A unique texture for every surface does not scale to an environment. Two techniques do.
Tiling textures
A small texture repeated across a surface. A brick wall of any size costs one modest texture.
The constraint is repetition — the eye finds the pattern quickly. Counters: larger tile sizes, breakup with decals and vertex painting, blending two tiling materials with a mask, and avoiding recognisable features in the tile.
Trim sheets
A single texture containing horizontal strips of different details — panel edges, pipes, bolts, moulding, fabric bands. Geometry is then UV'd to sample the appropriate strip.
The power is reuse: one trim sheet dresses an entire environment, so dozens of assets share one material and one texture. That is a large win for draw calls and for memory both.
Why trim sheets are efficient
- One material across many assets, so they batch.
- Texel density is decided once by the sheet.
- Modelling becomes faster: you build geometry to match strips you already have.
- Consistency is automatic, because everything shares the same source.
Designing one
- Strips run the full width so they tile horizontally.
- Group by scale — fine details together, large ones together.
- Leave a plain strip for flat surfaces.
- Design the sheet before modelling, so the geometry can be built to it.
Combining approaches
A typical environment uses: tiling materials for large surfaces, a trim sheet for architectural detail, unique textures for hero assets, and decals for one-off variation. Each covers what the others cannot.
Where generated assets sit
Firmly in the unique-texture category — each generated model brings its own. That is fine for hero and dressing pieces and does not scale to structural environment work, which is another reason to hand-author the kit and generate the clutter.