Case study 03
Read the fleet before the plating.
Final outputCreative + technical goal
Build a fleet language around silhouette and large value groups, establish repeatable hard-surface standards, and protect fidelity while cutting geometry nearly in half.
Ships had to communicate class, scale, faction, and tactical presence from a zoomed-out strategy view where small surface details disappear. The gameplay camera became the principal approval camera.
Traditional hard-surface detail could consume geometry without improving recognition. The fleet also needed standards that artists and vendors could repeat across many assets under a strict mobile budget.
Reference + composition
The reference set focused on proportion, fleet spacing, atmospheric restraint, and recognition at distance. Capital-ship massing, formation hierarchy, cockpit-scale orientation, and quiet space fields were all evaluated against the strategy camera. Pencil silhouettes then tested length, width, directional emphasis, and engine grouping before detail entered the design.
Capital-ship language
Atmospheric restraint
Flight orientation
AI-generated · concept phaseReference → target → final
The color script protects the strategy-camera read. A quiet space field holds the background, grouped slate values define hull mass, a broad cool key reveals major planes, and warm propulsion provides the clearest directional accent.
Final asset · material responsePortfolio color-direction analysis
Key light
#6BB2D4Midtone
#667887Shadow
#0E1218Material / local
#39434CAtmosphere
#2B3C5AAccent
#F08A3EMood + visual target
AI-generated · concept phase“Explore broadly. Translate selectively. Author the final decision in engine.”
I set the faction mood, macro-form requirements, and strategy-camera read before broad exploration. Leonardo and Stable Diffusion helped compare lighting and surface-language possibilities; ChatGPT and Claude helped structure research, storyboard beats, pre-production notes, and optimization criteria. Useful ideas were translated into authored silhouette rules, proportion standards, and value groups.
Team + pipeline
I established primary, secondary, and tertiary form priorities. Artists and vendors received silhouette references, proportion guidance, value-grouping targets, and geometry expectations, so optimization became a shared visual responsibility rather than a late technical correction.
Visual targets, proportion references, review priorities, and acceptance criteria give on-site or distributed artists and external vendors a reliable path from first submission to approved asset, regardless of team size.
Performance constraints were translated into visible art rules so the art team could protect the intended read while making efficient production decisions.
Engine + performance
Final engine execution
Final assets were judged as fleets, not isolated ships. Spacing, scale hierarchy, orientation, lighting response, and faction contrast were reviewed together. Trim sheets and atlasing kept the hard-surface vocabulary consistent while geometry stayed focused on class-defining forms.
Optimization
I directed the art team to reduce ship triangle counts from 2.5K to 1.2K. Primary silhouette and faction structures were protected first; low-impact geometry was simplified and repeatable surface information moved into textures. Every reduction was judged visually at strategy-camera distance.
Fighter craft · directional read at small scale
Outcome
Triangles per ship, with the gameplay read protected
Triangle counts reduced from 2.5K to 1.2K while preserving fleet identity, silhouette, and gameplay-scale fidelity.