name

asset-quality-tiers

description

This skill should be used when the user asks about "asset quality tiers", "upgrade asset quality", "placeholder vs final", "hero quality", "quality improvement", "make assets better", "quality levels", "upgrade to final", "asset polish", or discusses improving existing procedural assets to higher quality levels. Provides the tier system (Placeholder → Temp → Final → Hero) and enhancement strategies for upgrading assets.

Asset Quality Tiers

A four-tier quality system for procedural asset generation that enables incremental quality improvement from rapid prototyping to hero-quality assets.

The Tier System

Assets progress through quality tiers, each appropriate for different development phases:

PLACEHOLDER (Tier 1) ──► TEMP (Tier 2) ──► FINAL (Tier 3) ──► HERO (Tier 4)
      │                      │                 │                  │
  Blocking              Development        Ship-ready         Showcase
  Scale testing         Testing            Production         Marketing
  Rapid iteration       Internal builds    Standard           Closeups

Tier Definitions

Tier	Name	Quality Score	Purpose	Typical Usage
1	Placeholder	30-50%	Blocking, scale testing	Level layout, gameplay testing
2	Temp	50-70%	Development testing	Internal builds, playtesting
3	Final	70-90%	Production quality	Shipping game assets
4	Hero	90-100%	Maximum quality	Marketing, cutscenes, closeups

Tier Assessment Criteria

Determine asset tier by evaluating against these criteria:

Placeholder indicators:

Basic primitives or box modeling
Solid colors or single noise layer
Missing UVs or normals
Simple shapes without detail

Temp indicators:

Basic shapes with proper UVs
1-2 noise layers on textures
Meets minimum technical requirements
Functional but lacks polish

Final indicators:

Proper topology with bevels
Multi-layer textures with detail
Full material maps (albedo, MRE)
Polished silhouettes

Hero indicators:

Maximum detail within budget
All material channels utilized
Subtle variations and imperfections
Perfect for close inspection

Enhancement Strategies

Mesh Enhancement by Tier

Upgrade	Key Techniques
Placeholder → Temp	Add proper UVs, calculate normals, triangulate
Temp → Final	Add bevels, improve silhouette, optimize topology
Final → Hero	Add secondary shapes, edge loops, micro-detail

Texture Enhancement by Tier

Upgrade	Key Techniques
Placeholder → Temp	Add noise variation, basic color palette
Temp → Final	Add contrast, detail layers, color richness
Final → Hero	Add wear maps, subtle variations, all channels

Audio Enhancement by Tier

Upgrade	Key Techniques
Placeholder → Temp	Add envelope shaping, basic layering
Temp → Final	Add multiple layers, filtering, variation
Final → Hero	Add subtle harmonics, pitch variations, spatial cues

Animation Enhancement by Tier

Upgrade	Key Techniques
Placeholder → Temp	Add proper timing, basic keyframes
Temp → Final	Add easing, secondary motion, proper arcs
Final → Hero	Add anticipation, follow-through, subtle overlap

Quality Score Calculation

Each asset type has weighted quality dimensions:

Mesh Quality Score

Score = (UV_Coverage × 0.25) + (Silhouette_Clarity × 0.20) +
        (Topology_Quality × 0.20) + (Detail_Level × 0.20) +
        (Budget_Compliance × 0.15)

Texture Quality Score

Score = (Contrast × 0.20) + (Color_Richness × 0.20) +
        (Detail_Layers × 0.25) + (Coherence × 0.20) +
        (Format_Compliance × 0.15)

Audio Quality Score

Score = (Layer_Richness × 0.25) + (Envelope_Quality × 0.20) +
        (Clarity × 0.20) + (Variation × 0.20) +
        (Format_Compliance × 0.15)

Tier Budget Guidelines

Each tier has different resource budgets:

Mesh Poly Budgets

Asset Class	Placeholder	Temp	Final	Hero
Small prop	20-50	50-150	150-300	300-500
Medium prop	50-100	100-300	300-500	500-800
Character	100-200	200-400	400-800	800-2000
Vehicle	100-300	300-600	600-1000	1000-2000
Environment	50-200	200-500	500-1500	1500-3000

Texture Resolution Guidelines

Tier	Typical Resolution	Channel Usage
Placeholder	32x32 - 64x64	Albedo only
Temp	64x64 - 128x128	Albedo + basic normal
Final	128x128 - 256x256	Albedo + MRE
Hero	256x256 - 512x512	Albedo + MRE + SSE + detail

Using Tiers in Generation

Specifying Target Tier

When generating assets, specify the target tier:

"Generate a wooden barrel at Final tier"
"Create placeholder props for layout testing"
"Upgrade these meshes to Hero quality"

Style Tier Integration

Include tier specification in style recipes:

{
    "asset": {
        "name": "barrel",
        "type": "prop",
        "tier": "final",  # placeholder | temp | final | hero
    },

    "generation": {
        "mesh": {
            "detail_level": 3,  # 1-4 matching tier
            "subdivision": 2,
            "bevels": True,
        },
        "texture": {
            "resolution": 256,
            "layers": 3,
            "detail_maps": True,
        },
    },
}

Enhancement Workflow

Identifying Upgrade Candidates

Scan project assets
Assess current tier of each
Compare to target tier
Prioritize by visibility/importance

Executing Upgrades

Read current generation code/style spec
Identify specific enhancement parameters
Apply tier-appropriate techniques
Regenerate asset
Validate quality improvement

Bulk Upgrades

When upgrading multiple assets:

Process in batches by asset type
Maintain style consistency across batch
Verify cohesion after upgrades

Additional Resources

Reference Files

For enhancement techniques, use the index files first (lean routing), then load full references as needed:

Asset Type	Index (load first)	Full Reference (load for code)
Textures	`texture-enhancement-index.md`	`texture-enhancements.md` (1290 lines)
Meshes	`mesh-enhancement-index.md`	`mesh-enhancements.md` (1142 lines)
Audio	-	`audio-enhancements.md`
Animation	-	`animation-enhancements.md`

Related Agents

quality-enhancer - Autonomous asset improvement
quality-analyzer - Quality assessment and scoring
asset-critic - style spec compliance checking

Related Commands

/improve-assets - Guided quality improvement workflow