Desa Sumberwangi, East Java, 1999. Generated with Meta AI as mood only: the real art is drawn new. Tap an image for full size.
Test 2 (Oct 1): which theories hold
A real screen from Meta assets only — WORKS, but flat — Every asset at its natural size lands on a 32px grid, and the tiles repeat with no visible seam. What is missing: soil-to-grass edge tiles, ground clutter (tufts, stones, flowers), a matched palette, and a front-facing house. That is the gap between this and the mockups. full sizeWalk cycle at Meta's natural size — WORKS — 36x51 px, feet aligned within half a pixel. The mush in test 1 came from forcing it down to 16x24. Fix: use a 32px tile grid, not 16. full sizeFive girls at 64x64 — ONE FAMILY — Same face shape, eyes and outline. The fake-pixel grid varied (10-15px), so detail varies. Fix: crop every head to the same size before snapping. full sizeIcons with the background removed automatically — WORKS — 8 of 8 came out transparent. Shown on dark and on grass. full sizeHouse — WRONG ANGLE — Meta drew the house turned at an angle, showing a corner. BTN and Stardew show buildings flat from the front. Fix: say front-facing in the prompt. full sizeAsking Meta for true-size 16x32 sprites — FAILS — Directions come out wrong: the facing-down row is upside down, the up row faces down. Let Meta draw big, shrink it ourselves. full sizeHoe swing — WRONG DIRECTION — Asked for facing down, got facing away. The motion frames are fine. Tool animations need direction checks. full size
Test: can Meta AI make the actual game art?
Portrait (Ningsih) — YES — Meta's raw output. Its fake pixels sit on a near-regular ~12.5px grid, so it snaps cleanly to a real 64x64 portrait (see the last image). full sizeItem icons — YES, with cleanup — Clean grid (~15.5px). Snapped to 16x16 they stay readable. Needs background knock-out and a few pixels fixed by hand. full sizeWalk-cycle sheet — BASE ONLY — 4 directions x 4 frames, and the hero stays the same. But at true size (16x24) the arms and legs turn to mush, and frames do not line up. Animation needs a hand pass or a sprite tool. full sizeAfter the pipeline, at real game size — Left: 64x64 portrait, 3x3 tiled soil (32px tile). Right: 16x16 icons, 16x24 walk frames. Grid-snap + 12-32 colour palette, no hand cleanup yet. full size
Gameplay view: top-down like BTN (HUD is ours)
Kebun Mbah, 06.40 — The real camera: fixed steep top-down angle, no sky, the ground fills the screen. The hero is about 1.5 tiles tall. Date box at top-right, like BTN: weekday + pasaran + day, time, season. full sizeAlun-alun, talking to Pak Lurah — The dialogue box. He speaks krama because you are new. At high hearts villagers drop to ngoko. full sizeInside the house, 21.50 — Bed (diary = save), CRT TV, cupboard, the gold-shop calendar on the wall. The grid lines are the generator's, not ours. full sizePantai Kidul, 17.30, Jumat Kliwon — Fishing spot. Rendheng season. Jumat Kliwon: the villagers say stay off the beach tonight. full size
In-game look (pixel art)
Kebun Mbah — Grandpa's overgrown farm, day 1. Gedhek walls, clay-tile roof, the volcano behind. full sizeAlun-alun Sumberwangi — The village square: banyan tree, pos ronda with kenthongan, warung, red-white flags. full sizeWarung & Losmen Pak Gimin — Evening at the warung. The wartel booth and the CRT TV. Ningsih serves tea. full sizeCoban Sri — Dewi Sri at the waterfall pool. Offerings on the stone. full sizePantai Kidul — The south shore at sunset. Jukung boats, the pier, Pak Darto fishing. full sizeMalam Tirakatan — The night before 17 Agustus: tumpeng on mats, gamelan, the greased pole. full size
Key art (painted)
Puncak Simbok — Sunrise over the sea of cloud. Title key art. full sizeJanji — The childhood promise under the banyan. Her face stays hidden. full sizeSumberwangi — Apple orchards and the dairy farm. Mbah Karto. full sizeLima — The five girls at the festival. He holds the peningset jasmine. full size
