Title: Building an Interactive "X-Ray" Pipeline for 3D Game Assets in Three.js

Göktuğ Güleç — Sun, 28 Jun 2026 20:43:43 +0000

When we talk about game assets, we usually focus on the final 3D model. But as developers, the real magic happens in the pipeline—how we manage structures, damage states, and performance constraints.

I’ve been building an interactive inspector tool in Three.js to peel back the layers of game-ready assets. My latest focus is a Destroyed Victorian Building, and I wanted to share the structural "anatomy" behind it.

The Engineering Challenges:

Layered Structure: I needed a way to isolate load-bearing walls from floor systems to visualize structural integrity.

Damage Analysis: Mapping "Damage Zones" to identify critical load paths—basically, showing why a building fails at specific points.

Runtime Optimization: Visualizing LOD tiers and vertex density in real-time to see how much we can push the geometry without breaking the browser.

Why this matters?

Visualizing these technical metrics helps bridge the gap between pure 3D art and engine-side performance. It’s not just about how the building looks, but how it "behaves" under different structural constraints.

I'm still actively developing the Runtime Engine Import module to bridge this directly into game engines. If you're interested in technical art or browser-based 3D tooling, I'd love to hear your thoughts on what metrics you find most critical when inspecting game assets!

You can poke around the live inspector here:
[Link: hexovian.com/pages/atlas/asset.html#building]

DEV Community: Göktuğ Güleç

Title: Building an Interactive "X-Ray" Pipeline for 3D Game Assets in Three.js