Lauren Nakamura - Shepherd: Into the Den

Unity 3D - UCSC Senior Project 2022

Role: Producer, Lead Artist, 2D/3D Artist, Additional Unity Implementation

Shepherd: Into the Den is a 3D roguelike where you play as Patch, a lone sheep. On his journey, Patch will defeat various enemies while crafting items to aid him and his herd. Patch must venture forth to save the Shepherd Goddess and his people who have been overtaken by the wolves. Before further chaos can ensue, Patch braces himself and prays for the Shepherd’s guidance as he traverses, into the den.

Concept Art and 2D assets

As the lead artist on the project, I was responsible for bringing the game's vision to life. I conceptualized various images, starting with the development of our main character, Patch. I then created illustrations for potential environments, such as a forest, wolf den, and camp. I sketched and illustrated enemies, props, decorative UI, and promotional material to ensure cohesive and consistent representation of the game's vision.

3D Models and Level Building

In addition to concepting, I was also heavily involved in the modeling process, creating low poly characters, props, and environment objects. I utilized Unity's Terrain and ProBuilder tools to construct the game's terrain and built levels, physics boundaries, and tested poly counts for smooth gameplay. I also implemented a fire and foliage shader, and was particularly pleased with the final results of the bush physics, which was modeled and textured by another team member.

I used Blender to rig, unwrap, sculpt, and model meshes. I then exported the file to Substance Painter to texture for final polish. This was a constant iterative process with challenges and triumphs alike.

Grass Shader Credit: MinionsArt

Water Shader Credit: Alexander Ameye

Bush by Cole Cota, Physics by Lauren Nakamura

in-prog camp

base terrain

Test Level

Reduced original 500k tris tree to 3.1k

Progress of Cave

in-prog menu

Modeled by Jackie Nguyen, textured by Lauren Nakamura

Early prototype of fire vfx + dash

Showcasing cape physics by John Manard

Before and After Feedback

As the lead artist, I assisted fellow artists on the team to achieve the desired visual outcome of the game. To ensure that models accurately reflected the concept art, I altered progress shots with sketches and manipulations to communicate feedback. These references proved to be invaluable for quick amends. I have provided examples of this process below using before and after images.

I also closely monitored and managed the poly counts of models throughout the development process to ensure high-quality, low poly assets that would not compromise the game's performance.