How do you solo-devs keep track of every mesh, texture, LOD, and material—so you actually know what’s DONE, what’s “almost done,” and what you accidentally broke last sprint?
Hey @DevGamePro — wow, this question hit home.
As a fellow solo dev, I used to bounce between Notion, Google Docs, sticky notes (digital and real), and a folder full of .psd
files named things like Material_Ruins_Lit_V3_REALFINAL.psd
.
But truthfully, none of it scaled. I’d constantly:
- Forget if I’d fixed a LOD issue or just thought about fixing it.
- Ship builds with placeholder textures because I missed one.
- Spend way too long playing “find the broken mesh.”
I finally gave in and started using a plugin that lets me leave checklist tasks and comments directly on each asset inside Unreal. Now I tag things like “needs LOD update,” “verify collision,” or “test with AI” per asset, and it syncs to a clean web dashboard so I always know what’s left.
It’s called Asset Optics, and honestly, it’s become my second brain during production:
Asset Optics – Next-Gen Asset Management | Fab
If you’re tired of memory juggling and want something built with solo creators in mind (not enterprise Jira nonsense), it’s worth a look.
Happy to share my workflow if you’re curious!
Build out a spreadsheet with all your assets and what each asset requires. Check-off or highlight color based on completion level. Boost productivity by using GPT help.
Personally it helps me to have a to-do list.
While I’m working on a feature, and notice something else being off (like a placeholder texture, or another feature not working as expected) I’ll add an entry to my list like Look at why X is misbehaving
.
Then next time I have free time, I look at the to-do list and have an idea of what needs to be done next.
It might feel weird at first, because you’re a solo dev, and it might feel silly to write things down for your future self, but once you’re in the habit, it helps a lot keep track of at least the majority of issues.
Great question—this is something every solo-dev struggles with at some point.
What worked best for me is building a lightweight but disciplined asset tracking system. I use a combination of:
- Naming conventions (clear, versioned names for each asset type)
- A Notion board for tracking progress (with tags like Done, WIP, Needs Fix, Tested)
- And automated folder structures that mirror my engine hierarchy.
For regressions or accidental breaks, I do small changelogs per sprint and use version control (even for art assets when possible).
You don’t need a studio-sized pipeline—but even a simple structure can save your sanity when your project grows.
All the best and kind regards,
SFDEMIR
Hi @DevGamePro You received All good ideas and a plugin advertisement above!
I am a beginner myself, what worked for me in the beginning to get started was using the old fashioned notebook with pen!
Anyways, I am Still waiting for a perfect setup for my game planning in a plugin.
But depends what you are struggling with, if you want to get started with small projects , even a google spreadsheet / excel should work as @RA3ID mentioned!
If you want to plan for longer use jira/notion as @SFDEMIR suggested.
Or if you are specifically looking for asset level planning you can spend some bucks on the plugin @brahmaforge put out!
I would also recommend asking ChatGPT