Asset Planning Production Spec Guide

Role taxonomy before modeling

Do not open the DCC file until the role is named. A Hero Asset needs close-camera topology, authored texel density, collision review, and screenshot evidence. A Background Asset accepts merged materials, lower silhouette cost, and broader LOD bands. A Placeholder Model is only a scheduling object; it must still carry origin, bounding box, naming prefix, and the intended replacement owner so layout files do not become permanent junk.

Master-derived ownership

Pick one Master Asset and make every Derived Asset declare what it inherits: pivot, scale, material slots, collision family, and export folder. Derived files may change silhouette, damage state, or trim variation, but they should not invent new socket names or shader channels without a spec revision.

If related crates import with different origins, lightmap density, or material slot order, restore the master invariants and re-export every derivative against one manifest.

Modular kit contracts

For a Modular Kit, the spec must include grid unit, snap axis, allowed overhang, seam hiding method, and forbidden rotations. A wall kit with 2 m grid pieces cannot quietly include a 1.97 m corner because the error compounds across a room. Write whether sockets are centerline, face-aligned, or pivot-aligned, then include a one-room assembly screenshot as evidence.

Destructible state planning

A Destructible Asset needs state names before fracture work starts: intact, damaged, broken, debris, and disabled collision are common states. Define which state owns collision, which owns VFX anchors, and whether damage swaps are mesh replacements or material toggles. Put shard count, minimum piece size, and gameplay blocker rules in the spec.

Do not let a visual fracture tool decide production behavior. If broken pieces can trap a player, the spec needs collision simplification and navmesh evidence, not prettier cracks.

Blockout acceptance gate

Blockout review should answer scale, silhouette, traversal, camera readability, and package scope. It should not argue bevel quality. Capture the asset next to the Scale Reference, test the expected camera distance, and write which role fields are already locked.

A Blockout can pass with gray material, but it fails if pivot, footprint, or interaction clearance is unknown. Those values are expensive to repair after downstream placement begins.

Delivery package manifest

The Delivery Package should list source file, exported meshes, texture folders, collision files, preview images, validation report, and unresolved dependencies. Include version, unit scale, forward/up axis, material slot order, and the reviewer who accepted it. For large families, add a manifest row per Derived Asset so missing variants are visible before engine import.

Breakable door planning

Example: make a breakable sci-fi door panel the Master Asset. Classify the trailer version as Hero Asset and corridor repeats as Background Asset derivatives, while preserving hinge, pivot, sockets, scale, and material slots in the Delivery Package.

Asset family drift and proof

Symptoms include reimport offsets, duplicate materials, variants that no longer snap, render collision on broken pieces, or missing source files. Restore master invariants, regenerate derivatives, reassemble the modular test, and attach before-after engine screenshots.

Evidence: manifest diff, Scale Reference viewport, engine screenshot, validator output, and accepted role note.

Asset planning terminology