Skip to content
The Test Cabinet The Test Cabinet

Author a Voxel Animation Test Case

Scope

Section titled “Scope”

Scaffold an asset-generation test case of asset_kind = "voxel-animation": a rigged cube model a model sculpts with the voxel-anim binary and animates. The case fixes the required animations; the parts and joints that realize them are the model’s to invent. Read Authoring a Voxel Animation Test Case for the full procedure; Voxel cases is the authoritative schema.

For a static cube model see Author a Voxel Model Test Case. For a rigged meshed model see Author a Mesh Animation Test Case.

Layout

Section titled “Layout”

A version lives at test-cases/asset-generation/<difficulty>/<slug>/<version>/. A version with runs recorded against it is frozen; revise a case by adding a new version.

test-cases/asset-generation/<difficulty>/<slug>/<version>/
  test-case.toml    # manifest: type, asset_kind, voxel, tool, output, model
  variants/         # one standalone TOML file per variant
  prompt.hbs        # rendered into the harness instruction; not seeded
  changelog.md      # required per-version entry; not seeded
  description.md    # site blurb; not seeded
  specs/brief.md    # subject, motion, and tool behavior; seeded

A run seeds the brief, voxel-anim.config.json, and a rig.json pre-populated with the required animation declarations alone, with empty tracks, parts: [], and joints: []. The binary’s --help is the operation and rig-subcommand contract. The case declares no [[reference]] and carries no target model.

Steps

Section titled “Steps”
  1. Pick a catalog slug and an articulated subject, one with distinct movable components a game would want to see move.
  2. Decide the required animations. Each is a name a game plays it by, a loop flag, and an auto_play flag, where true means a self-playing idle and false means a game-triggered playable. Leave parts, joints, pivots, ranges, and pose angles to the model.
  3. Size the volume from real dimensions: 10 voxels per metre for smaller units whose longest side is about 8 m or less, and 5 voxels per metre for larger units and structures. Keep the largest dimension roughly in the 40 to 150 band.
  4. Write specs/brief.md: the subject and silhouette, the exact opaque #rrggbb palette, the volume framing (which axis is up, which way is forward), the key features that must read, and the behavior each required animation must show. Cover how the tool behaves: every operation takes --part, a sculpting operation records without rendering, and a bare voxel-anim render re-emits every part’s geometry and preview and composes the assembled scene views. Keep the brief self-contained.
  5. Write prompt.hbs. It renders in strict mode against {{variant.*}}, {{#each specs}}, {{workspace}}, {{time_limit_hours}}, and {{voxel.*}}. Point the model at voxel-anim --help and require a render before finishing.
  6. Write test-case.toml: metadata (name, difficulty, tags including 3d, voxel, and rig), the required changelog, type = "asset-generation", asset_kind = "voxel-animation", and the variants list. It is a root key, so it precedes the first table header, and the first entry is the default variant.
  7. Declare [voxel] with fixed width, height, depth, and background. It replaces [canvas], which resolution rejects on a voxel case.
  8. Declare [tool] with binary = "voxel-anim" and [output]. Both paths carry the {part} token, as in parts/{part}.png and parts/{part}.actions.json, because an animated model writes one file per part.
  9. Declare [model], which is required, carrying [[model.animation]] entries with a unique name, a loop flag, and an auto_play flag. The period, joints, and F-curves are the model’s.
  10. Declare the single overall [[domain]]. The rig and its animations are judged as a whole against the brief on that one rating, so the case declares no [[review_item]] checklist, no [[reference]], no [build], and no [[check]].

ironward, a siege tank with one required turret_sweep, is the worked example. sunfront-aegis and caldera-colossus are multi-animation references.

Validate

Section titled “Validate”

Run these for every variant.

Terminal window
npm run lint:specs
tcab prompt --test-case <slug> --version <version> --variant <variant>
tcab seed   --test-case <slug> --version <version> --variant <variant>

prompt catches strict-mode template and manifest errors, including duplicate animation names and a missing {part} token. seed writes the seeded repository under tmp/, where you confirm the brief, voxel-anim.config.json, and the pre-seeded rig.json are self-contained. After editing, force a re-ingest so the backend picks up the new tables; see Running the Local Service Stack.

Next steps

Section titled “Next steps”