Building a Version Control System for Game Art Assets

We often see: when three artists simultaneously edit one FBX file of a character, and the version control system is a folder named assets_FINAL_v2_NEW_fixed, the problem is not team discipline. The problem is a lack of infrastructure. Binary files — meshes, textures, audio — are not code: they cannot be merged via diff, and plain Git without extensions handles them poorly.

Why standard Git is unsuitable for graphic assets

Git stores every version of a file entirely. A 4K texture in PSD format weighs 80–120 MB. After 50 iterations, one file takes up 4–6 GB in the repository history. Cloning the project after a year takes an hour. git checkout to an artist's branch takes 20 minutes.

Git LFS (Large File Storage) solves the storage problem: binaries are sent to a separate server, only pointers remain in the repository. But Git LFS does not solve the locking problem: if artist A and artist B simultaneously open one FBX, one of them loses changes when attempting commit. Git LFS File Locking adds exclusive locking, but it is not integrated into DCC tools (Maya, Blender, Substance Painter). The artist must remember to lock via CLI — in practice this does not work.

How Git LFS handles locking

In fact, Git LFS does not provide automatic locking. The git lfs lock command requires the artist to manually invoke it before editing. If forgotten, a conflict is inevitable. Adding external solutions like Anchorpoint partially solves the problem, but without DCC integration it is a temporary crutch. As a result, when working in parallel on one asset, conflicts occur in 30–40% of cases.

Perforce Helix Core for graphics

Perforce is the de facto standard in AAA development. Its preemptive locking (checkout before edit) is ideal for binaries. An artist checks out a file for editing, the system locks it for others. This does not hinder the workflow — on the contrary, everyone knows who is editing what right now.

Integration with DCC: Perforce plugins for Maya, Houdini, and Substance Painter. For Unity — built-in Version Control in recent versions. For teams of 3–15 artists, Perforce Helix Core can be deployed independently on a Linux server (free license up to 5 users and 20 workspaces) or use Helix TeamHub.

Drawback: Perforce is not Git. Developers accustomed to git workflow take about a week to adapt. But losing an artist's work due to a merge conflict costs more.

Why Perforce is better than Git for assets

Comparison on key parameters:

Perforce is 3 times more efficient than Git LFS in locking time and completely eliminates conflicts during parallel work on the same file.

Git LFS + DVC for mixed teams

If the team is not ready for Perforce, a working alternative is Git LFS for assets + DVC (Data Version Control) for large datasets. DVC stores assets in S3/GCS/Azure Blob/local NAS, and only .dvc pointer files in Git. dvc pull downloads the needed versions. This allows working with assets like code (branches, tags, history) without bloating the repository.

System structure for a game project

Typical architecture for a Unity/Unreal project with a team of 5–20 people:

• Source repository (code): Git + GitHub/GitLab. Everything except binaries. .gitignore aggressively excludes PSDs, FBXs, WAVs, PNGs above 1 MB.
• Asset repository: Perforce or Git LFS + DVC. Structure: assets/characters/, assets/environments/, assets/audio/, assets/vfx/. Both source files (PSD, FBX, MA) and final exports (PNG, glTF, OGG) are versioned.
• Asset pipeline: scripts for automatic conversion and optimization on commit. Maya → FBX export via Mayapy (converts 100+ assets per hour), PSD → compressed PNG via ImageMagick (up to 80% lossless compression), audio → platform-specific formats. Triggered by CI hook.
• Naming convention: strict, documented. CH_Goblin_Body_Diffuse_D.png (CH=character, Body=mesh part, Diffuse=map type, D=diffuse). Without this, after six months no one knows what texture_v3_USE_THIS_ONE.png means.

On one of our projects, transitioning from a network drive folder to Perforce took two weeks (installation, converting history from NAS to Perforce depot, team training). After two months — 'why didn't we do this earlier' — the authorship problem disappeared and a full change history of every asset emerged. Time savings for artists reached 30%.

How to implement the system: step-by-step plan

1. Audit current infrastructure. Assess asset volume (50 GB to 2 TB), team size, tools used.
2. Choose a solution. Git LFS for small projects (up to 5 artists), Perforce for medium and large.
3. Set up server. Install and configure storage, users (1–2 days).
4. Integrate with DCC. Plugins for Maya, Blender, Substance Painter (2–4 days).
5. Configure pipeline. Auto-conversion scripts and CI hooks (3–5 days).
6. Train the team. Conduct training sessions, write documentation (1–2 days).
7. Launch and support. First days — monitoring, rule adjustments (2 days).

Get an engineer consultation and a precise implementation plan in one day. Contact us to request it.

What is included in the work

Our team provides:

• Audit of current infrastructure and recommendations.
• Deployment of Perforce server or setup of Git LFS + DVC.
• Integration with DCC tools (Maya, Blender, Houdini, Substance Painter).
• Development of asset pipeline with auto-conversion.
• Documentation on naming and workflow.
• Team training and support for two weeks.

Implementation timelines

Our track record

Our experience: 6 years in game dev, over 20 version control system implementations for assets. We are certified Perforce partners. Average artist time savings after implementation: 30%, complete elimination of conflicts during parallel work. We guarantee quality at every stage.

You can implement a version control system for your assets. We'll assess your project in one day. Contact us for a consultation.

Order a project assessment — get a detailed implementation plan.

VR and AR Development

When we first launch a project in a VR headset, most teams face the same thing: technically everything works, but in the headset either motion sickness occurs, or hands 'float' with a delay, or the scene looks jerky at the periphery. These are not bugs in the usual sense — they are a consequence of the fact that VR/AR development requires a different approach to render architecture, interaction, and UX from the very beginning of the project. Our experience: over 7 years in game dev, 15+ completed VR/AR projects for Meta Quest, SteamVR, PSVR2, HoloLens. We work with teams that need not just a prototype but a production‑ready application with a stable frame rate.

Platforms and SDKs

We work with all relevant stacks. We use OpenXR as the base layer wherever possible — it provides cross‑platform compatibility between Meta, Valve Index, HP Reverb and other PC VR devices. On top of OpenXR, we build on the XR Interaction Toolkit (Unity) or VR Expansion Plugin (Unreal). Contact us for a stack assessment tailored to your project.

How to minimize motion sickness in VR locomotion?

Locomotion — the main source of motion sickness for inexperienced VR users. According to research, about 70% of users experience discomfort with improper movement settings Oculus Developer Guidelines. Teleportation — standard navigation method when smooth movement is undesirable.

Components from XR Interaction Toolkit: TeleportationArea, TeleportationAnchor, TeleportationProvider. Basic implementation works out of the box, but for production we refine it in four steps:

1. Setting up XRRayInteractor with a curved ray (Bend Ray) — the teleportation arc looks more natural than a straight ray and is perceived better by users.
2. Adding a valid landing zone — a visual indicator changes color when hovering over an obstacle (red/green).
3. Implementing fade transition — smooth screen fade (black fade) before teleportation reduces disorientation.
4. Rotation snapping — after teleportation we offer snap rotation by 45° or 90° instead of smooth, reducing motion sickness risk.

For projects requiring smooth locomotion (action games, simulators), we use comfort settings: vignetting during movement, reducing FOV during acceleration. Settings are available to the user in the menu — different people have different sensitivity thresholds. The difference between kinematic and physics‑based movement: kinematic gives instant hand following but lets objects pass through walls; physics‑based via Joint provides realistic collisions but requires velocity damping and max joint force tuning. We choose based on the type of interaction.

How to make object grabbing in VR physically realistic?

This is the most underestimated part of VR development. Clients often perceive it as 'just hand animation', but in practice it is a complex system where physical correctness, responsiveness, and comfort conflict.

Grab (grabbing)

XR Interaction Toolkit provides three types of Interactable for grabbing:

• XRGrabInteractable — standard grab, object follows controller via physics joint or direct position/rotation
• XRSimpleInteractable — for objects without physical movement (buttons, levers)
• Custom Interactable by inheriting from XRBaseInteractable

Attach Transform — a frequently ignored detail. Each Interactable must have a properly configured Attach Transform (the point where the hand 'attaches'). Without it, the pistol grip will be at the center of the mesh, not where it is held.

For weapons and tools with two‑handed grab — a separate TwoHandGrab system: leading hand determines position, the second — orientation. XR Interaction Toolkit supports this via XRTwoHandGrabInteractable or custom logic with two Attach Points.

Throw (throwing)

Velocity smoothing is critical for realistic throwing because the Rigidbody.velocity at the moment of controller release reflects instantaneous speed, often incorrect due to tracking discretization. The user makes a quick wrist movement — but the object flies half as fast.

Solution: velocity smoothing over the last N frames (typically 5–10 frames, ~80–160 ms at 60 Hz) before release. XR Interaction Toolkit does this via VelocityEstimator. Additionally, we apply a velocity scaling multiplier — a small speed increase (1.2–1.5×) makes throws subjectively more satisfying. Angular velocity (for objects that should spin in flight) is also averaged similarly.

AR: Plane Tracking and Environment Interaction

AR adds a different class of problems — working with real, unpredictable environment. AR Foundation — a cross‑platform layer on top of ARKit and ARCore. Most basic features (plane detection, raycasting, image tracking, face tracking) are available through a unified API.

Plane Detection

ARPlaneManager detects horizontal and vertical planes. Practical nuances:

• Initialization takes time — the user must look around the room while the system builds a map. An explicit onboarding with instruction 'slowly move the camera across surfaces' is needed.
• Planes are unstable — their boundaries and position are updated as data accumulates. Objects placed on a plane need to be attached via parent to ARPlane, not to world coordinates.
• Plane merging — two detected floor segments may merge into one, moving the anchor. For critical anchors, use ARAnchor instead of direct attachment to the plane.

Image tracking (via ARTrackedImageManager) quality directly depends on the quality of reference images. Images with high detail frequency and contrasting edges (like a QR code but stylish) track more reliably than smooth logos. ARCore Geospatial API — for outdoor AR with real‑world coordinate binding (accuracy up to 10 cm in well‑mapped areas).

Optimization for VR: Frame Rate and Comfort

VR requires stable high frame rate. About 60% of development time in mobile VR goes to optimization, not functionality — retrofit costs twice as much as proper architecture from the first sprint.

Single Pass Instanced Rendering

The main render optimization in VR. Without it, the scene is rendered twice (once per eye), doubling draw calls. Single Pass Instanced renders both eyes in one pass via instancing: geometry is processed once, the shader gets two view/projection matrices through GPU instancing. Enabled in Unity via XR Plug-in Management > Rendering Mode: Single Pass Instanced. Important: custom shaders must support SPI — standard URP/HDRP shaders support it, custom HLSL requires modifications (UNITY_SETUP_STEREO_EYE_INDEX_POST_VERTEX and related macros). Applying this technique reduces draw calls by 40–50%, making it twice as efficient as naive double rendering.

Foveated Rendering

On Meta Quest, Fixed Foveated Rendering (FFR) is available — reducing resolution at the periphery where visual acuity is lower. Configured via OVRManager or Meta XR SDK:

OVRManager.fixedFoveatedRenderingLevel = OVRManager.FixedFoveatedRenderingLevel.High;
OVRManager.useDynamicFixedFoveatedRendering = true;

Dynamic FFR automatically increases the level when frame rate drops — more convenient than fixed in scenes with variable load.

IPD and Comfort Settings

IPD (Inter‑Pupillary Distance) — affects depth perception. At the programmable level on most devices, only reading IPD is available (OVRPlugin.GetSystemDisplayFrequency), physical adjustment is on the headset. For applications requiring precise positioning (medical simulators, training), we account for IPD in scene scale calculations.

Haptics

Haptic feedback — an underestimated tool. Even a simple vibration response when grabbing an object or hitting significantly increases the sense of presence. On average, integrating haptic patterns takes 30–80 hours per project.

XR Haptics via OpenXR:

var hapticImpulse = new UnityEngine.XR.HapticCapabilities();
InputDevice device = InputDevices.GetDeviceAtXRNode(XRNode.RightHand);
device.SendHapticImpulse(0, amplitude: 0.5f, duration: 0.1f);

For complex patterns (tactile 'texture' of a surface when touched, increasing vibration when drawing a bowstring) we use Meta Haptics Studio — allows designing haptic clips visually. This can reduce time spent on manual haptic tuning by about 30%.

What does VR/AR application development include?

When ordering a turnkey project, we provide the following deliverables:

• Architectural document with stack description, render logic, and interaction system
• Working prototype (MVP) for testing on target device
• Integration of necessary SDKs (Meta XR, OpenXR, AR Foundation, etc.)
• Optimization for target frequencies 72/90/120 Hz with draw call and FPS profiling
• Testing on physical hardware (Quest, SteamVR, HoloLens) with user involvement
• Full documentation for build, deployment, and support
• Training for the client's team (workshop on XR Toolkit)
• Warranty support for 1 month after delivery

What affects cost and timeline?

VR/AR projects are more expensive than regular games of similar scope. Iterations are slower — each fix must be tested in the headset, an emulator does not convey the real experience. Motion sickness forces reworking some conceptual decisions after the first playtest. Optimization takes a significant portion of time — for mobile VR (Quest) up to 60–70% of the cycle. For Quest projects, we start optimization from the first sprint. The cost of basic SDK integration (XR Interaction Toolkit) varies depending on the scope of custom Interactable. Typical budgets for a full Quest project range from $25,000 to $80,000 depending on complexity, number of custom interactions, and depth of optimization. Proper architectural planning from sprint one typically saves 40% on later rework compared to fixing performance bottlenecks retroactively.

Get a consultation on your project — we will assess the task, stack, and timelines. Order turnkey VR/AR application development with a guaranteed stable frame rate.