Prototyping Without Assets

Assets are an essential part of creating a game. They add visual style and give a game life. However, sometimes it is better to design prototypes without assets. There are many benefits to doing so:

• Speed — creating a prototype with game assets will take longer than creating one without. You will not have to worry about correcting the size of the colliders and getting the sizes of the assets right.
• Keeping it Simple — the point of a prototype is to get the feel and general layout of a game. In doing this you will create and destroy many game objects in the process. It is more efficient to prototype without assets that you may not use in the final product. Just use generic game objects.
• Not having assets — Another benefit is that you may not have the assets available yet. When working as a group a developer may not have the assets to add to the game. This would hinder his progress in prototyping. Without assets you will not have this problem. This will also allow you to request more assets if you need them and still be able to continue prototyping.

These are some of the benefits of prototyping without assets. That is not to say that you can’t prototype with assets. If you want to make a prototype with assets than go for it. There is not right or wrong way to way to create prototypes. The most important thing in prototyping is to have fun and keep at it.