Mansion Daimyo Kit

Here is a selection of the materials and assets I created for the Mansion Daimyo Kit, alongside Kevin Kok, who was responsible for the modules modeling and group assembly.

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This kit was designed to represent Daimyo mansions, which are often vast estates featuring multiple buildings, varied room types, and intricate ornamentation.

My role was to identify the key material elements needed while ensuring everything stayed within budget. To create contrast with the cooler, darker tones of the Medium and Poor Kit, I opted for a warmer, richer color palette. Cedar wood was a key material, as it naturally discolors over time, creating contrast with the vibrant, saturated areas. This was balanced by Kakishibu coating—the darkest finish in the game, which deepens with additional layers, making it both luxurious and expensive.

Ultimately, this kit was primarily used inside castles as the lord’s estate and played a major role in constructing the city castle of Azuchi as well as in monastery complex.

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For the materials, I primarily created library materials early in production, which I later layered in Substance Designer to save time and maintain visual consistency. My recipe always followed the same order with 2 core materials for the base layers and with an extra layer of kakishibu, dirt or moisture depending of the assets. For outdoor wooden floors, I added an extra channel for a dust layer, introducing subtle cooler tones to balance the palette. Most materials were created in Designer using external inputs when needed like sculpt, drawings and relying on our internal tools, templates and library.
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My favorite part to work on might have been the interiors with the decorated shoji doors I painted by hand and the sculpted beams with corbels. Both were iconic elements I always dreamed to recreate. Beeing able to see those first hand in Japan and create our own version was an exciting challenge.
As always, this was a team effort, and I'm grateful to everyone involved in the creation process.
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Art Direction, Thierry Dansereau
Lead Architecture, Dominic Gladu-Despatis
Lead Texture, Dimitri Alexis
Lead Props, Antoine Barbot