free-game-asset-discovery

Imported from Toqsick/my-agent-tools (library/free-game-asset-discovery/SKILL.md). Install upstream with npx skills add Toqsick/my-agent-tools --skill free-game-asset-discovery. Copyright stays with the author (MIT).

Core Workflow

1. Parse Game Bible for Asset Requirements

Extract from the game bible:

• Perspective: top-down, side-scroller, isometric, platformer
• Resolution: 16×16, 32×32, 64×64, vector
• Style: pixel art, vector, hand-drawn
• Entity list: player classes, NPCs, monsters, items, UI, tilesets, props, audio
• License requirement: CC0 only, or CC-BY acceptable, no-GPL

2. Search Primary Free Asset Sources (in priority order)

Search patterns that work:

• site:itch.io "free" "CC0" "16x16" "top down" "character"
• site:kenney.nl "tiny dungeon" "rogue" CC0
• site:opengameart.org "CC0" "top down" "sprite"
• itch.io/game-assets/assets-cc0/tag-<tag> (e.g., tag-16x16, tag-top-down, tag-characters)

2a. game-icons.net Downloads (Individual SVG Icons)

game-icons.net provides 4180+ free SVG icons under CC BY 3.0. Each icon has a unique URL pattern. Browser tools often timeout on this site — use curl directly.

URL pattern: https://game-icons.net/icons/ffffff/000000/1x1/{author}/{icon-name}.svg

Icon name discovery:

• Browse by tag: https://game-icons.net/tags/{tag}.html (e.g., blade, shield, cross, plant)
• Search: https://game-icons.net/search.html?q={query}
• Common authors: lorc, delapouite, sbed, willdabeast, skoll

Download workflow:

# Download a single SVG
curl -sL -o sword.svg "https://game-icons.net/icons/ffffff/000000/1x1/lorc/crossed-swords.svg"

# Batch download (example: fantasy RPG items)
BASE="https://game-icons.net/icons/ffffff/000000/1x1"
declare -A ICONS=(
  ["sword-crossed"]="lorc/crossed-swords"
  ["shield"]="sbed/shield"
  ["potion"]="delapouite/health-potion"
  ["scroll"]="lorc/scroll-unfurled"
  ["torch"]="delapouite/torch"
  ["backpack"]="delapouite/backpack"
)
for name in "${!ICONS[@]}"; do
  curl -sL -o "${name}.svg" "${BASE}/${ICONS[$name]}.svg"
done

Convert SVGs to PNGs (requires ImageMagick):

# Install if needed: apt-get install -y imagemagick
for svg in *.svg; do
  png="${svg%.svg}.png"
  convert -background none -density 300 "$svg" -resize 128x128 "$png"
done
# Flags: -background none (transparent bg), -density 300 (sharp rendering), -resize 128x128 (game icon size)

License note: game-icons.net is CC BY 3.0, NOT CC0. Attribution required: "Icons by [author] from game-icons.net"

2b. soundimage.org Downloads (Fantasy/Game Music)

Eric Matyas's soundimage.org offers royalty-free MP3 music for games. Direct MP3 links work with curl — no login required.

Browse pages:

• https://soundimage.org/fantasywonder/ — Fantasy 1 (RPG, adventure, ambient)
• https://soundimage.org/fantasy-2/ — Fantasy 2 (mystery, dragon, menu themes)
• https://soundimage.org/fantasy-3/ through fantasy-10/ — More fantasy styles

Download pattern: Extract MP3 URLs from page content, then curl:

curl -sL -o "fantasy-village-theme.mp3" "https://soundimage.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Our-Mountain_v003.mp3"
curl -sL -o "fantasy-magic-theme.mp3" "https://soundimage.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Spells-a-Brewin.mp3"

Verify downloads: Check file size — valid MP3s are typically 500KB–5MB. Files under 1KB are likely error pages:

for f in *.mp3; do
  size=$(stat -c%s "$f")
  if [ "$size" -lt 1000 ]; then
    echo "WARNING: $f is only $size bytes — likely a failed download"
    rm "$f"
  fi
done
# Also verify with: file *.mp3  (should show "MPEG ADTS, layer III")

License note: Royalty-free with attribution: "Music by Eric Matyas, Soundimage.org"

2c. Direct kenney.nl Downloads (Preferred for Kenney)

Kenney assets can be downloaded directly from kenney.nl without itch.io. The download URL is embedded in the HTML, hidden behind a donation modal. This is more reliable for scripted downloads than itch.io's "name your own price" flow.

Download workflow for kenney.nl assets:

1. Find the asset page: https://kenney.nl/assets/<pack-name> (e.g., ui-pack, rpg-audio, impact-sounds)
2. Extract the direct zip URL:

   curl -sL "https://kenney.nl/assets/<pack-name>" | grep -oP "href='[^']*kenney[^']*\.zip'"

   Returns something like: href='https://kenney.nl/media/pages/assets/<pack-name>/<hash>/kenney_<pack-name>.zip'
3. Download: curl -L -o kenney_<pack-name>.zip "<extracted-url>"
4. Extract: unzip -o kenney_<pack-name>.zip -d <pack-name>/
5. Assets are typically in <pack-name>/Audio/ (OGG), <pack-name>/PNG/ (sprites), or <pack-name>/Vector/ (SVG)

Example — downloading 3 packs:

# UI Pack (430+ sprites, 6 sounds, 2 fonts)
curl -sL "https://kenney.nl/assets/ui-pack" | grep -oP "href='[^']*kenney[^']*\.zip'" | head -1 | sed "s/href='//;s/'//" | xargs -I{} curl -L -o kenney_ui-pack.zip "{}"

# RPG Audio (54 OGG sounds: footsteps, doors, coins, books, knives)
curl -sL "https://kenney.nl/assets/rpg-audio" | grep -oP "href='[^']*kenney[^']*\.zip'" | head -1 | sed "s/href='//;s/'//" | xargs -I{} curl -L -o kenney_rpg-audio.zip "{}"

# Impact Sounds (132 OGG sounds: impacts, footsteps on various materials)
curl -sL "https://kenney.nl/assets/impact-sounds" | grep -oP "href='[^']*kenney[^']*\.zip'" | head -1 | sed "s/href='//;s/'//" | xargs -I{} curl -L -o kenney_impact-sounds.zip "{}"

All Kenney assets are CC0. No need to verify $0 — they're always free. The donation prompt is optional.

2b. GitHub Repos as Download Source (Preferred for Automation)

Many itch.io CC0 asset creators also publish on GitHub — this is more reliable for scripted downloads than itch.io's "Name your own price" flow:

Download workflow for GitHub repos:

1. Search: site:github.com "KayKit" OR "kenney" <pack-name>
2. Download zip: curl -L -o <name>.zip "https://github.com/<org>/<repo>/archive/refs/heads/main.zip"
3. Extract: unzip -q <name>.zip
4. Assets are typically in addons/<pack_name>/Assets/ or addons/<pack_name>/Characters/

Verify CC0 license: Check for LICENSE.txt in the repo root or assets directory — should reference CC0 1.0 Universal.

3. Verify True $0 Cost (Critical Step)

Red flags — NOT actually free:

• "Name your own price" without confirmation that $0 works → ALWAYS TEST by visiting the page
• "Free" in title but price shown on itch.io page ($2, $3, $5)
• "Free with account" / "Free for Patreon supporters"
• Discounted price shown (e.g., "-50% $5") = NOT FREE

Green flags — VERIFIED FREE:

• itch.io page shows "Download Now → Name your own price" → enter $0 → download works
• Explicit "CC0" or "Public Domain" in description
• Kenney assets (all CC0, "name your own price" = $0 works)
• RGS_Dev packs (explicit "Free CC0" in title)
• bobddadoo Monster Starter Pack (free download)
• Soulbit Free 16×16 Icons (free)
• Free Pixel Gear by Henry Software (free)

Verification command: Visit the itch.io page → click "Download Now" → enter 0 → confirm download starts.

4. Match Assets to Game Bible Entities

Create a mapping table:

5. Deliver Verified Asset Manifest

Output format:

## ✅ VERIFIED FREE Assets for [Game Name]

### KayKit 3D Assets (Downloaded 2026-07-06)

**Note:** These are 3D assets (GLB/OBJ) — for 2D Phaser use, they need sprite sheet conversion or can be used as reference art for 2D variants.

### KayKit Dungeon Remastered
| Pack | License | Source | Verified |
|------|---------|--------|----------|
| Dungeon Remastered 1.0 | **CC0 1.0 Universal** | [GitHub](https://github.com/KayKit-Game-Assets/KayKit-Dungeon-Remastered-1.0) | ✅ |

**622 files (18MB):** 203 GLB models, 208 OBJ models, 1 texture atlas (1024×1024)
- Walls (32), Floors (34), Stairs (8), Banners (42), Props (67), Barriers (15), Other (21)

### KayKit Adventurers Character Pack
| Pack | License | Source | Verified |
|------|---------|--------|----------|
| Adventurers Character Pack 2.0 | **CC0 1.0 Universal** | [GitHub](https://github.com/KayKit-Game-Assets/KayKit-Character-Pack-Adventures-1.0) | ✅ |

**72 files (19MB):** 5 character models + 27 accessory models
- Characters (GLB): Barbarian, Knight, Mage, Rogue, Rogue_Hooded (fully rigged & animated)
- Accessories (GLTF): arrows, axes, crossbows, daggers, shields, swords, staffs, wands, spellbooks, mugs, quivers, smokebombs

### Download Location
All KayKit assets saved to: `/root/dungeon-market-tycoon/assets/raw/kaykit/`

---

## Tier 1: Foundation Packs (2D Assets - Download First)
| Pack | Creator | Platform | License | Direct Link | Verified $0 |
|------|---------|----------|---------|-------------|-------------|

### By Category (Heroes, Monsters, Items, UI, Tilesets, Audio)
...

### ⚠️ Assets Removed (Not Actually Free)
| Asset | Why Removed |
|-------|-------------|

### Download Script / Phaser Manifest (optional)

Parallel Delegation Pattern (Recommended for Multi-Source Downloads)

When downloading from 3+ sources, dispatch parallel subagents to cut wall-clock time:

delegate_task(tasks=[
  { goal: "Download KayKit packs from GitHub to /path/raw/kaykit/", role: "leaf" },
  { goal: "Download Kenney packs from kenney.nl to /path/raw/kenney/", role: "leaf" },
  { goal: "Download icons from game-icons.net + audio to /path/raw/icons/ and /path/raw/audio/", role: "leaf" },
])

Each subagent gets its own terminal session, works independently, and returns a summary with file counts and paths. The parent agent continues building/polishing the game while downloads run in background.

Why this works well: Asset downloads are I/O-bound and independent. Parallelizing avoids blocking the main agent for minutes. The subagent summaries tell you exactly what landed.

Post-download verification:

find /path/raw/ -type f | wc -l          # total files
du -sh /path/raw/                         # total size
find /path/raw/ -name "*.png" | wc -l    # count PNGs
find /path/raw/ -name "*.wav" -o -name "*.ogg" | wc -l  # count audio

Pitfalls & Gotchas

Verification Checklist (Run Before Delivery)

• Every listed asset visited on itch.io/source page
• $0 download confirmed working (or explicit CC0 statement)
• Resolution matches game bible (16×16 for this project)
• Perspective matches (top-down for this project)
• Animation frames verified for characters/monsters
• License confirmed CC0 or public domain
• Direct download links provided (not search pages)
• "Not free" assets explicitly called out in removal section
• For 3D packs: note format (GLB/OBJ) and that conversion may be needed for 2D games

Reference Files

• references/verified-free-asset-sources.md — Master list of verified free sources with direct links
• references/dungeon-market-tycoon-asset-manifest.md — Example manifest for this game
• references/asset-download-verification.md — Process for verifying true $0/CC0 downloads
• templates/asset-manifest-template.md — Reusable template for new games