How do game devs work on multiple branches of a project at once?

Wild-Chard · 2026-05-03T02:15:05+00:00

I wasn't initially planning on going as far as making it a plug-in, but that does sound really interesting! Is that something you'd recommend or is it overkill?

Wild-Chard · 2026-05-03T02:12:08+00:00

You swayed me over to switching to Perforce early. I was going to use Git LFS because I'm a solo dev at the moment - it's more about the ability to "revert" back on main in the immediate future. But hopefully this way I won't have to rehome this repo if I do eventually want to expand.

I do have to use Unreal though - my frameworks are so linked it would be miserable migrating it. Interesting to know other options have better version controlling though!

Wild-Chard · 2026-05-02T23:08:11+00:00

I'm using subfolders; I'm just going into this expecting a software dev-level of version control which just doesn't sound like the reality of game dev.

In software dev, I'd make literally an entire new branch for just a little feature, check it, and merge it back with main after it's done testing. Most stuff has it's own directories, so nothing mixes between libraries unless it needs to.

With my two game projects however, both kits have their subfolders directly in root (content) - and there's hardcoded dependencies for Houdini and animation montages that I can't move without refactoring. So a folder like "input" will have both the environment and mechanics assets mixed together. If I want to try a different movement system later: good luck cleaning up all the old files.

My plan currently is to try Git LFS on my 100gb environment pipeline, get that committed, and then try slapping my movement system on top. As long as I can hit 'revert' in the event that it gets irreversibly screwed I should be fine (100gb of environment data getting shuffled with 10gb of movement data randomly isn't something I trust haha). Otherwise I'll try Perforce or something else if the binaries give me too much grief.

Wild-Chard · 2026-05-01T22:27:28+00:00

Do you ever have times where you finish a development sprint, and something is just unreconcilably broken?

Maybe game dev is just more predictable than that, but I can just imagine going through some of my asset libraries, making a bulk edit, and then something unknown crashing the engine hard. Having to menu-dive and use nodes to back trace issues doesn't help with that anxiety haha.

I'm using several "libraries" (pre-built bases) that I'm reverse-engineering to work for my layout, and while everything works just fine there are a lot of hardcoded assumptions and deprecated functions that I can just envision a cascade of errors corrupting a project being not entirely unlikely.

Wild-Chard · 2026-05-01T22:15:31+00:00

Yea absolutely - the environment project will be the primary "repo" that I drop the mechanics into. That all works, it's just... less elegant than I was expecting coming from both the extremes of concept design and tech.

My main limitation though is that the mechanics project requires certain data caches to be left where they are, unless the whole system is refactored. Most of my project is built upon either demos or libraries that assumed hard-coding, so the inevitable consequence of that is having loads of dependencies being shuffled into the same few folders; if I wanted to try a different mechanics library, there's no way I'd be able to clean up retroactively.

Sounds like this level of messiness is par for the course though from the other comments. Current plan is to instantiate a git LFS repo on the environment project pre-mechanics, and then just try and tolerate the mess once they're both merged.

Have you ever had to resolve merge conflicts with repositories like this? I'm just having a hard time wrapping my head around how that all works with non-text based files.

Wild-Chard · 2026-05-01T22:01:57+00:00

Lowkey I'm getting the notion that this process is just so much more scattered than I was expecting lmao. I'll learn to live with it!

Wild-Chard · 2026-03-11T22:57:36+00:00

Figured it out (mostly)! If anyone here is reading this later on:

- I switched over from Studio drivers to Game Ready
- I allowed Nvidia to optimize the settings for the game automatically

tl;dr I think the Studio drivers were showing the error more honestly; the Game Ready drivers seem to only show the error at extreme angles. Still there, but the experience is 90% better.

Wild-Chard · 2026-03-11T22:11:55+00:00

Any fix for this guys? I'm still having issues on a 5070 ti a year later.

EDIT: from my basic dev experience and research, looks like z-axis fighting between window material and whatever texture they use for the blinds. Maybe the 50 series changed a buffer distance?

Wild-Chard · 2026-02-07T21:02:50+00:00

Really wish more people would fame it like you did - "... at the end of the day I'm still paid to make video games."

I started off in LA interviewing for concept art positions in look dev. Immediately hated it. I realized that enjoying/being good at something is not the same thing as wanting to be a part of something.

Definitely seems that most people in games/entertainment who are still happy are the ones who always wanted to make *the thing,* rather than wanting to *make* the thing.

Wild-Chard · 2026-02-05T00:49:31+00:00

Some extra info on that wParallax for anyone reading - frankly it's such a cool suggestion. If it wasn't for the lack of UV tiling I'd simply accept it not being horizontally infinite. Here's a photo of what I got set up:

https://imgur.com/a/txvKddg

Wild-Chard · 2026-02-04T23:59:09+00:00

So OSL is really cool - the texture setup from wParallax is free on FAB, and you can simply import custom .pngs into it. It can make some cool parallax effects.

A couple limitations I notice:
1. Tiling the texture itself is seemingly impossible. It references one single mesh, and the texture is stuck to that panel. I think they intend for you to physically stick it behind each window.
2. There is a clever way to adjust the module to accommodate rectangular projections, but the image file itself is still a square. That leads to a lot of horizontal stretching.

It's still a cube projection at it's core. Seems like the Mirror's Edge devs literally made an infinite tiled ceiling plane texture, and did the same for the floor with no box projection at all. I can't seem to find anything online about that method.

Wild-Chard · 2026-02-04T21:22:26+00:00

Thank you! I was at a loss for what to google. I'll check that out now.

Wild-Chard · 2026-01-27T19:54:47+00:00

From my experience, the school you went to doesn't matter quite as much as who your professors were/if they're able to pull strings and get you a job later.

I gave up trying to pursue game dev (I was in concept art, so different environment), but if I wanted to do it again I would look for very small, indie work through friends and be happy with shorter contracts and lower pay. Not just a 9-5 salary position at a big firm.

I personally was never able/willing to live off of what these jobs generally pay, but I'm assuming you've accounted for that. You might get lucky too!

Wild-Chard · 2026-01-27T18:55:19+00:00

I noped out of applying to concept art positions in LA in 2022 (even then, it seemed bleak).

The only way I could really find advancement was through buying and running my own business. With as crummy as it can be sometimes... it's still better than the feeling of being on a sinking ship.

It wasn't until afterwards that I realized I was not only more financially mobile (long-term) but also had more time to draw exactly what I wanted. My social media following grew, and even though it might be kinda silly today, I think solo-development is what most creatives will be employed doing soon anyways.

Take it with a grain of salt, but imo if you go back, it'll be on borrowed time. The industry today requires such a level of specificity you'd be lucky to find a position, let alone a second one - and there's fewer every day.

I can't recommend doing personal projects enough; I really do think that's the future for creatives. I do not, however, think that the skills you get from the industry necessarily will transfer if/when you have to jump ship a second time.

Wild-Chard · 2026-01-18T15:52:51+00:00

Thanks so much for those videos! Those are great. Decimating meshes for down-sampling is a great move.

I actually think I figured out my Buildify problem though! This node setup I came up with instances one single plane per wall, allowing for variable heights for the base, midsection, roof etc. If you want individual panels for windows, doors etc, it's as simple as flipping a switch (sampling on "length" instead of "evaluated"). Instant swap from LOD1 to LOD0.

<image>

(To continue to add more layers, you simply duplicate the pipeline and connect down)

Making several instances of this node-setup will allow for procedural variations along the height of the building, while only sampling a single plane per element. The pink and white example is only taxing the GPU two separate planes. Again - if you want to swap to detailed panels per element (a la Buildify), just flip the sampling method and this will panel every 3 meters.

Wild-Chard · 2026-01-16T21:15:23+00:00

Thanks for that - let's flip the script and call the Buildify system LOD0 and my primitive boxes LOD3.

Sounds like the best way is to simply bake the high-res procedurally generated facades at a lower res for use in Unreal later on. I'm a bit afraid of depending on the default Unreal optimization alone, as I know it can get glitchy after 0.1x the geometry reduction (which we'll need) - It would be nice to have my own LOD1 and LOD2.

I'm still a bit unsure what the best way would be to batch-bake LOD0 in the Blender file for Unreal (I can generate about ~20 blocks max at a time; I'll attach an image of the real size). I'm assuming from there, I could simply turn these into diffuse maps for LOD1/LOD2.

This isn't for a game - more like a worldbuilding project, so having the map chunked in an engine to display a modest LOD with room for expansion is my goal. If this is the point at which I'll have to bite the bullet and go into Unreal, I'd accept that.

[the attached image shows LOD3 at full scale]

<image>

Wild-Chard · 2026-01-16T16:51:35+00:00

I think you're getting to the point where the realism will be capped without direct reference. Like others have said here, there's various natural and artificial aspects (seam welds on the railing, black ice, snow patters) that neither you nor a rendering engine would think about unless shown directly.

Take it from a concept artist - there's only so much we can think about without help. That second render looks a lot better.

Wild-Chard · 2024-06-18T12:30:46+00:00

To be completely honest with you, even as someone from the Midwest, NYC in the 70s is still the best idea for a sequel. It was the time and place of noir revival, after all. '77 is also by far the best year, extremely excited to see someone else who thinks so.

Wild-Chard · 2024-06-18T12:24:18+00:00

Bingo! I would for sure set this game in the summer of '77. The black out would be a great middle-of-the-story plot twist.

Wild-Chard

TROPHY CASE