diff --git a/packages/core/src/Asset.ts b/packages/core/src/Asset.ts
index fd918e3..a6aff66 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/Asset.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/Asset.ts
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@ export class Asset
     // file based..
     parent: Asset | null = null;
     children: Asset[] = [];
-    ignoreChildren = false;
 
     // transform based..
     transformParent: Asset | null = null;
@@ -37,6 +36,7 @@ export class Asset
 
     isFolder: boolean;
     path = '';
+    skip = false;
 
     private _state: 'deleted' | 'added' | 'modified' | 'normal' = 'added';
     private _buffer?: Buffer | null = null;
@@ -178,6 +178,17 @@ export class Asset
         return asset;
     }
 
+    skipChildren()
+    {
+        for (let i = 0; i < this.children.length; i++)
+        {
+            const child = this.children[i];
+
+            child.skip = true;
+            child.skipChildren();
+        }
+    }
+
     getFinalTransformedChildren(asset: Asset = this, finalChildren: Asset[] = []): Asset[]
     {
         if (asset.transformChildren.length > 0)
diff --git a/packages/core/src/AssetPack.ts b/packages/core/src/AssetPack.ts
index 9cc5a90..546b8c0 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/AssetPack.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/AssetPack.ts
@@ -73,6 +73,13 @@ export class AssetPack
             {
                 Logger.info('cache found.');
             }
+            else
+            {
+                Logger.warn('cache not found, clearing output folder');
+
+                // to be safe - lets nuke the folder as the cache is empty
+                fs.removeSync(this._outputPath);
+            }
         }
 
         // make sure the output folders exists
@@ -170,6 +177,8 @@ export class AssetPack
         const all = assetsToTransform.map((asset) =>
             (async () =>
             {
+                if (asset.skip) return;
+
                 await this._pipeSystem.transform(asset);
                 index++;
 
@@ -200,12 +209,9 @@ export class AssetPack
                 output.push(asset);
             }
 
-            if (!asset.ignoreChildren)
+            for (let i = 0; i < asset.children.length; i++)
             {
-                for (let i = 0; i < asset.children.length; i++)
-                {
-                    this.deleteAndCollectAssetsToTransform(asset.children[i], output);
-                }
+                this.deleteAndCollectAssetsToTransform(asset.children[i], output);
             }
         }
     }
diff --git a/packages/json/src/index.ts b/packages/json/src/index.ts
index 50ea00e..79e30c5 100644
--- a/packages/json/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/json/src/index.ts
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ export function json(_options: JsonOptions = {}): AssetPipe
                 const json = JSON.parse(asset.buffer.toString());
                 const compressedJsonAsset = createNewAssetAt(asset, asset.filename);
 
-                compressedJsonAsset.buffer = Buffer.from(JSON.stringify(json, null, 2));
+                compressedJsonAsset.buffer = Buffer.from(JSON.stringify(json));
 
                 return [compressedJsonAsset];
             }
diff --git a/packages/json/test/Json.test.ts b/packages/json/test/Json.test.ts
index f32a541..085f136 100644
--- a/packages/json/test/Json.test.ts
+++ b/packages/json/test/Json.test.ts
@@ -121,6 +121,6 @@ describe('Json', () =>
 
         const data = readFileSync(`${outputDir}/json/json.json`, 'utf8');
 
-        expect(data.replace(/\\/g, '').trim()).toEqual(`"{"hello":"world","Im":"not broken"}"`);
+        expect(data.replace(/\\/g, '').trim()).toEqual(`{"hello":"world","Im":"not broken"}`);
     });
 });
diff --git a/packages/manifest/src/pixiManifest.ts b/packages/manifest/src/pixiManifest.ts
index 30e8000..042cfc9 100644
--- a/packages/manifest/src/pixiManifest.ts
+++ b/packages/manifest/src/pixiManifest.ts
@@ -73,6 +73,8 @@ function collectAssets(
     bundle: PixiManifest,
 )
 {
+    if (asset.skip) return;
+
     let localBundle = bundle;
 
     if (asset.metaData.m || asset.metaData.manifest)
@@ -111,13 +113,10 @@ function collectAssets(
         }
     }
 
-    if (!asset.ignoreChildren)
+    asset.children.forEach((child) =>
     {
-        asset.children.forEach((child) =>
-        {
-            collectAssets(child, options, outputPath, entryPath, bundles, localBundle);
-        });
-    }
+        collectAssets(child, options, outputPath, entryPath, bundles, localBundle);
+    });
 }
 
 function getTexturePackedAssets(assets: Asset[])
diff --git a/packages/mipmap-compress/src/utils/compressSharp.ts b/packages/mipmap-compress/src/utils/compressSharp.ts
index 96698c6..25521ab 100644
--- a/packages/mipmap-compress/src/utils/compressSharp.ts
+++ b/packages/mipmap-compress/src/utils/compressSharp.ts
@@ -15,12 +15,12 @@ export async function compressSharp(
     {
         // optimising the PNG image and using that as the source of the WebP and AVIF images
         // will result in a smaller file size and increase the speed of the compression.
-        sharpImage = sharp(await image.sharpImage.png(options.png as PngOptions).toBuffer());
+        sharpImage = sharp(await image.sharpImage.png({ ...options.png as PngOptions, force: true }).toBuffer());
 
         compressed.push({
             format: '.png',
             resolution: image.resolution,
-            sharpImage
+            sharpImage: sharpImage.clone(),
         });
     }
 
diff --git a/packages/texture-packer/src/packer/createJsons.ts b/packages/texture-packer/src/packer/createJsons.ts
index 873401f..058a9e1 100644
--- a/packages/texture-packer/src/packer/createJsons.ts
+++ b/packages/texture-packer/src/packer/createJsons.ts
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ export function createJsons(
                     w: rect.width,
                     h: rect.height
                 },
-                rotated: false,
+                rotated: rect.rot,
                 trimmed: rect.textureData.trimmed,
                 spriteSourceSize: {
                     x: rect.textureData.trimOffsetLeft,
diff --git a/packages/texture-packer/src/texturePacker.ts b/packages/texture-packer/src/texturePacker.ts
index 1d1df42..1d49b26 100644
--- a/packages/texture-packer/src/texturePacker.ts
+++ b/packages/texture-packer/src/texturePacker.ts
@@ -96,7 +96,8 @@ export function texturePacker(_options: TexturePackerOptions = {}): AssetPipe<Te
             // eslint-disable-next-line max-len
             fixedResolutions[resolutionOptions.fixedResolution as any] = resolutionOptions.resolutions[resolutionOptions.fixedResolution];
 
-            asset.ignoreChildren = true;
+            // skip the children so that they do not get processed!
+            asset.skipChildren();
 
             const largestResolution = Math.max(...Object.values(resolutionOptions.resolutions));
             const resolutionHash = asset.allMetaData[tags.fix as any] ? fixedResolutions : resolutionOptions.resolutions;
diff --git a/packages/texture-packer/test/texturePacker.test.ts b/packages/texture-packer/test/texturePacker.test.ts
index 4f3789f..a8b14fc 100644
--- a/packages/texture-packer/test/texturePacker.test.ts
+++ b/packages/texture-packer/test/texturePacker.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { AssetPack } from '@play-co/assetpack-core';
+import { AssetPack, Logger } from '@play-co/assetpack-core';
 import { existsSync, readJSONSync } from 'fs-extra';
 import sharp from 'sharp';
 import type { File } from '../../../shared/test/index';
@@ -70,6 +70,8 @@ describe('Texture Packer', () =>
         const sheet2Exists = existsSync(`${outputDir}/sprites-1.json`);
 
         expect(sheet2Exists).toBe(false);
+
+        expect(existsSync(`${outputDir}/sprites`)).toBe(false);
     });
 
     it('should adjust the size of the textures outputted based on maximumTextureSize', async () =>
@@ -567,7 +569,7 @@ describe('Texture Packer', () =>
         });
 
         // Mock console.warn
-        const mockWarn = jest.spyOn(console, 'warn').mockImplementation();
+        const mockWarn = jest.spyOn(Logger, 'warn').mockImplementation();
 
         await assetpack.run();