What is the proper workflow for 3D models -> Game?

[M-a-l]

I am planning on making a modular low poly game.

I am going to create the models in Blender (Environment, Characters and Character Rigging) and then build the actual game using Unreal Engine 5.

What is the standard workflow supposed to be for indie gamedev? What’s the best practice for indie game developers:

Do I create the whole level and it’s characters (with lighting) in Blender and just drop it into Unreal Engine, after which I create the gameplay code with blueprints?

Or is the best way to create small assets in Blender and then build the whole environment with lighting in Blender?

[tryfinsigabrt]

I am not an expert, but what has worked well for me is your last point: to build the models in blender with materials set and then export each object as FBX that needs to be manipulated independently as a static mesh. If it’s environment art and you don’t need to animate anything in code, then it could just be the whole model. For characters, it would be the character mesh, any animations, and the skeleton. Blender-specific lighting and node graphs will not transfer to Unreal and the lighting will need to be done separately in Unreal. It’s only useful to do the lighting in Blender to export something to share as a screenshot.

[Tuomo_T]

Yup, best to do assets as modular as possible. Mainly to increase reusability and allow for smaller changes more easily.