Executive Summary
An indie game studio with 8 team members implemented Stable Diffusion for concept art and asset creation. The result was a 60% reduction in pre-production time and significant cost savings on art outsourcing.
The Challenge
The studio faced typical indie constraints:
- Limited art budget for their ambitious RPG project
- Only 2 artists on a team of 8
- Concept iteration taking weeks per environment
- Outsourcing costs eating into development budget
- Difficulty communicating visual ideas to contractors
The Solution
Concept Art Pipeline
Stable Diffusion transformed their concepting process:
- Rapid iteration on environment concepts
- Character design exploration
- Mood boards generated in minutes
- Visual references for outsourced artists
Custom Model Training
They fine-tuned models for their game's style:
- LoRA trained on their existing art
- Consistent visual style across generations
- Character consistency with textual inversion
- Environment style matching their engine
Asset Creation Workflow
Used for production-ready assets:
- UI element generation
- Texture creation for 3D models
- Skyboxes and backgrounds
- Item icons and inventory art
Technical Setup
| Component | Details |
|---|---|
| Hardware | 2x RTX 4090 workstations |
| Base Model | SDXL |
| UI | ComfyUI for advanced workflows |
| Custom Training | Kohya for LoRA training |
Results
Time Savings
- 60% faster pre-production phase
- 10x more concept iterations per week
- 2 hours → 15 minutes for mood boards
- Days → Hours for environment concepts
Cost Savings
- $30,000 saved on outsourced concept art
- $5,000 investment in hardware (ongoing utility)
- Zero ongoing costs after setup
Quality Improvements
- More iterations led to better final designs
- Clearer communication with outsourced artists
- Consistent art direction across the project
Workflow Examples
Environment Concept
- Game designer describes location in text
- Generate 20 variations in 10 minutes
- Team votes on favourites
- Artist refines top 3 candidates
- Final concept approved in 1 day (vs. 1 week)
Character Design
- Generate face/body variations
- Use ControlNet for pose consistency
- Apply studio LoRA for style matching
- Artist creates final character sheet
Challenges and Solutions
Consistency Issues
Problem: Characters looked different each generation
Solution: Textual inversion + reference image with IP-Adapter
Style Drift
Problem: Generated art didn't match game's aesthetic
Solution: Custom LoRA trained on 50 existing assets
Anatomical Errors
Problem: Hands, proportions sometimes wrong
Solution: Artists fix in post, accept AI as starting point
Team Perspectives
"Stable Diffusion didn't replace our artists—it gave them superpowers. Our concept artist now explores 10 directions before breakfast." — Lead Designer
"Initially I worried about job security. Now I spend time on what matters—final art—instead of endless iteration on concepts." — Senior Artist
Recommendations
For other indie studios:
- Invest in capable hardware—local generation is worth it
- Learn ComfyUI for repeatable workflows
- Train custom LoRAs early for consistency
- Use AI for exploration, humans for execution
- Document your workflows for team consistency
Conclusion
Stable Diffusion allowed a small team to punch above their weight in visual development. The open-source nature meant no ongoing costs after initial setup, and custom training ensured output matched their vision.
