This question is inspired by my venture into the Phaser game engine but seems to apply to any engine that uses JSON for its asset format.
Phaser relies on PhysicsEditor to export and create the JSON data for its physics bodies and TexturePacker for its sprite atlases. When I learned this I found some free alternatives that look like they might do the job.
So here’s the problem. These JSON creators claim their output works for a slew of different engines, but how can I be certain of that when there can’t possibly be such universal collaboration between the creators of these engines? It’s especially dubious considering I can’t find a standard anywhere. I don’t want to rely on a solution only to encounter a glitch I don’t understand. I want certainty.
After a lot of searching I finally found this thread, in which a couple of posters also expressed these frustrations. The final post appears to come from the horse’s mouth, explaining that there’s some “industry standard” that everyone uses, but the poster doesn’t seem to know where the industry standard comes from either.
So I’d really like to know, is this specification actually documented anywhere? Does it have an origin or did it just… accrete?
If there’s no good answer to this question, can I at least trust the claims of, say, Physics Body Editor and Shoebox, that their exports will work anywhere?