scene-to-level

scene-to-level — From a reference image to a playable scene

This is the orchestrator skill. It doesn't generate art, doesn't slice sheets, doesn't write game code — it routes the user through the chain of skills that do, and stitches their outputs together into a placeable Godot scene.

Use it when the user shows you a screenshot or concept image and says "build this." The output is a .tscn you can hit play on, populated with assets that match the reference's style.

The pipeline (decision tree)

1. Read the reference image (vision).
   └── What kind of scene is it?
        ├─ 2D top-down / isometric / side-scroller
        │   └── route to TERRAIN + 2D ASSETS path
        ├─ 3D third-person / first-person
        │   └── route to 3D ASSETS path (out of scope for this skill —
        │       use summer:3d-assets/ subskills directly)
        └─ UI-only screen (menu, HUD)
            └── route to UI ASSETS path (just plan-asset-pack)

2. For each visible element, route to the right sub-pipeline:

   TERRAIN  → summer:2d-assets/tileable-texture
              (auto-tiling Wang / 47-tile sheet; CURRENTLY a placeholder
              that generates a single tile — full auto-tile work is
              tracked in publicsummerengine/Docs/assetCreation/
              TERRAIN_AUTOTILE_IDEA.md and not yet built)

   PROPS / DECOR / LIGHTING / NATURE / WATER / BUILDINGS / UI / VFX
       ── If user has time for individual generation, prefer:
       │   summer:2d-assets/create-asset-sheet (Plan + Generate Pack
       │   mode at /studio/plan-asset-pack — higher quality, each asset
       │   gets full model attention)
       └── If user wants fast / exploratory:
           summer:2d-assets/create-asset-sheet (Slice from a sheet at
           /studio/create-tileset — one sheet, autoslice, cheaper)

   CHARACTERS → summer:2d-assets/character-portrait first for the static
                frame, then summer:2d-assets/sprite-sheet for animation

3. Once assets exist, USE-WIDGET-ASSET on any UI / panel / bar /
   toggle pack files to wire them as NinePatchRect / TextureProgressBar
   / etc. (see summer:2d-assets/use-widget-asset)

4. Compose the scene:
   - summer_create_scene with a Node2D / Control root depending on the
     scene type
   - Add a TileMap node for terrain; assign the generated tileset
     resource
   - Place props as Sprite2D / TextureRect children, positioned to
     match the reference's composition
   - Wire UI as Control nodes anchored to the viewport

5. Validate:
   - summer_get_script_errors
   - summer_play (the user takes over from here)

When to use

• "Make this screenshot playable."
• "I want a level that looks exactly like this concept art."
• "Build a Japanese village scene like this reference."
• "I have a UI mockup — implement it."

When NOT to use

• The user wants a single asset → summer:2d-assets/pixel-art or a leaf skill directly.
• The user wants to design a level from scratch (gameplay beats, pacing, encounters) → summer:level-design/design-level. This skill is post-design — it implements a known visual target.
• The user wants a 3D level → use summer:3d-assets/ subskills directly; the orchestration for 3D scenes isn't in this skill yet.
• The user wants a playable prototype with mechanics already → mechanics aren't in scope. This skill produces the visuals; the mechanic skills (e.g. summer:gameplay-mechanics/design-mechanic) handle behavior.

Required up-front

Before starting, you need either:

1. A reference image (URL or local file) the user provides, OR
2. A vivid text description of the target scene from the user

If neither is offered, stop and ask. Don't guess what a "japanese village scene" looks like — get the reference first.

Honest reliability map

Pipeline node	Reliability	Cost (rough)	What can go wrong
Reading the reference (vision call)	High	$0.02	Model misidentifies the scene type
Plan + Generate Pack (theme → per-asset)	High for props / icons / UI	$0.10–0.50 per pack	Style drift across items if no style ref
Slice from a sheet (single-sheet path)	Medium for dense sheets	$0.08 + upscales	Touching sprites merge into one slice
Tileable terrain (auto-tile)	LOW today — not built.	n/a	Use a single tile placeholder or stitch by hand
Sprite-sheet animation	Medium — see that skill's own honesty section	varies	Frame consistency is the hard part
Scene assembly via summer_* tools	High	free	Engine must be running

Surface this map to the user when relevant — don't claim "ready to play in 10 minutes" if terrain auto-tiling is what they actually need.

A worked example

User shows you a screenshot of a Japanese village with multiple islands, water between them, buildings, characters, and a bottom palette UI:

1. Vision pass identifies the scene as 2D isometric with: water terrain (large area), grass terrain (per island), buildings (5+ distinct), characters (2), UI palette + toolbar.
2. Plan the props pack via the create-asset-sheet planner: 12 props at minimum (torii, sakura, lantern, pagoda, bridge, well, sign, banner, bucket, hay, fence, crate). Generated per-asset for quality.
3. Plan the buildings pack: 5 distinct buildings (small house, barn, shop, pagoda, watchtower).
4. Generate terrain: today, single grass tile + single water tile + edge variant placeholders. Full Wang-tile auto-tiling is the TERRAIN_AUTOTILE_IDEA.md unbuilt path.
5. Plan the UI pack via the planner with theme "isometric voxel game UI: bottom palette, toolbar with Place/Erase/Pan/Save/Reset, asset category tabs, instruction panel."
6. For each UI slice that's a panel / button, use summer:2d-assets/use-widget-asset to wire as NinePatchRect.
7. Compose: TileMap for terrain; Sprite2D placement matching the reference; Control nodes for the UI.
8. Validate + hand off.

Total wall-clock: maybe 30 min for the asset packs (parallel), another 15 for scene composition. NOT a five-minute thing.

What this skill explicitly defers

• 3D scene assembly. Out of scope; use summer:3d-assets/ directly until a 3D variant of this orchestrator exists.
• Auto-tiling terrain. The pipeline node exists in the decision tree but the leaf skill that implements it is not built — see publicsummerengine/Docs/assetCreation/TERRAIN_AUTOTILE_IDEA.md.
• Animation orchestration. Per-character summer:2d-assets/sprite-sheet is invoked manually; no auto-pairing of characters with their animation pipelines yet.
• Gameplay code. Player movement, interactions, win conditions — those are level-design + gameplay-mechanics skills, not this one.