Create a Coach from Scratch with Coach Maker: A Lu Xun Example

Combine a name, appearance and prompt into a coach of your own. This example follows Lu Xun from creation to publication.

See Coach Maker for what the fields mean and more creation ideas. This walkthrough focuses on making something usable, testing it and giving it a recognizable personality.

1. Set the name and description

Open Coach Maker and enter the coach’s name and introduction. These appear in PlanCoach so you and other users can recognize it.

The demonstration uses “Lu Xun” and “the great writer Lu Xun.” Replace that character with one you would like to try.

2. Add artwork for three states

Each of the three states can use a separate image, including photographs or AI-generated artwork. Switch between them to check their positioning. Get a usable set first rather than spending all your time aligning it.

If you already removed the background manually, turn off automatic background removal.

Character image prompt

The demonstration used GPT Image 2. Adapt this prompt for your character:

Generate a set of low-poly 3D images of Lu Xun, with three states arranged horizontally.
State 1: holding a pipe, idle.
State 2: holding a pipe and reading a small note.
State 3: pipe in his mouth, smiling and clapping.
Style: slightly turned to the side, looking at the camera; low-poly 3D,
roughly 100 triangular faces, like a PS1 model. No obvious textures:
simple Lambert shading with different solid-colour materials on different objects.
Keep Lu Xun's defining features recognizable.
Use a solid green background for chroma key.

3. Write a prompt and test it immediately

The prompt controls how the coach speaks and acts. Start with a clear character and speaking style, then try several everyday tasks. Check the wording and whether the artwork changes appropriately.

If it misses the mark, clarify what it should do, how it should speak and what it should avoid, then test again.

4. Add advanced options when useful

1. Greetings appear below the coach on the home screen. Multiple greetings rotate randomly.
2. Audio can include the voice and sounds for events such as step completion.
3. Enable pixel rendering for pixel artwork to avoid blurred interpolation.
4. Use rim lighting when artwork is hard to distinguish against a dark theme.
5. Set a custom background if useful. The full-body setting may not immediately change the preview, but set it to match your intended framing.

Sanwei Study background prompt

This example generates day and night scenes together for light and dark themes:

Generate a 3D game scene of Sanwei Study, with no interface chrome:
only the game world. Use a visual style similar to The Sims 2 and an overhead view.
The output contains two images side by side, each with a 2:3 aspect ratio.
The left image shows Sanwei Study by day; the right shows it at night,
from exactly the same angle.

5. Save, import and publish

Save the coach, then import it into PlanCoach for a final test. Select it and check the description, opening message and custom background.

Publish when you are happy with the result. Publication generates a short Connection Code that other PlanCoach users can enter to install the coach.

Troubleshooting

If the same artwork looks fine in a light theme but disappears in a dark one, try rim lighting. If pixel art looks blurred, check pixel rendering. If the prompt behaves inconsistently, test different tasks and adjust the instructions rather than enabling every advanced option at once.