Placeholder Asset Pipeline

Purpose

Define creation, naming, and replacement rules for placeholder assets so the game is visually testable and gameplay-verifiable before final art, audio, or VFX assets are produced.

Use When

• core systems are implemented but no final assets exist yet
• the game needs to be runnable for playtesting or QA before art delivery
• new entities are added and need immediate visual representation for testing
• final assets are being swapped in and the drop-in replacement path needs validation

Inputs

• entity list from the GDD or milestone plan (player, enemies, collectibles, environment, UI)
• gameplay scale and collision requirements per entity
• folder structure and naming convention from the art bible or project setup
• target platform constraints (resolution, texture budget)

Process

1. inventory all entities that need visual representation for the current milestone
2. generate placeholder assets (colored sprites for 2D, flat-color 3D primitives for 3D, procedural audio for sounds) at correct gameplay scale
3. place placeholders in the same folder path and with the same file name that final assets will use
4. wire placeholders into prefabs or scenes so the game is immediately playable
5. document the replacement checklist — what to swap, where, and how to validate after swapping

Outputs

• placeholder assets for all milestone entities (sprites or 3D primitives, prefabs/scenes, procedurally generated audio clips)
• drop-in replacement guide (file paths, naming, validation steps)
• scene or prefab configuration with placeholders wired and playable
• replacement validation checklist

Quality Bar

• every placeholder uses the exact name and path that the final asset will use — zero code changes on swap
• placeholder scale matches gameplay requirements — colliders and physics work correctly
• the game is fully playable with placeholders alone — no missing references or null errors
• the replacement guide is complete enough that a non-programmer can swap assets

Common Failure Modes

• placeholder names that do not match the final asset convention, causing rework on swap
• incorrect scale that makes gameplay testing unreliable
• missing placeholder for an entity that blocks testing of a system
• placeholders wired into code by reference rather than by name, breaking the drop-in path

Related Agents

• 2d-artist
• technical-artist
• unity-reviewer
• godot-reviewer
• web-reviewer

Related Commands

• unity-placeholders
• godot-placeholders
• web-placeholders
• scene-bootstrap
• art-2d-pass

Related Skills

• generated-raster-asset-pipeline
• ai-asset-generation

Notes

• Keep this skill aligned with the relevant rules layer and current project documentation.
• If engine-specific constraints materially change the workflow, hand off to the matching engine skill or engine-specific reviewer.
• This skill is engine-neutral. Engine-specific placeholder commands (e.g. /unity-placeholders) implement the concrete generation step using this skill's standards.
• Tracked asymmetry: Unity, Godot, and web have concrete placeholder generation commands (/unity-placeholders plus /scene-bootstrap, /godot-placeholders, /web-placeholders), each covering 2D sprites, 3D primitives, and procedural audio. An Unreal equivalent is a deliberate pending decision, not an oversight — until it exists, apply this skill's standards manually there.
• 3D placeholders are procedural primitives (box, sphere, capsule, plane) with one flat-color material per entity category, at correct gameplay scale with matching collision so physics, navigation, and camera framing are testable before final models exist.
• Audio placeholders should be procedurally generated (sine waves, square waves, noise, pitch sweeps) — not silent stubs. A placeholder sound that represents the intended audio event (e.g. a rising tone for a coin collect, a short burst for a jump) makes gameplay testing far more effective than silence.
• If placeholders are later replaced with generated raster art, hand off to generated-raster-asset-pipeline before acceptance so transparency and runtime-size issues are caught during the swap.
• This placeholder pipeline is the DEFAULT and always-available asset path. AI generation (ai-asset-generation + /generate-assets) is an optional upgrade that only applies when a provider API key is present; when it is absent, this pipeline is the complete workflow, unchanged. Generated assets, when used, drop onto the exact names and paths produced here.