For this challenge, I used

For this challenge, I used Melius to build the asset pipeline for a small mobile game MVP. The game is a casual 2D side-scroller where a snack-loving slime auto-runs through a kitchen, using jump and dash to collect cupcakes, avoid hazards, and reach the finish.

The important part is the workflow: everything is connected through shared references. The same visual anchors guide the sprites, environments, UI, store images, and trailer keyframes, which makes the canvas feel like a real game production setup. Melius project - Here Process Steps:

1. I started with a focused Unity 2D mobile MVP: an auto-running slime game with jump and dash controls, one kitchen world, hazards, collectibles, rewards, and a small set of screens.

2. I used text nodes in Melius to organize the production plan: MVP brief, creative direction, style bible, Unity asset manifest, image prompt rules, video prompt rules, manual run guide, trailer storyboard, and challenge notes.

3. I generated a reference spine first so the rest of the canvas had a consistent visual direction: master style anchor, gameplay look frame, hero slime reference, world style board, UI style board, app icon style anchor, color/lighting sheet, and scale readability sheet.

4. From those references, I generated the main game asset sections: player character sheets, movement poses, enemies, hazards, collectibles, effects, kitchen backgrounds, modular platforms, props, and level layout references.

5. I also generated the mobile product layer: HUD icons, jump/dash buttons, counters, panels, reward popups, level select, shop cards, pause/settings UI, App Store key art, app icon sheet, and screen mockups.

6. Finally, I added the App Preview section with four 9:16 keyframes, four Seedance 2 video nodes, and one stitch node for the trailer sequence. I ran the workflow after setting up the graph, so the canvas now shows both the generated results and the connected process behind them.

Feedback on Melius:

Overall, Melius felt very smooth for this kind of visual game pipeline. The $50 free coupon was easy to claim and made it possible to actually experiment instead of being too careful with every generation.

The model variety is one of the best parts. Having strong image models and multiple video models in the same canvas is really useful, especially for a game project where I want to go from concept art to sprite sheets, UI, mockups, and trailer clips. I especially liked having options like Seedance 2 and Happy Horse for video generation.

Performance was also great. The canvas became pretty large, but it still handled a lot of nodes and connections very well.

A few things I would like to see improved:

- Text nodes would be easier to manage if they could be resized vertically. - Credit usage sometimes seems delayed when updating or displaying inside the canvas. - For large projects, more built-in organization tools would help, especially for grouping process steps and quickly finding related nodes.

I plan to build the playable version of this game in Unity and see how the generated Melius assets help shape the MVP over the next few days. Will post updates. 😃