What techniques can you use to optimize game art for episodic and story-driven games?

1 Asset reuse

One of the simplest ways to optimize game art is to reuse assets across different scenes, episodes, and levels. This can save time, memory, and disk space, as well as maintain a coherent visual style. However, asset reuse should not compromise the artistic vision or the gameplay variety. You can use techniques such as modular design, texture atlases, and instancing to create multiple variations of the same asset, or to combine different assets into new ones.

2 Level of detail

Another technique to optimize game art is to adjust the level of detail (LOD) of the assets according to the distance from the camera, the screen size, and the platform. LOD is a method of reducing the polygon count, texture resolution, or shader complexity of an asset as it gets farther away from the viewer, to improve performance and avoid visual glitches. You can use tools such as LOD groups, mesh simplification, and mipmaps to create and manage different LOD levels for your assets.

3 Streaming and loading

A third technique to optimize game art is to stream and load assets dynamically, rather than loading them all at once. Streaming and loading are processes of transferring assets from the disk or the network to the memory or the GPU, depending on the needs of the game. By streaming and loading assets on demand, you can reduce the initial loading time, the memory usage, and the disk space of your game. You can use techniques such as scene management, asset bundles, and compression to optimize your streaming and loading workflows.

4 Lighting and shadows

A fourth technique to optimize game art is to optimize your lighting and shadows, as they can have a significant impact on the mood, the realism, and the performance of your game. Lighting and shadows can be either static or dynamic, depending on whether they are precomputed or calculated in real time. Static lighting and shadows are more efficient and consistent, but less flexible and interactive. Dynamic lighting and shadows are more realistic and responsive, but more costly and prone to errors. You can use techniques such as lightmapping, baked lighting, and shadow cascades to optimize your lighting and shadows.

5 Post-processing and effects

A fifth technique to optimize game art is to optimize your post-processing and effects, as they can enhance the aesthetics, the atmosphere, and the gameplay of your game. Post-processing and effects are additional layers of processing that are applied to the final image of the game, such as color grading, bloom, motion blur, or depth of field. Post-processing and effects can be either global or local, depending on whether they affect the whole scene or specific objects. Global post-processing and effects are more consistent and easy to implement, but less customizable and selective. Local post-processing and effects are more diverse and dynamic, but more complex and demanding. You can use techniques such as render textures, command buffers, and volume blending to optimize your post-processing and effects.

6 Testing and profiling

A sixth technique to optimize game art is to test and profile your game regularly, as they can help you identify and solve any issues or bottlenecks that may affect the quality, the performance, or the consistency of your game. Testing and profiling are methods of measuring and analyzing the behavior and the performance of your game, such as the frame rate, the memory usage, the CPU load, or the GPU load. You can use tools such as debug logs, frame debugger, or profilers to test and profile your game.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?