Job Description
Santa Barbara Games is hiring a freelance 3D character artist to build our stylized, rig-ready protagonist for our upcoming survival crafting game, along with modular armor and facial expression systems. This is a fully remote contract role, scoped for a 6–8 week production timeline (roughly full-time), with a clear asset list and pre-approved concept art.
You’ll be delivering a clean, animation-ready character model with facial decal expressions, 4 variants total (facial structure, skin tone), 4 hairstyles, and 4 modular armor sets—all optimized for top-down camera readability and a cel-shaded rendering pipeline in Unity. The character and outfits should feel grounded and expressive, with strong silhouettes and clear emotional readability from a distance.
Full concepts for all characters and armor sets are complete and ready to work from.
About the Game
Between Forests is a stylized, top-down survival-exploration game about kids lost in a haunted, mythic forest. Players craft, explore, and try to survive nightfall as terrifying creatures emerge from the shadows. Think Tunic meets Don't Starve Together, with the visual style of Baldo or a Ghibli film.
We’re a small team of AAA veterans (EA, Riot, Bethesda, Amazon) building a vertical slice in Unity using a cel-shaded, painterly art direction.
What You’ll Create
You’ll deliver the following fully textured, rig-ready assets in a cel-shaded art style:
✅ 1x Base Character
- Full-body model with modesty base layer (form-fitting white shirt and shorts)
- Clean topology, rig-ready for biped animation
- Facial geometry and UVs structured to support expression decals (not blendshapes)
✅ 3x Face Variants
- Unique skin tones and facial features (childlike but distinct)
- Compatible with same hair and armor systems
- Each variant supports swappable expression decals
✅ 4x Hairstyles
- Swappable across all variants
- Stylized, readable at top-down camera distance
✅ 4x Modular Armor Sets
Each includes 5 distinct pieces:
- Tunic, Pants, Boots, Gloves, Helm
- Each set has a unique silhouette and fits cleanly over the base body
- Must support layered modularity for in-game paper-doll system
✅ Expression Decals (per variant)
- 3–4 sets per face (e.g. neutral, panic, focused, injured)
- Texture/material-driven (no blendshapes or rig-based animation)
- Must be bold and readable at distance from a top-down view
Tools & Specs
- Blender, Maya, or equivalent DCC
- Stylized mesh and texture workflow (supports cel-shading)
- Clean UV unwraps, optimized for real-time performance (Switch-class hardware)
- Unity compatibility preferred (optional test scene to demonstrate modularity)
Delivery Format
- .FBX models (organized and named for rigging)
- .PNG or .PSD textures (organized per armor/hair/decal)
- Clear folder structure for all assets
- Optional Unity test scene (with armor swapping + expression demo)
Powered by Froala Editor
Skills & Requirements
Skills & Requirements
Must-Haves:
- Experience creating stylized 3D characters for games (freelance or studio)
- Strong modeling skills with clean, rig-friendly topology
- Experience with modular character workflows (armor, hair, facial swaps)
- Ability to author stylized textures that work with cel-shaded rendering
- Confident UV unwrapping and texture baking workflow
- Ability to deliver optimized, game-ready assets in .FBX or equivalent formats
- Clear understanding of shape readability from top-down or mid-distance cameras
- Strong communication and self-direction—able to deliver clean assets without hand-holding
Nice-to-Haves:
- Experience designing or implementing facial decal or texture-based expression systems
- Familiarity with Unity (basic material setup or test scene creation)
- Experience working with small indie teams or solo pipelines
How to Apply
Email us at joinus@sb.games with:
- Portfolio link (ArtStation, personal site, etc.)
- Examples of stylized character work (especially modular or top-down-friendly)
- Rates & availability
Job Tags
Remote job, Full time, Contract work, Freelance,