Game asset pipeline

Every studio game treats content as data: an assets.json manifest is the single source of truth, and code references assets by id — never by hardcoded path, frame size, or scale. This is the asset-side counterpart to the data-driven content rule (numbers in constants.ts, tables in data/*.ts).

The pipeline is always the same five steps:

generate (AI) -> post-process -> optimize -> register in manifest -> hot-preview

Skipping "register in manifest" is the most common mistake. Do not import asset files directly into systems.

Why a manifest (the sprite-frame bug class)