Game-Ready Trash Assets

The goal for this project was to create a small, compact environment focused on high-quality props, reusable trim sheets, and modular pieces. I originally planned this scene to measure and reflect my growth and evolution as a 3D artist over time. Visually, I wanted to capture a grounded, highly urban aesthetic with a subtle cyberpunk vibe—building a small environment that allowed me to bring several specific asset ideas to life. Working on this has been an incredibly rewarding journey.

As I progress toward my goal of becoming a Senior Environment Artist, I am heavily focused on pushing the quality bar as high as possible with everything I create. I am still learning every day, so constructive feedback is always welcome—please feel free to share your thoughts, as it's the best way for me to keep refining my craft!

Breakdown & Workflow

Modular Urban Brick Wall: I planned a straightforward and functional trim sheet for the walls, focusing on a tileable urban brick pattern that could be easily repeated and seamlessly scaled across the environment whenever needed.

Modular Sidewalks: The sidewalks were designed to be fully modular and reusable, featuring custom corner pieces. To achieve a realistic look, I sculpted subtle concrete details and surface wear in ZBrush, then baked that high-poly information down onto the final low-poly mesh.

Garbage Dumpster (Hero Prop): As a complementary asset, a dumpster is a staple of urban collection areas—something we see every day yet often overlook. A dumpster often reflects our society and consumer habits, so I leaned heavily into environmental storytelling. Tackling its topology was a great modeling challenge. The asset is split into 4 UV sets to maintain a high texel density and ensure crisp, high-quality textures. The texturing setup is simple yet effective: a clean base color, a roughness map featuring dried liquid residue from the garbage, and a detailed normal map to ground the surface wear.

Fire Hydrant: A fire hydrant is a fantastic hard-surface prop, and modeling this piece—with its complex shapes and welds—was a very rewarding challenge. For the texturing, I aimed for heavy corrosion caused by time and exposure. I specifically focused on the severe degradation around the base, realistically reflecting long-term urban wear and tear, including corrosion from dogs.

Air Conditioning Unit: In dense urban areas, air conditioning units are everywhere. It's one of those everyday things we tend to overlook, yet they actually tell a lot about an environment at first glance, adding an essential layer of realism and storytelling to the streetscape.