Role: 3D Generalist • Studio: North Star Video Games • Period: Apr–Nov 2024 Platforms: PC, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch

A large cartoon-style robot with green, orange, and beige parts, standing inside a brick-walled industrial building with large windows and metal staircases.

Overview

Created environments, vehicles, and hero assets for Spray Paint Simulator. Built a modular factory kit and implemented levels in Unity, integrating with established pipelines and optimising for a wide range of hardware. Materials and lighting were tuned to match the project’s stylised visual style.

A digital rendering of a greenhouse structure with a chimney, surrounded by trees and green hills, with a smaller building and train tracks leading up to it.

My responsibilities

Designed and built the modular factory environment that housed all three jobs and the final “giant robot” showcase stage.
Modelled, textured, and optimised hero assets (bus, cherry picker, giant robot) for the painting mechanic.
Implemented environments and assets in Unity, setting up painting, masking, and repair stages.
Lit and baked scenes for clear surface readability during painting gameplay.
Authored tiling materials, modular kits, and stylised skies, reusing atlases and palettes for performance.
Optimised scenes for a wide hardware range.
Produced an additional unreleased level for DLC content.

Video game scene showing a large robot in a warehouse or factory setting, with scaffolding and large windows, and game interface overlays.

Key contributions

Established the modular factory environment as the backbone for multiple levels, saving time on set-up and iteration.
Created three hero assets that became the focal points of gameplay, including the “giant robot” showcase level.
Delivered a stylised sky workflow and texture pipeline that was adopted across the project.
Balanced visuals and performance, enabling the game to target a wide hardware range.
Extended the contract through consistent delivery, leading to additional level and DLC work.

Two construction lifts, one orange and the other yellow with a black frame, on a green background.

Technical notes

Tools: Blender, Substance 3D Painter/Designer, Unity, Photoshop.
Scale & Texel Density: Maintained consistent scale and targeted texel density across all assets.
Materials: Used packed ORM workflows where applicable; hero assets followed a UDIM-style multi-material setup.
UVs: Each asset included three UV channels (textures, lighting, painting).
Naming & Integration: All job parts uniquely named for compatibility with in-house tools and scripts.
Scripting: Wrote Python scripts in Blender to automate UV management and naming tasks.
Lighting: Combined baked and real-time lighting for stability; placed reflection and light probes to support dynamic assets.
Performance: Set up occlusion maps, combined meshes to reduce draw calls, and used instancing for repeating elements.

Factory Environment

The factory was the core environment for Spray Paint Simulator, serving as the Spray Painter’s property and housing the three base-game jobs, including the final Giant Robot stage. Starting from a simple blockout, I developed a modular red-brick industrial space with tall windows, a clerestory roof, and gantries to add verticality. The design balanced visual detail with performance across a wide hardware range.

A spacious industrial-style loft with large windows, red brick walls, and an open ceiling with ceiling fans and exposed beams. There are two levels with purple and yellow metal staircases and railings, a large wooden door at the back, and various stored items along the walls.

Interior of a spacious industrial-style warehouse with large windows, red brick walls, and purple metal stairs and structure, yellow safety railings, and various barrels and crates on the floor.

Interior view of a brick building with large windows, hanging lamps, and a view of the ceiling structure and roof skylights.

Storage area with wooden crates, colorful barrels, traffic cones, a hand truck, and a jack, against a brick wall background.

Red tool chests with multiple drawers on a stone porch next to brick walls and large windows.

A covered object, possibly a vehicle, beneath an orange cover, surrounded by orange and white traffic cones in an indoor brick garage or storage area.

Pre-rendered hero shots of the modular factory environment, created in Blender Cycles for portfolio presentation.

Modular kit

Disassembled red brick building parts including roof sections, brick walls, wooden doors, and window frames.

Collection of brick building facades and wall sections with windows and doors on a gray background.

A structural diagram of a building's roof framework with several types of windows and their designs.

A purple and yellow outdoor staircase and barriers with a shadow casted on a plain ground.

Two sets of square tiles with different patterns and colors on a gray surface.

The modular factory kit including walls, windows, doors, roof elements, floors, and gantries.

Materials

A wooden sphere with horizontal grooves and a smooth, rounded surface.

A yellow sphere with wear marks and scratches against a dark background.

A spherical object with a pinkish hue, covered in a hexagonal honeycomb pattern of holes, floating against a plain background.

A close-up photograph of Pluto, the dwarf planet, showing its icy, cratered surface.

A 3D sphere textured with a brick wall pattern, featuring bricks and mortar, set against a neutral background.

Close-up of a spherical structure with a grid pattern on its surface, resembling a planet or moon.

A 3D-rendered sphere covered in a red brick wall pattern.

A 3D sphere with a white brick wall texture.

Some of the stylised tiling materials authored in Substance, Sampler, Painter and Designer.

Props

Assorted wooden crates, pallets, and cable reels along with a yellow hand truck on a grey background.

A green hanging lamp and an enclosed wall light on a dark ceiling with shadows.

Construction scene with three tool chests, a covered object, and orange traffic cones.

Factory props including lights, tools, storage, and set-dressing assets.

In-game

A large humanoid robot stands inside a factory or workshop, with a grid overlay on its body. The robot has a brown and tan color scheme with green accents and is giving a thumbs-up gesture. The environment features brick walls, large windows, yellow safety railings, and industrial stairs. There are user interface elements indicating it is part of a video game or simulation.

Virtual indoor space resembling an industrial-style warehouse or gym with large windows, brick walls, a wooden ceiling, and yellow safety railings on stairs.

Interior of a large brick industrial-style building with big arched windows, a wooden ceiling, green hanging lamps, yellow safety railings, and a large wooden door.

Inside a large, industrial-style building with brick walls, large windows, and metal staircases with yellow railings, viewed from a first-person perspective holding a spray gun.

A large indoor space with red brick walls and tall windows. There is a purple metal staircase with yellow railings leading to an upper level. Below the stairs, there are various objects including a covered item, orange traffic cones, and wooden spools. The scene appears to be from a video game or simulation interface with task instructions displayed on the screen.

Construction supplies and equipment including wooden crates, colorful barrels, orange traffic cones, a barricade, and a pallet jack placed against a brick wall in an indoor area.

Screenshots from Spray Paint Simulator (Sept 2025) showing the modular environment and props implemented in Unity.

Tour Bus Job

The tour bus was the third job in Spray Paint Simulator and introduced the character Ron. Working from only a rough size guide, I designed the bus and built it as a hero asset in Blender and Substance Painter. To support the painting mechanic, the model was split into paintable sections, with a duplicate mesh created for masking and tape materials, and removable parts. The design combined influences from 1960s–70s British coaches, American styling, and Jamaican Zion tour buses, resulting in a unique, character-rich asset that integrated seamlessly into Unity.

A bus decorated with a colorful design labeled 'Rob Gnarls & The Banjos Babylon Tour' parked inside a building with brick walls and large windows.

Cardboard model of a bus, with blue tape outlining its structure, sitting indoors in front of brick and wood walls.

A 3D wireframe model of a bus in a workshop or studio setting, with surrounding walls and doorways visible.

Pre-rendered hero shots of the Tour Bus in Blender Cycles, showing weathered, masked, and clay wireframe variants for portfolio presentation.

Pre-rendered Blender Cycles turntable of the Tour Bus, shown in weathered, masked, painted, and clay wireframe variants for portfolio presentation.

Virtual game scene of a bus being painted, with outline and colors partially applied, inside an industrial workshop with brick walls, tall windows, and yellow railings on a staircase.

In-game screenshot from Spray Paint Simulator (Sept 2025), showing the Tour Bus level in free spray mode.

Cherry Picker Job

The cherry picker was a key gameplay mechanic in Spray Paint Simulator, giving players the vertical reach to access areas like the bridge level and the Giant Robot. I designed and built a single hero asset in Blender and Substance Painter that served two roles: as a painting job, with clean UVs, duplicate geometry for masking passes, and full lighting setup; and as a drivable vehicle, with articulated joints for the boom and basket to support gameplay. To simplify animation and integration, I used electric actuators instead of hydraulic pistons. I implemented the asset in Unity, managing articulation, lighting, and scene setup to deliver both a fully playable job level and a functional vehicle.

3D animated model of a toy crane made of cardboard and blue tape, inside a workshop with brick walls and tools in the background.

Toy crane with a yellow and orange body, black wheels, and a long, extendable arm, positioned on a miniature railroad track in a workshop or construction setting.

This is a digital rendering of an industrial robotic arm inside a workshop, with wireframe details visible on the robot and surrounding equipment such as spools, crates, and tools.

Pre-rendered hero shots of the Cherry Picker in Blender Cycles, showing weathered, masked, and clay wireframe variants for portfolio presentation.

Close-up of a control panel on a yellow machine with joystick controls and emergency stop button.

A close-up of a toy construction vehicle with a yellow body, black and gray wheels, and black strilings, placed on a patterned surface with a brick building in the background.

Pre-rendered close-up shots of the Cherry Picker in Blender Cycles, highlighting key details for portfolio presentation.

Pre-rendered Blender Cycles turntable of the Cherry Picker, shown in weathered, masked, painted, and clay wireframe variants for portfolio presentation.

Blender Cycles animation demonstrating lift functionality, designed for approximately 15 m of vertical reach

A yellow construction lift inside a brick building with large windows, a purple and yellow railing, and red tool cabinets.

In-game screenshot from Spray Paint Simulator (Sept 2025), showing the Cherry Picker level in free spray mode.

A yellow aerial lift inside a spacious industrial warehouse with brick walls, large windows, stairs, and a tall wooden sliding door.

In-Engine screenshot from Spray Paint Simulator (Nov 2024), showing the Cherry Picker level.

In-game Video from Spray Paint Simulator (Sept 2025), Demonstrating the Cherry Picker driving.

Giant Robot Job

The Giant Robot was the final showpiece level in Spray Paint Simulator, designed to leave a lasting impression as a 15-metre-tall hero asset. Inspired by The Iron Giant, classic robot toys, and Buzz Lightyear, I created a retro-styled but imposing design that integrated with the game’s painting systems. Although it never animates in-game, I built a rig with IK constraints and FK arms to allow posing during development and presentation. The surrounding factory environment was expanded with tall clearance, a giant entry door, and gantries for navigation and scale, while the robot itself was modelled with clean UVs, masking geometry, and naming conventions to work seamlessly with the in-house tools. I handled Unity integration, lighting, and scene setup to deliver the level as the game’s final “showstopper” experience.

Large robot with orange and green color standing inside a brick industrial-style building with large windows, metal stairs, and yellow railings.

Pre-rendered hero shots of the Giant Robot in Blender Cycles, showing painted version for portfolio presentation.

Pre-rendered Blender Cycles turntable of the Giant Robot, shown in weathered, masked, painted, and clay wireframe variants for portfolio presentation.

Rig test animation in Blender Cycles showing the Giant Robot with IK/FK setup and a thumbs-up pose. The robot never animates in-game but was rigged for posing.

A large, built robot with orange and green accents in a warehouse setting, with industrial stairs and rafters, during what appears to be a virtual or video game environment.

In-game screenshot from Spray Paint Simulator (Sept 2025), showing the Giant robot level in Career mode.

Video game credits screen with a tropical background, showing the names of lead artist Nick Jefferson-Tame, lead programmer Adam Mitchell, additional 3D artist Andy Begg, and writer Adam Mitchell.

Outcome

The project grew beyond its initial scope, with my contract extended past the original six months to support additional unreleased content. I delivered shippable environments, hero assets, and vehicles fully integrated into Unity, ensuring stability and performance across multiple gameplay contexts. My work established the factory as the central hub, the tour bus and cherry picker as key gameplay jobs, and the giant robot as the game’s showpiece finale.

It was a pleasure to collaborate with industry veterans Nick Jefferson-Tame (Lead Artist) and Adam Mitchell (Lead Programmer & Writer). Being credited third as Additional 3D Artwork highlights my key role in shaping the game’s environments, vehicles, and hero assets.

Developed by North Star Video Games. In-game credits: listed third as Additional 3D Artwork.