Art Studio (AI Art Generator)

The Art Studio is MCE's integrated AI-powered sprite generation tool. It lets you generate monster sprites, overworld characters, and tilesets using AI image generation providers -- directly from the Unity editor.

Available in Basic tier and above.

Overview

The Art Studio is accessed from the menu: MCE > Tools > Art Generator

It opens the ArtGeneratorWindow, a UI Toolkit-based editor panel with:

• Provider selection and configuration.
• Monster sprite generation (front, back, icon, shiny variants).
• Overworld follower spritesheet generation.
• Batch generation for multiple species at once.
• Preview and approval workflow before saving assets.

Supported Providers

MCE supports three AI image generation backends:

PixelLab

A specialized pixel art generation service designed for game sprites. Integrated via MCP (Model Context Protocol) for seamless editor workflows.

• Best for: Monster sprites, character sprites, tilesets, consistent pixel art style.
• Setup: Requires a PixelLab API key. Enter it in the Art Generator Settings.
• Quality: High -- produces game-ready pixel art with consistent style.
• Speed: ~5-15 seconds per sprite.

Nano Banana 2

An AI image generation model optimized for 2D game art and sprite generation.

• Best for: Character sprites, overworld art, stylized game assets.
• Setup: Requires an API key. Configure in Art Generator Settings.
• Quality: High -- well-suited for pixel art and stylized 2D assets.
• Speed: ~5-20 seconds per image.

OpenAI (ChatGPT)

Uses OpenAI's image generation API (DALL-E / ChatGPT image generation).

• Best for: Quick prototyping, concept art, style exploration.
• Setup: Requires an OpenAI API key.
• Quality: Good for concepts, may need touch-up for final game art.
• Speed: ~10-30 seconds per image.

Configuration

Open the Art Generator settings: MCE > Tools > Art Generator Settings

Field	Description
Active Provider	Which AI backend to use
API Key	Authentication key for the selected provider
Endpoint URL	Server URL (for custom or self-hosted endpoints)
Output Path	Where generated sprites are saved
Default Size	Pixel dimensions for generated sprites
Style Prompt	Default style description appended to all prompts

Generating Monster Sprites

Single Monster

1. Open the Art Generator window.
2. Select a MonsterEntry from the database dropdown or drag it into the field.
3. Choose which sprites to generate:
   • Front Sprite
   • Back Sprite
   • Icon
   • Shiny Front
   • Shiny Back
4. Optionally modify the generation prompt (the monster's name, type, and description are auto-filled).
5. Click Generate.
6. Preview the results in the window.
7. Click Accept to save the sprites and assign them to the MonsterEntry, or Regenerate to try again.

Batch Generation

1. Click the Batch tab in the Art Generator.
2. Select a range of monsters by dex number (e.g., 1-151).
3. Choose which sprite types to generate.
4. Click Start Batch.
5. The generator will process each monster sequentially, saving results automatically.
6. A progress bar shows the current status.
7. Failed generations are logged and can be retried.

Batch Interruption

Batch generation is idempotent. If it is interrupted (network timeout, editor crash), simply re-run the batch. It will skip monsters that already have sprites and only generate missing ones.

Generating Overworld Followers

Follower sprites are 4-direction walk cycle spritesheets used when a monster follows the player in the overworld.

1. In the Art Generator, switch to the Followers tab.
2. Select a monster or range of monsters.
3. The generator creates a spritesheet with walk frames for all four directions.
4. After generation, the spritesheet is automatically sliced and assigned to the monster's follower data.

Generating Tilesets

The Art Generator can also create tileset art for map building:

1. Switch to the Tilesets tab.
2. Describe the environment (e.g., "forest path with tall grass and trees").
3. Configure tile size and tileset dimensions.
4. Generate and preview.
5. Import the tileset into your Tile Palette.

The MonsterArtRequest

Under the hood, sprite generation uses a MonsterArtRequest object:

public class MonsterArtRequest
{
    public MonsterEntry Monster;    // The species to generate art for
    public string Prompt;           // Custom text prompt
    public SpriteType Type;         // Front, Back, Icon, Follower, etc.
    public bool IsShiny;            // Generate shiny variant
    public int Width;               // Pixel width
    public int Height;              // Pixel height
}

The request is sent to the active IArtGenerationProvider implementation, which handles the provider-specific API call.

Provider Interface

All providers implement IArtGenerationProvider:

public interface IArtGenerationProvider
{
    string ProviderName { get; }
    Task<Texture2D> GenerateAsync(MonsterArtRequest request);
    bool IsConfigured { get; }
}

Adding a Custom Provider (Source Tier)

1. Create a class implementing IArtGenerationProvider.
2. Register it in the ArtGeneratorSettings.
3. It will appear in the provider dropdown.

Output Management

Generated sprites are saved to the configured output path with a consistent naming scheme:

{OutputPath}/
  {DexNumber}_{MonsterName}/
    front.png
    back.png
    icon.png
    front_shiny.png
    back_shiny.png
    follower_sheet.png

All sprites are imported with pixel art settings (Point filter, no compression) automatically.

Best Practices

1. Start with a small batch to verify the style matches your game.
2. Use consistent style prompts. The default style prompt is applied to all generations to maintain visual coherence.
3. Review before accepting. AI generation can produce inconsistent results. Always preview.
4. Keep originals. Generated sprites can be touched up manually in a pixel art editor.
5. Budget API costs. PixelLab and OpenAI charge per generation. A 151-monster batch can be significant.
6. Re-run failed batches. Network timeouts are common with large batches. The idempotent design means retries are safe.

Troubleshooting

Issue	Solution
"Provider not configured"	Enter your API key in the Art Generator Settings
Timeout errors	Increase timeout in settings, or reduce batch size
Low quality output	Adjust the style prompt, try a different provider
Sprites look blurry in-game	Check import settings: Filter Mode must be Point (no filter)
Batch stuck	Check the Console for errors. The batch can be safely restarted