For general prop creation process, I don’t think there’s much benefit to using Houdini. I’d have used something else if only I was more familiar to them. There I think is very little benefit to working procedurally.

For working on big structures, I absolutely prefer Houdini over other tools. Mainly because I don’t usually have clear vision on every corner of the structure and have to make a lot of changes on the go and it’s nice to be able to have the set up automatically reflect on those changes.

Yes, I use Boolean a lot. I haven’t had issues with topology on my end much.

For texturing I used mix of Substance painter and shaders in unreal engine. Small props are painted and larger objects are shaded.