Art reference moodboards for game development
For art directors, concept artists and anyone who collects visual references for a game. You will learn how to organize reference boards so the team can find them months later, and how moodboards work in Gameheim: uploading and linking images, private boards and who can edit what.
Why art references get lost during game development
Every art direction starts with references: architecture photos for a city, armor from a museum, lighting from a film, color keys from a painting. On most teams these images live in a personal folder on someone's desktop, in a chat thread from three months ago, or as links to websites that later disappear.
This causes real problems once production is running:
- New artists cannot find the direction. The references that defined the look are in the art director's head and a folder nobody else can open.
- Links die. A reference saved as a URL stops working when the site changes, and the image is gone.
- Unannounced work leaks. References for a secret character or a partner project sit in a shared space everyone can browse.
- Boards grow without shape. One board with 400 images is as hard to use as no board at all.
How Gameheim keeps visual references with the project
Each Gameheim project has Moodboards, in the Creative section of the sidebar. A moodboard is a named collection of reference images for one project. The boards list shows each board with its most recent image as a cover, the number of images and when it was last updated. People who can edit can drag boards to put them in a useful order.
Upload images or add them from a link
Inside a board, Upload Images accepts several JPEG, PNG or WebP files at once, up to 25 MiB each. Add from Link takes the address of an image on the web. Gameheim downloads the image and stores a copy in the board, so the reference stays even if the original page goes away. The original address is kept, and Open original takes you back to it.
Images are shown in a grid, newest first. Clicking an image opens it full size, with its dimensions in pixels and Previous and Next buttons to step through the board.
Private boards for unannounced work
A board is Public by default: everyone with access to the Moodboards section of the project can see it. Switching it to Private hides it from everyone except leads, admins, the person who created it, and the users and roles you add to its access list. Each entry on the list is Can view or Can edit. A Can edit entry lets that person add and remove images on the private board even if their role cannot edit moodboards elsewhere.
Images you upload or add from a link count toward your organization's storage. Moodboards depend on your plan; see Pricing.
How to create an art reference moodboard in Gameheim
- You are a member of the project, and the project is selected in the sidebar.
- To create boards and add images: the Moodboards write permission. To delete a board: Moodboards manage.
- To change who can see a board: Moodboards manage, or being the person who created the board.
Open Moodboards
In the sidebar, under Creative, click Moodboards. The page lists the boards of the selected project.
Create a board
Click New Moodboard, type a Name (for example
Harbor District: architecture) and confirm. The board is added at the end of the list.Add images
Open the board and click Upload Images to pick files from your computer, or Add from Link and paste an Image URL that starts with
http://orhttps://. If some uploads fail, the board lists them under Some uploads failed: with the reason, for example a format that is not supported.Review the references
Click any image to open it full size. Use Previous and Next to step through the board, and Open original to visit the source of an image added from a link.
Make the board private if needed
From the board's menu in the list, or with Manage Access inside the board, set Visibility to Private. Then use Add a user or role… to add people or whole roles, and set each one to Can view or Can edit.
Curate and tidy up
Hover an image and click the delete button to remove it from the board. Use Rename on a board to keep names clear, and drag boards in the list to keep the active ones at the top. Delete removes a board and all its images permanently.
How to organize reference boards for a game
- One board per question. "What does the harbor district feel like?" is a good board. "Environment refs" is a folder, not a board.
- Name boards by area and aspect. For example
Harbor: architecture,Harbor: lighting,Hero: armor. Names sort together and are easy to scan. - Keep boards small. Twenty strong images give clearer direction than two hundred. Remove references that no longer match the direction.
- Write the reasoning down. A board shows what the game should look like; a wiki page explains why. Link the board from the art direction page.
- Separate inspiration from approved direction. Keep an exploration board and an approved board, and tell new artists to start from the approved one.
- Respect image rights. References are for internal direction. Do not ship reference images or trace them into final assets.
What a moodboard holds
Gameheim moodboards are image collections. A board has a name, a visibility setting and its images, shown newest first. Images do not carry captions, notes or comments, and there is no free-form canvas. Put written direction in the wiki, discuss references in a project channel, and keep source files such as PSDs or reference PDFs in Documents or in version control.
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Upload formats | JPEG, PNG, WebP |
| Maximum image size | 25 MiB, for uploads and for images added from a link |
| Links | http:// and https:// addresses of an image |
| Order of images | Newest first |
| Board cover | The most recent image |
Troubleshooting moodboards
| What you see | What it means |
|---|---|
| Exceeds the 25 MiB limit | Resize or compress the image and upload it again. |
| Format not supported (JPEG, PNG, WebP only) | Convert the file, for example from GIF or TIFF, before uploading. |
| Only http(s) URLs are accepted | Paste the full image address, starting with http:// or https://. |
| Could not add image from link | The address may point to a web page instead of an image, or the site may refuse the download. Open the image on its own, copy that address, or save it and upload it. |
| No New Moodboard or Upload Images button | Your role cannot edit moodboards. Ask for the Moodboards write permission, or for Can edit on a private board. |
| A board a colleague mentioned is missing | It is probably private. Ask the board's creator or a lead to add you to its access list. |
Frequently asked questions
What is a moodboard in game development?
A moodboard is a curated set of reference images that shows the intended look and feel of a part of the game: a location, a character, a lighting mood or a UI style. Art directors use moodboards to align concept artists, modelers and level artists before production assets are made. A good board is small, focused on one question and kept up to date as the direction changes.
What happens to an image added from a link if the website removes it?
In Gameheim nothing changes on your board. When you use Add from Link, Gameheim downloads the image and stores its own copy in the board. The original address is kept so you can open the source with Open original, but the board no longer depends on that website staying online.
Can I keep a moodboard private?
Yes. Open Manage Access on the board and set Visibility to Private. Only leads, admins, the board's creator and the users or roles on its access list can then see it. Each person or role on the list gets Can view or Can edit, so an outside concept artist can contribute to one board without seeing the others.
Which image formats do Gameheim moodboards support?
Moodboards accept JPEG, PNG and WebP images up to 25 MiB each, whether you upload them or add them from a link. You can upload several images in one go. Other formats, such as GIF, TIFF or PSD, need to be converted first. Source files like PSDs belong in Documents or in version control instead.