Hero Assets and Background Assets
Spending detail where the player looks
Also known as: Hero asset · Background asset · Hero prop · Detail budget environment · Asset priority · Focal asset
Definition
A hero asset is an object that the player sees up close or that is important to the scene, such as a key prop, a landmark or the centerpiece of a room, and it gets the highest level of detail in modeling, texturing and shading. Background assets are the filler around it, such as walls, rubble or distant props, and use lower resolution, reuse trim sheets and shared materials, and take less time. Dividing assets this way lets a small team cover a large environment within its budget.
In production
Decide which assets are heroes before production, from the camera and the gameplay, and give them unique textures and higher polycounts and texel density. Build the rest with modular pieces and tiling materials. Judge the balance in the engine at game distance: detail wasted on an asset that is never seen closely is a common mistake, while a weak hero asset hurts the entire scene.
