Kilowatt Tycoon — Art Style Guide
- Art Direction
Style: Vector-ish flat Goal: Maximum readability, calm “management sim” feel, works at small scales Inspiration: Two Point, Mini Metro, Infographic UI, modern SaaS dashboards
Key principles
Simple shapes > detail
Color communicates state
Everything readable at zoomed-out view
- Camera & Perspective
True top-down (90°) — no isometric tilt
No visible sides of objects
Depth is implied only via soft shadow
- Scale & Grid
Base tile size: 64 × 64 px
Road width: 1 tile
Parking spot: 1 × 2 tiles
Charger footprint:
L2: 1 × 1 tile
DCFC: 1 × 2 tiles
Cars/Vans: ~1.25 × 2 tiles
People: ~0.5 × 0.5 tile
Rule: Objects must visually “snap” to the grid.
- Shapes & Lines
No outlines or ultra-thin only (≤1px at 64px)
Rounded corners (4–8px radius at 64px scale)
Avoid sharp angles unless functional (lightning bolt, warning icon)
- Color Palette
Base palette
Asphalt: dark blue-gray
Concrete: warm light gray
Grass: muted green (no neon)
Chargers: neutral body + colored status light
Accent colors (states)
🟢 Available
🔵 Charging
🟡 Degraded / Warning
🔴 Offline / Fault
🟣 Upgrade / Subsidy
Rules
Flat fills only
Max 2 shades per object
No gradients (except shadows)
- Lighting & Shadows
Single soft shadow under every object
Shadow color: black at ~10–15% opacity
Shadow offset: directly below (no directional lighting)
No highlights or reflections
- Texture & Detail
No photoreal textures
Very subtle noise allowed only on large surfaces
Use decals (cracks, stains, snow patches) sparingly for variation
- UI & Icons
Icons match world style (flat, filled)
No text baked into sprites
Icons designed at 48 × 48 px
UI panels: flat color + 1px soft shadow
- Animation Guidelines
Minimal, functional animations
Examples:
Pulsing charger light
Cable sway (2–3 frames)
Snow accumulation over time
Avoid bouncy/cartoon motion
- AI Generation Rules (IMPORTANT)
Every prompt must include:
“2D top-down game sprite”
“vector-ish flat style”
“no outlines”
“soft shadow underneath”
“transparent background”
“consistent scale with existing assets”
Never accept assets that:
Change perspective
Add gradients or realism
Break scale rules
- Asset Export
Format: PNG
Background: transparent
Naming: category_object_state.png
Example: charger_dcfc_offline.png
Design mantra:
If it’s not readable at a glance, it doesn’t ship.