Character Production Pipeline v1.0

Status: Accepted for Sprint 1.5

Reference implementation: [CHR001 Nova Striker](CHR001_NovaStriker/00_Overview.md)

Purpose

Every hero, enemy, boss, and NPC must follow the same production workflow:

concept -> bible -> machine definition -> animation plan -> hitboxes -> export -> QA -> approval

Required Inputs

• [Pixel Art Standard](../020_MasterArtBible/PixelArtStandard.md)
• [Material Rendering Bible](../020_MasterArtBible/MaterialRenderingBible.md)
• [Palette & Color Library](../020_MasterArtBible/PaletteColorLibrary.md)
• [Shape Language & Anatomy Bible](../020_MasterArtBible/ShapeLanguageAndAnatomyBible.md)
• [Motion & Animation Foundation](../020_MasterArtBible/AnimationFoundation.md)
• assets/registry/ASSET_REGISTRY.v2.yaml

Production Steps

1. Create character folder from templates/CharacterTemplate.md.

2. Fill lore, gameplay role, shape language, anatomy, silhouette, palette, materials, equipment, expressions, poses, animation plan, attacks, VFX, audio, collision, hitboxes, pivots, export, QA, and approval docs.

3. Create or update machine-readable YAML in assets/definitions/characters/.

4. Run pnpm validate:character.

5. Run pnpm qa.

6. Update registry lifecycle only after QA.

Definition of Done

• All character bible pages exist.
• Machine-readable definition passes validation.
• Palette and material references use accepted libraries.
• Animation IDs match event standards.
• Collision and pivot rules are explicit.
• QA checklist passes with required score.