Now that we’ve looked at the layers of asset management, let’s reflect upon the key points and see how we can improve our existing engine and pipelines.

Each of these questions targets a specific part of the asset pipeline that deserve consideration. By reflecting on these points you can see ways to improve your own asset pipeline and workflow.

Runtime

Are shared assets duplicated unnecessarily?

Are instanced assets handled efficiently? With minimal overhead and waste?

Do you support generated (procedural) assets seamlessly?

Are you wasting memory on strings or filenames?

Do you avoid unnecessary loading or reloading between levels?

Processing

Are you processing data to make runtime asset management more efficient?

Do you pack referenced assets together for faster loading?

Do you optimize disc layout based on asset usage? (Duplicate data, sort of dependency graph, etc)

Content & Workflow

Is your source data versioned?

Can you re-create a previous version of your data?

Can you identify who last changed an asset? And why?

Are your tools integrated with your asset management system?

How many steps are required by a user to add a new asset? How many to update or tweak an asset?

How long does it take to view a data change in game?