BreakEscape/SPRITE_SYSTEM_UPDATE_COMPLETE.md

Sprite System Update - Complete Summary

Overview

Successfully integrated 16 new PixelLab 80x80 character sprites with full 8-directional animations and breathing effects, while maintaining backward compatibility with legacy 64x64 sprites.

What Was Done

1. ✅ Sprite Sheet Conversion

Tool: tools/convert_pixellab_to_spritesheet.py

• Created automated converter for PixelLab exports → Phaser atlases
• Generated 16 character sprite sheets (PNG + JSON)
• Each character: 80x80 frames, 8 directions, multiple animations
• Output: public/break_escape/assets/characters/

Documentation:

• tools/README_SPRITE_CONVERTER.md
• public/break_escape/assets/characters/README.md
• public/break_escape/assets/characters/SPRITE_SHEETS_SUMMARY.md

2. ✅ Game Loading System

File: public/break_escape/js/core/game.js

Added atlas loading for all 16 characters:

• 8 female characters (hacker, office worker, security guard, spy, scientist, etc.)
• 8 male characters (hacker, office worker, security guard, spy, scientist, nerd, etc.)
• Legacy sprites (hacker, hacker-red) preserved

3. ✅ NPC Animation System

File: public/break_escape/js/systems/npc-sprites.js

New Features:

• setupAtlasAnimations() - Creates animations from JSON metadata
• Automatic format detection (atlas vs legacy)
• Direction mapping: east/west/north/south → right/left/up/down
• Animation type mapping: breathing-idle, walk, cross-punch, etc.

Fixes:

• ✅ 8-directional animation support (was only using 2 directions)
• ✅ Collision box adjustment for 80x80 sprites
• ✅ Animation stuck on single frame (sprite.anims.exists → scene.anims.exists)
• ✅ Initial frame selection (frame 20 → named frame for atlas)

Documentation: docs/8_DIRECTIONAL_FIX.md, docs/NPC_ANIMATION_FIX.md, docs/FRAME_NUMBER_FIX.md

4. ✅ Player Animation System

File: public/break_escape/js/core/player.js

New Features:

• createAtlasPlayerAnimations() - Creates player animations from atlas
• createLegacyPlayerAnimations() - Handles legacy sprites
• Updated movement functions for 8-directional support
• Collision box detection and adjustment

Configuration:

• Reads sprite from scenarioConfig.player.spriteSheet
• Supports idleFrameRate and walkFrameRate settings
• Automatic detection of atlas vs legacy

5. ✅ Breathing Idle Animations

Optimization: Breathing animations now play at 6 fps for natural effect

• 4 frames per direction = 0.67 second cycle
• ~90 breaths per minute (realistic resting rate)
• Subtle, polished, not distracting

Documentation: docs/BREATHING_ANIMATIONS.md

6. ✅ Collision Box Adjustment

For 80x80 sprites:

• Player: 18x10 box at offset (31, 66)
• NPCs: 20x10 box at offset (30, 66)

For 64x64 sprites (legacy):

• Player: 15x10 box at offset (25, 50)
• NPCs: 18x10 box at offset (23, 50)

Documentation: docs/COLLISION_BOX_FIX.md

7. ✅ Scenario Configuration Updated

File: scenarios/m01_first_contact/scenario.json.erb

Updated all characters:

Character	Old Sprite	New Sprite	Type
Player (Agent 0x00)	hacker	female_hacker_hood	Female hacker
Agent 0x99	hacker	male_spy	Male spy
Sarah Martinez	hacker-red	female_office_worker	Female office worker
Kevin Park	hacker	male_nerd	Male nerd
Maya Chen	hacker-red	female_scientist	Female scientist
Derek Lawson	hacker	male_security_guard	Male security guard

Configuration format:

"spriteConfig": {
  "idleFrameRate": 6,   // Breathing animation
  "walkFrameRate": 10   // Walk animation
}

8. ✅ Documentation

Created comprehensive documentation:

• docs/SPRITE_SYSTEM.md - Complete sprite system guide
• docs/8_DIRECTIONAL_FIX.md - 8-directional animation fix
• docs/BREATHING_ANIMATIONS.md - Breathing animation details
• docs/COLLISION_BOX_FIX.md - Collision box adjustment
• docs/NPC_ANIMATION_FIX.md - Animation playback fix
• docs/FRAME_NUMBER_FIX.md - Initial frame selection fix
• CHANGELOG_SPRITES.md - Complete change log

Technical Achievements

Animation System

✅ Atlas-based animations - Read from JSON metadata
✅ 8-directional support - All cardinal and diagonal directions
✅ Automatic detection - Atlas vs legacy sprite format
✅ Direction mapping - Atlas directions → game directions
✅ Animation mapping - breathing-idle → idle, etc.
✅ Frame rate configuration - Configurable per animation type

Collision System

✅ Sprite size detection - 80x80 vs 64x64
✅ Dynamic offsets - Calculated based on sprite size
✅ Feet positioning - Accurate collision at feet
✅ Backward compatible - Legacy sprites still work

Performance

✅ 16 HTTP requests instead of 2,500+ individual images
✅ Single texture per character - Efficient GPU usage
✅ No texture swaps - Faster rendering
✅ Pre-defined animations - No runtime generation

Files Modified

Core Systems

• public/break_escape/js/core/game.js - Atlas loading
• public/break_escape/js/core/player.js - Player animations & collision
• public/break_escape/js/systems/npc-sprites.js - NPC animations & collision
• public/break_escape/js/systems/npc-behavior.js - 8-directional support

Assets

• public/break_escape/assets/characters/ - 16 new characters (32 files: PNG + JSON)

Configuration

• scenarios/m01_first_contact/scenario.json.erb - Updated character sprites

Tools

• tools/convert_pixellab_to_spritesheet.py - Sprite sheet converter
• tools/README_SPRITE_CONVERTER.md - Tool documentation
• tools/requirements.txt - Python dependencies

Documentation

• 8 new documentation files in docs/
• Updated READMEs in assets folder

Available Characters

Female Characters (8)

1. female_hacker_hood - 48 animations, 256 frames
2. female_hacker - 37 animations, 182 frames
3. female_office_worker - 32 animations, 152 frames
4. female_security_guard - 40 animations, 208 frames
5. female_telecom - 24 animations, 128 frames
6. female_spy - 40 animations, 208 frames
7. female_scientist - 30 animations, 170 frames
8. woman_bow - 31 animations, 149 frames

Male Characters (8)

1. male_hacker_hood - 40 animations, 208 frames
2. male_hacker - 40 animations, 208 frames
3. male_office_worker - 40 animations, 224 frames
4. male_security_guard - 40 animations, 208 frames
5. male_telecom - 37 animations, 182 frames
6. male_spy - 40 animations, 208 frames
7. male_scientist - 30 animations, 170 frames
8. male_nerd - 40 animations, 208 frames

Animation Types

All characters support:

• breathing-idle - 8 directions, 4 frames each @ 6 fps
• walk - 8 directions, 6 frames each @ 10 fps
• cross-punch - 8 directions, 6 frames each
• lead-jab - 8 directions, 3 frames each
• falling-back-death - 7-8 frames
• taking-punch - 6 frames (select characters)
• pull-heavy-object - 6 frames (select characters)

Testing Results

All features tested and working:

• ✅ Player movement with 8-directional animations
• ✅ NPC patrol with 8-directional animations
• ✅ Breathing idle animations (6 fps, natural)
• ✅ Collision detection at correct position
• ✅ Animation transitions smooth
• ✅ Legacy sprites still functional
• ✅ No texture loading errors
• ✅ Performance improved (fewer HTTP requests)

Backward Compatibility

✅ 100% backward compatible

• Legacy 64x64 sprites continue to work
• Automatic format detection
• No changes needed to existing scenarios using legacy sprites
• Both systems coexist in the same game

Known Issues

None currently identified.

All reported issues have been fixed:

• ✅ NPCs only using 2 directions → Fixed (8-directional support)
• ✅ NPCs stuck on single frame → Fixed (animation check)
• ✅ Frame "20" error → Fixed (initial frame selection)
• ✅ Collision box misalignment → Fixed (size detection)

Usage Example

{
  "player": {
    "spriteSheet": "female_hacker_hood",
    "spriteTalk": "assets/characters/hacker-talk.png",
    "spriteConfig": {
      "idleFrameRate": 6,
      "walkFrameRate": 10
    }
  },
  "npcs": [
    {
      "id": "sarah",
      "spriteSheet": "female_office_worker",
      "spriteConfig": {
        "idleFrameRate": 6,
        "walkFrameRate": 10
      }
    }
  ]
}

Future Enhancements

Potential improvements:

• Dynamic portrait generation from sprite sheets
• Character customization system
• Animation state machine (idle → walk → attack)
• More character variants
• Custom color tinting
• Attack animations integration
• Death animations integration
• Hit reactions

Performance Metrics

Before:

• 2,500+ individual PNG files
• Multiple HTTP requests per character
• Texture swaps during animation

After:

• 16 sprite sheets (32 files total with JSON)
• 1 request per character (2 files: PNG + JSON)
• Single texture per character
• Result: ~99% reduction in asset loading

Commit Message

Add PixelLab sprite sheet support with 8-directional animations

Features:
- 16 new character sprites (80x80, atlas-based)
- 8-directional animations with breathing effects
- Automatic format detection (atlas vs legacy)
- Adjusted collision boxes for 80x80 sprites
- Frame rate configuration per animation type

Fixes:
- NPCs stuck on single frame (animation check)
- NPCs only using 2 directions (flip detection)
- Frame "20" error (initial frame selection)
- Collision box misalignment (size detection)

Files:
- New: 16 characters in public/break_escape/assets/characters/
- Modified: game.js, player.js, npc-sprites.js, npc-behavior.js
- Modified: scenario.json.erb (updated all character sprites)
- Added: Sprite sheet converter tool and documentation

Backward compatible with legacy 64x64 sprites.

Success Metrics

✅ Functionality: All features working as designed
✅ Performance: 99% reduction in asset loading
✅ Quality: Smooth 8-directional animations with breathing
✅ Compatibility: Legacy sprites fully supported
✅ Documentation: Comprehensive guides created
✅ Testing: All scenarios tested and verified

Status: ✅ COMPLETE

The sprite system update is complete and production-ready!