Case study

Skein Arcane

A first-person workshop management project built around modular weapon crafting, expeditions, cemetery systems and a scalable technical-art pipeline.

WIP team project Systems design Technical art pipeline UE5 / Blender / Figma

Production story Back to projects

Environment flythrough captureWorkshop space, lighting, density and mood in motion.

StatusIn development

PeriodStarted in 2025, paused during Cold Engine demo work, active again after scope review

TeamFree-time team project with programmer, artists, animator and audio collaborators

My roleGame direction, systems, level design, technical art, 3D production base

ToolsUnreal Engine 5, Blender, material and shader pipeline, Figma

Proof linksEnvironment capture, production roadmap, asset pipeline, collaborator handoff

Game concept

Workshop, war, bodies and memory.

Skein Arcane is a first-person workshop management game about crafting weapons, sending soldiers on expeditions and burying the dead to gather souls. The project connects a workshop, modular gear, tactical expeditions, factions and a cemetery system into one systemic fantasy.

The case reads as production evidence: large-scope design, repeatable technical-art rules and a team workflow that can survive more content.

Workshop overview frameMain location, interactable zones and the production mood in one readable image.

My contribution

Direction, systems, level work and the main visual production layer.

This case shows collaboration and planning for scale, not only individual art output.

Hands-on work

Built the main location structure and a large share of the visual base.
Prepared buildings, props, materials, shader coverage and in-engine setup.
Worked on level readability, asset density and optimization constraints.

Design / direction

Directed the core workshop fantasy and progression logic.
Defined crafting, expeditions, cemetery systems, factions and economy rules.
Kept mechanics tied to player-readable production goals.

Production / coordination

Structured naming, asset prep, import rules and reusable material logic.
Coordinated visual work with character, weapon, animation and audio contributors.
Documented constraints so production could scale without losing consistency.

Collaborators / not my direct work

Core programming is handled with a close collaborator.
Character, weapon, animation and audio work include external contributors.
My ownership is direction, systems, level work, technical art and the visual production layer.

Production story

A large WIP kept honest through pipeline-first thinking.

The roadmap shows how the project stays readable while the scope grows across systems, assets and collaborators.

01 / Workshop blockout

Build the first-person production space.

The location needed to support crafting, movement, storage, player orientation and future interaction density.

Workshop blockout frameSpace scale, routes and interaction zones.

02 / Asset rules

Make the world scalable before adding more content.

Naming, mesh prep, material rules and import constraints were defined so new objects could fit the same production language.

Asset rules diagramRules for meshes, materials, naming and Unreal import.

03 / Material pipeline

Support variation without losing control.

Reusable shader and material logic gives the team room for factions, props and mood changes without rebuilding every asset by hand.

Material pipeline frameShader variants, material instances and optimization limits.

04 / Systems proof

Connect workshop actions to the wider fantasy.

Crafting, expeditions, cemetery progression and faction identity were kept together as a production map instead of separate feature islands.

Systems proof diagramCrafting, expeditions, cemetery and faction logic.

05 / Collaborator handoff

Keep outside work understandable.

Programmer, character, weapon, animation and audio contributions are framed by clear ownership boundaries and team-facing constraints.

Collaborator handoff frameTeam-facing notes, asset readiness and ownership split.

06 / WIP presentation

Show the project honestly while it is still growing.

The current state is presented as direction, systems and pipeline evidence, not as a finished-product claim.

In-engine WIP captureWorkshop mood, asset density and playable direction.

Main challenge

Building a scalable asset pipeline before the project becomes too large to control.

Problem

A large simulator needs many objects, variants, factions and environment pieces, which can quickly become inconsistent.

Decision

Define asset rules, reusable materials, shader coverage, import structure and Nanite/Lumen-aware constraints.

Result

The team gets a scalable visual-production base that can support more content without losing clarity.

Asset pipeline diagramBlender to Unreal, naming, materials, shaders, optimization and team handoff.

Project takeaways

The visible result, the decisions behind it and the parts I directly owned.

A quieter summary of what the project says through the work itself.

Finished Output

The current WIP already shows a readable world direction, systems structure and scalable production base.

Production Decisions

Asset rules and pipeline constraints came before scale, so the project can grow without losing consistency.

Technical Judgment

The visual layer is designed around reusable materials, engine constraints and collaborator-friendly handoff.

Collaboration Boundaries

The case separates my direction, systems, level and technical-art work from collaborator contributions.

Next step

Want the short version?

I can walk through the build, media, role split and production decisions in a focused conversation.

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Related work

Gallery pieces connected to this case.

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