Asset production is the single biggest bottleneck in game development. A typical indie game needs thousands of textures, icons, sprites, and UI elements. Traditionally, this meant hiring a team of artists or buying generic "asset flips" from the Unity Store.
Generative AI has completely broken this bottleneck. In this guide, we will cover the end-to-end workflow for generating production-ready game assets using AI tools.
Chapter 1: Seamless Textures & Materials
The foundation of any 3D game is textures. You need diffuse maps, normal maps, and roughness maps. AI can generate the base diffuse map instantly.
The "Seamless" Prompt Hack
Most AI generators create images with edges. If you tile them, you see the seam. To fix this, you must use a tool that supports "Tiling Mode" (like Percify's Texture Generator).
Prompt: "Seamless texture of mossy cobblestone, top down view, flat lighting, 8k resolution."
Generating PBR Maps
AI generates the color (diffuse) map. But for a game engine, you need the Normal and Displacement maps to make it look 3D.
Workflow:
- Generate the Diffuse map in Percify.
- Import it into a tool like Materialize (free) or Substance Sampler.
- These tools use AI to "guess" the depth and generate the Normal/Height maps automatically.
- Export to Unity/Unreal.
Chapter 2: 2D Sprites & UI Icons
For RPGs and mobile games, you need hundreds of icons (potions, swords, rings). AI is perfect for this because it's great at single objects on plain backgrounds.
The "Sprite Sheet" Workflow
Instead of generating one sword at a time, generate a sheet.
Prompt: "Sprite sheet of fantasy swords, 16 variations, white background, cel shaded style, high contrast."
Background Removal
AI images come as JPEGs/PNGs with a background. You need transparency.
- Use Percify's "Remove Background" tool (one click).
- Open in Photoshop/GIMP to verify edges.
- Save as PNG with transparency.
Chapter 3: Concept Art & World Building
Before you build a level, you need to know what it looks like. AI allows you to "mood board" an entire game in an afternoon.
Environment Design
Use wide aspect ratios (16:9 or 21:9) to generate panoramic views.
Prompt: "Cyberpunk city street, rain, neon lights, low angle, unreal engine 5 render, volumetric fog."
Give these images to your level designers. It ensures everyone is on the same page about the "vibe" of the level.
Chapter 4: Isometric Assets
Isometric games (like Hades or Diablo) require a specific camera angle. AI struggles with this unless prompted correctly.
Keywords to use: "Isometric view," "30 degree angle," "orthographic projection," "on white background," "3d render style."
Pro Tip: Use the "img2img" feature. Sketch a rough isometric cube in Paint, upload it to Percify, and prompt "isometric house." The AI will follow your perspective lines perfectly.
Chapter 5: Skyboxes
A skybox is a 360-degree texture that wraps around your world. Standard AI images are flat rectangles.
To generate a skybox, you need a tool that supports "Equirectangular Projection."
Prompt: "Equirectangular panorama of a starry galaxy, nebula, 8k, seamless."
You can then map this onto a sphere in Unity to create an infinite background.
Chapter 6: Legal & Copyright for Steam
This is the big question. Can you publish AI assets on Steam?
The Valve Policy (2025 Update): Valve NOW ALLOWS AI content, provided you disclose it. When you submit your game, there is a form asking if you used AI.
- Pre-Generated: Assets you made with AI and put in the game files. (Allowed, must not be illegal content).
- Live-Generated: AI that runs while the player is playing. (Allowed, but requires extra safety guardrails).
Ownership: Remember, you cannot copyright the raw AI output. This means if someone rips your textures, you might have a harder time suing them than if you drew them by hand. However, for most indie devs, the speed advantage outweighs this theoretical risk.
Chapter 7: The Future - 3D Generation
We are on the cusp of "Text-to-Mesh." Tools like CSM and Shap-E are already generating rough 3D models from text.
In the next 12 months, we expect to see production-ready 3D topology generated directly from Percify prompts. This will eliminate the need for manual modeling of simple props like crates, barrels, and rocks.