Slime Wars — what still needs art
Pulled out of the code, not out of memory. Every row below is
something the game is currently drawing with a rectangle, a circle or a
gradient generated at runtime — or an animation state the code already
asks the Animator for.
How to read the priority tags.
Blocking the code already calls for it and
does nothing sensible without it.
High a placeholder is on screen where
players look most.
Nice the placeholder is honestly fine; art
would make it better, not fix it.
1. Animation states the code already expects do these first
These are parameter and clip names the game passes to
Animator today. If a controller is missing one, the unit
silently stays in whatever state it was in — which is the "slimes freeze
mid-walk" class of bug rather than a visible missing-art placeholder.
| Animator parameter | Type | Who sets it | Needed on |
|---|
| isIdle | bool | UniversalSlimeAI, yourSlimes, enemySlimes | Every troop prefab Blocking |
| isWalking | bool | same | Every troop prefab Blocking |
| isFighting | bool | same | Every troop prefab Blocking |
| isDead | bool | same | Every troop prefab Blocking |
| Fire | trigger | CanonAI (fallback) | Turret prefabs Blocking |
| FireArc | trigger | CanonAI, arc mode | Turrets — optional, falls back to Fire |
| FireDirect | trigger | CanonAI, direct mode | Turrets — optional, falls back to Fire |
| FireMode | int | CanonAI (0 arc, 1 direct) | Turrets — only if you blend-tree it |
| GreenFlagUp / GreenFlagDown | trigger | FlagController | Flag prefab Blocking |
| RedFlagUp / RedFlagDown | trigger | FlagController | Flag prefab Blocking |
And three clips played by name,
which means the names have to match exactly:
GreenFlagWave, RedFlagWave,
GrayFlagWave. FlagController re-checks once a second that the
flag is playing the right one, so a typo shows up as a flag that flickers
between colours rather than as an error.
2. The troop sprite matrix 11 units × 4 states
The troop types the stats system knows about. Each needs the
four states above, in green and red — red is currently the same sprite
tinted, which is why the colourblind palette has to recolour by hue.
| Troop | Notes for the sprite |
|---|
| Fighter | The baseline. Everything else is read relative to it. |
| MegaFighter | Reads as a bigger Fighter at a glance. |
| Warrior | Shop calls it "Soldier". |
| Wizard | Has a fireball ability — needs a cast pose. |
| Archer | Volley ability — needs a draw/loose pose. |
| Crossbow | Distinct silhouette from Archer, or players cannot tell them apart on a busy lane. |
| Slinger | Shop calls it "Slingshot". |
| Musket | Muzzle flash frame. |
| Gun | Shop calls it "Gunner". |
| Tank | Shield-wall ability — needs a braced pose. |
| Mammoth | Stomp ability — needs an impact frame. |
Three per-unit overlays the code already applies, that could be art
instead of tint.
Veteran / Elite promotion badges (currently drawn chevrons),
fusion (currently a scale-up), and the night glow (currently a
darkness subtract). A one-frame Aseprite overlay per state would beat all
three.
3. Code-drawn placeholders 40 files
These all generate a Texture2D at runtime. Nothing
is broken — they were written so the systems could ship without waiting on
art — but every one is a rectangle or a soft circle standing in for a
sprite. Sorted by how much a real sprite would change the look.
Buildings and world
| What | Currently | File | |
|---|
| Watchtower | Flat coloured tower shape | World/Watchtowers.cs | High |
| Watchpost | Small block | World/Watchposts.cs | High |
| Mercenary camp tent | Triangle | World/MercCamp.cs | High |
| Base gate — outer | Plank grain drawn pixel by pixel | World/BaseGates.cs | High |
| Base gate — inner new | Same plank sprite, recoloured and 15% taller | World/BaseGates.cs | High |
| Palisade / wall segments | Vertical bars | Build/WallBuilder.cs | High |
| Engineer unit | Small coloured blob | Build/Engineer.cs | High |
| Scout unit | Small coloured blob | World/Scout.cs | High |
| Worker slimes (base ambience) | Dots that hop | World/WorkerSlimes.cs | Nice |
| Base banner | Rectangle, tinted per commander | Polish/BaseBanner.cs | Nice |
| Torch | Named PlaceholderTorch in the source | World/Torch.cs | Nice |
| Choke / narrow pass | Two blocks | World/FlankChoke.cs | Nice |
| Mud bog + gold vein patches | Soft ellipse decals | World/TerrainPatches.cs | Nice — system is currently switched off |
| Building construction (raise) | Slide-and-fade of the finished sprite | Build/BuildingRaise.cs | Nice — scaffold frames would sell it |
Combat and feedback
| What | Currently | File | |
|---|
| Cannonball explosion | Expanding soft circle | CannonballExplosion.cs | High |
| Building on fire | Soft dots | Polish/BaseFireFX.cs | High |
| Building damage state | Soft dot particles | Buildings/DamageableBuilding.cs | High |
| Selection ring | Drawn circle | Orders/UnitSelection.cs | Nice |
| Move / attack order marker | Drawn arrow | World/TroopOrders.cs | Nice |
| Commander power ring | Drawn ring | Powers/CommanderPowers.cs | Nice |
| Threat arrows (enemy incoming) | Drawn triangle | UI/BattleRead.cs | Nice |
| Damage vignette | Vertical gradient | Polish/DamageVignette.cs | Fine as is |
| Rain / weather streaks | Generated streak texture | World/Weather.cs | Nice |
| Fog of war edge | Gradient | FogOfWar.cs | Fine as is |
| Night sky stars | Dots | World/NightSky.cs | Fine as is |
Interface and meta
| What | Currently | File | |
|---|
| Currency icons — coins, shards, gems, tokens | Generated shapes | UI/CurrencyIcons.cs | High — these are on screen the entire match |
| Resource icons — wood, stone, iron | Generated shapes | UI/ResourceIcons.cs | High |
| Rank badges (league chevrons) | Drawn chevrons | Polish/RankBadges.cs | High — ranked players screenshot these |
| Achievement medal | Drawn medal | UI/AchievementToasts.cs | High |
| Crate / loot box glow + open | Glow sprite, no crate art | Crates/LootBoxUI.cs | High — has an opened animator trigger already |
| Clan / account emblems | Generated shapes | Account/Emblem.cs | Nice |
| Colourblind shape badges | Triangle / circle in a 32×32 texture | Polish/ColorblindShapes.cs | Nice |
| Gamepad cursor | Drawn pointer | Input/ControllerSupport.cs | Nice |
| Menu backdrop / diorama | Generated gradient + shapes | UI/MenuBackdrop.cs, UI/MenuDiorama.cs | Nice |
| Minimap, stats graph, replay, snapshot, perf graph | Pixel-written textures | five files | Leave alone — these are data, not art |
4. Systems shipped recently with no art at all
| System | What it needs | |
|---|
| Two-stage gates | The inner gate should read as a different gate, not a recolour. It also repairs itself — a "mending" frame would explain that without a tooltip. | High |
| Supply lines | A cut-supply marker on the flag nearest your base. Right now the only cue is a text warning. | High |
| Supply surge objective | Something on the map while the 45s clock runs. Currently text only. | High |
| Turret ammunition | An empty / reloading state on the turret. Off by default, but a dry turret currently looks identical to a firing one. | High |
| Nightmare difficulty | Its button is a runtime clone of the Impossible button, tinted violet. A real button sprite would be better. | Nice |
| Enemy commanders | Six named commanders (Grindtooth, Gash the Quick, Old Bulwark, Mother Sludge, The Tallyman, Baron Ooze) with no portraits. The picker names them before the match now. | High — cheapest personality win available |
| Draft mode | Unit icons for the ban panel; it is text buttons today. | Nice |
| Heroes | Hero prefabs exist and default to noble_slime. Each hero needs the four states plus an ultimate pose. | High |
5. If you only do one page of art
In order, by how much each changes what a player sees:
- The four animator states on every troop. They are
already being asked for. Nothing else on this list matters if slimes
do not animate.
- Currency and resource icons. On screen every second
of every match, and currently generated shapes.
- Six commander portraits. The names already ship; the
faces are the cheapest personality in the game.
- Explosion and fire. Every fight ends in one.
- Rank badges. The thing ranked players screenshot.
A first pass at this list now exists. 124 sprites — the four animator
states for all eleven troops in both team colours, the currency and resource icons, rank
badges, explosion and fire frames, the buildings, and the six commander portraits — are
generated from
tools/pixel-art/ and shown at
/games/slime-wars/art.
They are built in the order section 5 below argues for.