use art-director through Codex subagent workflow.

Section 7: UI/HUD Visual Direction

Purpose: define interface mood, hierarchy, screen density, typography direction, icon language, input readability, and accessibility expectations.

Use art-director and ux-designer in parallel through Codex subagent workflow. If their recommendations conflict, summarize the conflict and ask the user to choose before writing.

Section 8: Asset Standards

Purpose: define asset naming, file formats, resolution or mesh budgets, animation/VFX constraints, shader/material constraints, and handoff rules.

Use art-director and technical-artist in parallel through Codex subagent workflow. Technical constraints must come from docs/technical-preferences.md and, when available, docs/engine-reference/<engine>/VERSION.md plus relevant engine reference notes.

If technical preferences are missing, write conservative placeholder constraints and mark them as needing refresh after $setup-engine.

Section 9: Reference Direction

Purpose: list references by purpose, specify what to borrow, specify what not to copy, and define visual anti-references.

Use art-director through Codex subagent workflow.

AD-ART-BIBLE Sign-Off

After the selected scope is complete, handle AD-ART-BIBLE based on review mode:

• full: spawn art-director through Codex subagent workflow and ask it to run AD-ART-BIBLE using the gate criteria in references/studio-docs/director-gates.md.
• lean: skip and output AD-ART-BIBLE skipped - Lean mode.
• solo: skip and output AD-ART-BIBLE skipped - Solo mode.

Pass this context to the sign-off:

• design/art/art-bible.md
• design/gdd/game-concept.md
• Visual Identity Anchor
• pillars and core fantasy
• platform and performance constraints from docs/technical-preferences.md, if configured

Record the result in the art bible status header:

• APPROVED [date]
• CONCERNS accepted [date]
• REVISED [date]

If the sign-off returns concerns, show them to the user and ask whether to revise the named sections or accept the concerns as known risk.

Close

Finish with a short status summary:

• sections completed this run
• sections still missing, if any
• status of AD-ART-BIBLE
• output path: design/art/art-bible.md

Recommend only currently available next steps:

• $setup-engine if engine or performance constraints are not configured.
• Stop here if the user wants to pause after establishing visual direction.

Verdict: COMPLETE