When working on a remaster you try to think of what the original artist wanted to transmit, but, unfortunately, it was completely lost in the compression sometimes.

Challenges in Creating Complex Materials

The biggest challenge to me when I’m creating textures is to get the desired finish (in Bioshock’s case that mixed look of “realistic and stylized” for example), and get it fit with the rest of the environment textures look .

You have to be aware that what you will see is not an isolated texture, it’s a tile that will be part of an environment and it needs to give that feeling of continuity and consistency throughout the level. When you’re freelancing this is harder to get, because you aren’t that aware of what the rest of the team is doing, but when you are involved within the team such integration is much easier. That was my case when working on Castlevania series. Having a dedicated texture art team is a huge benefit. This allows you to work as if you are almost a single brain, if you complement that with a very clear art direction, all textures ended up looking as if they were all made by the same person. That pipeline contributes to give more credibility to the environment and much more consistency to the art.

Keep in mind that I’m talking about gloss/specular texture materials. In the case of PBR, the integration should be now easier, because if a material is following its presets (whether or not the material is reflective, which percentage of roughness, etc) and responds to the light in a “physical” manner so to speak, it should fit into any environment and behave correctly (assuming that everything is done according to the specified charts).

On another subject, in terms of material efficiency, it is important to start with the most basic shapes and end with the most complex. For example, if it’s a stone block texture, start by the blocks and finish adding moss, fungi. Always go from the general to the particular of that material. I think that advice applies regardless of the method used to develop a texture (either Photoshop, Quixel, Substance etc). Analyze first what you want to do roughly (large brick wall) and then go to the individual and specific details (worn, broken, moss, blotchy, etc.). If you also want to mix it with another texture or in the same texture with a different element (band of decorative metal as in the case of Bioshock) you have to take into account that this element is part of the wall itself, it has aged in the same way and it has undergone through the same weathering conditions: rain, humidity, dust, etc. So, in order for the texture to be natural and to have consistency you must understand that and not to think about them separately but as whole.