How to make game assets with AI: a practical guide

Start with the list, not the tool

The fastest way to waste time with AI is to open a generator and see what it makes. Start with your game instead. Write down every 3D asset a level or a vertical slice needs, then sort them:

• Hero assets: the player character, the signature weapon, the boss, the landmark. Seen up close, animated, central to the game's identity.
• Supporting assets: important props, interactive objects, enemies.
• Background assets: crates, barrels, rocks, furniture, clutter.

AI generation is strongest on the third group and useful on the second. The first group usually still deserves a modeller's full attention, or at least a long pass after generation. That split is the honest heart of the game development use case.

Choose the input for each asset

• Sketch when the silhouette is the design. A specific lever, a shrine, a vehicle. See sketch to 3D for game assets.
• Reference image when you have a photo or concept art of exactly what you want.
• Text prompt for generic props where any good version will do: "wooden crate with iron corners".

Text vs image vs sketch to 3D compares them in detail.

Lock the style before you generate

Twenty props from twenty prompts will look like twenty games. Decide on:

• Style words you'll reuse in every prompt: "hand-painted, chunky proportions, warm palette" or "realistic, worn, muted".
• A reference image or two that define the look.
• A texture approach: generated PBR textures, or a shared palette texture applied later.

Consistent art style across AI-generated assets covers the techniques.

Generate, then inspect like a technical artist

For each asset:

1. Look at the 2D stage first. In Vi3W, your sketch, photo or prompt becomes an image before it becomes a model. Reject wrong designs here, where it's cheap.
2. Generate the 3D model. Vi3W retopologises every model automatically.
3. Check the triangle count against your budget. What's a good poly count for game assets?
4. Check the wireframe where it'll be seen.
5. Check the textures for baked-in shadows or highlights.
6. Orbit to the back. It was invented.

If the shape is wrong, try a different 3D model for the same image before rewriting the prompt. Different models suit different objects.

Make it behave like a game asset

A model isn't a game asset until the engine treats it as one:

• Scale in real units (most engines use metres; Unreal uses centimetres). Fix a model that imports at the wrong size.
• Pivot where the object rotates or rests. Fix the pivot point.
• Collision shapes, simple wherever possible. Add collision.
• LODs for anything repeated or distant. See level of detail.
• Naming consistent with your project's conventions.

Export to your engine

• Unity: FBX.
• Unreal Engine 5: FBX or glTF.
• Godot 4: GLB.

The integration guides for Unity, Unreal Engine and Godot have the settings.

Test in context

Put every asset into a test scene with your real lighting, post-processing and camera before it goes into a level. Generated textures that look great in a neutral viewer can look flat or noisy under game lighting. That's the moment to tweak materials, not after the level is dressed.

Keep records

Some storefronts ask about AI use. Steam's content survey asks developers to describe AI-generated content that ships in the game. Keep a simple sheet: asset name, how it was made, which tool, and date. Steam AI disclosure for 3D assets explains what's asked.

What AI won't do for you

It won't rig or animate characters, build whole levels from one prompt, or make your art direction decisions. It's also not an excuse to skip checks: are AI 3D models game-ready? is the honest list of what to inspect.

Ready to fill a prop list? Make your next game-ready prop in Vi3W, then drop it into your engine.