Hey there, the reason nobody is answering you I suspect is that the answer to this can be written as entire books 😮 So I will try to point you in into the correct forest, but once you are in there...it is up to you what path you take.
1. As a game CG artist, I can tell you that not all game artists use the same tools, techniques, methods, pipelines, or even game engines...
2. Game art can be broken into three categories for me...animation for cutscenes and so on, 2D art used for UI, sprites and so on, and then 3D assets used in 3D worlds. So it depends on what you are going for as to what you might need to do.
3. Basically most people making game assets try to make what is called a low polygon version of the asset, and then a high polygon version that they will used to project things like mapping onto the low polygon version. You want as low a polygon count as possible in a 3D game for it to run fast.
So in a nutshell I will just run you through what I do to create something for one of our games at Giggle Horse.
1. I get an idea for something that we need...let's say a space gun.
2. I go to the internet and I use sights like pinterest and so on to find as many reference images as I can for what I want my gun to look like.
3. Then I use a program called Kuadro to organize those reference images into a mosaic so I call look at them on one monitor, while drawing my concept drawing of what I want to make on the Wacom Cintiq. A huge drawing tablet that cost your first born child.
4. I draw the concept art using a cheap but powerful program called Mischief.
5. Once I am done with the concept drawing and everyone on the team has bitched and complained about stuff they don't like and I refine it....I get to making it.
6. If it is a hard surface item, I jump into 3DS Max and use the graphite modeling tools to make it. However....if it is a creature or something organic, I jump into ZBrush and model it, then create a low and and high polygon version, and dump it out as an FBX. If I'm in Max, I can just take the model and dump it as an FBX and not be too concerned about the low and high poly stuff usually.
7. Next, I take the FBX file from ZBrush or Max and I toss it into Substance Painter, where I will apply all the maps and create new texture maps to be used. Then I export those maps back out to Max.
8. I use the new textures from Substance painter to texture the model in 3DS Max, and now the asset is ready to be imported into a game engine or rendered out.
Phew! I know it is a lot to take in. I talk about all this stuff all the time on the blog if you want to know more. www.GiggleHorse.com Also if you are looking for tutorials on all this stuff...here is a super good resource for all of it.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSLLdTBwLMfTKWS56tOiQpw/videos
It can get daunting, so don't get discouraged. I won't lie...it will take you a few years to master this stuff.
Hope this helped,
Randell Trulson
www.GiggleHorse.com
