Re-iterating on the idea of being flexible, I highly recommend using weighted normals and tiling materials with vert blends for as much content as you can. This methodology was ingrained in my workflow while working at Ready at Dawn. They have presentations which about the work on The Order: 1886 which I recommend checking out – there, they go in-depth over their workflow. Basically, this workflow offers the highest flexibility because you can make changes on the macro or micro levels very quickly. For example, you have a furniture set that is baked high-to-low with unique texture sets. In case you have to change the length of the tables, at best, you make a change and get minor texture stretching, at worst – you’ll have to re-layout UVs and rebake, plus your texel density is probably not that great or consistent anymore. But if you use the RAD workflow, you eliminate all these problems and can iterate way faster as you can drag some verts, relax your UVs, maybe re-apply the weighted normals and you’re done. Then, to take it a step further you can make hardware fixtures such as drawer handles or hinges – those assets can be uniquely baked onto shared texture sets. Take those assets and make prefabs for your furniture sets out of them. What you end up with is a furniture set that looks highly detailed and is very flexible because if you decide to change the wood color or the style of the handles it all applies to all the furniture. Game development is a highly iterative process and the more flexible your content is the easier it will be to make those macro and micro changes.

One of the last bits of advice which can be overlooked is just how important it is to embrace blockmesh for as long as you can. The longer you can remain in the blockmesh phase the more flexible you are when complications appear or the direction is needed to change. On many occasions, I have seen requests for content that were taken to the final art stage before prototyping. This a huge mistake which can lead to wasted time and money because almost nothing works on the first go. Before taking an asset to the final stage, make sure to provide people with a blockmesh so that they can get check out the content. This way issues can be spotted or even cut entirely before any more of the time investment is made.

Game development is constantly changing and every cycle is different from the last one, which just part of the fun for me. If you have any questions left, please feel free to contact me on ArtStation – I’m happy to elaborate!

Sean Ian Runnels, a Senior Environment Artist at Sony Interactive Entertainment