Hey Mechwarriors! This is Marco Mazzoni, art director of BATTLETECH: Heavy Metal, here to share some insight on what it was like to create the Bull Shark, a brand new ‘Mech for an IP that’s already filled with hundreds of well established designs.
I know I’ve said it before, but Battletech has always held a very special place in my heart. As a kid, the mechanics of the gameplay didn’t really grab me, but reading through the novels and flipping through the TROs was an endless source of inspiration. Naturally, like many fans, I’ve always fantasized about crafting new ‘Mechs with distinct looks, unique loadouts and compelling backstories. While the Bull Shark is far from my first attempt at it, it’s definitely the one I’m most proud of so far.
Check out this 30 year old drawing I pulled from the archives. Talk about lostech, does anyone even know the stats of an arm missile?
Also… 110 tons? Come on, there’s no way this thing is more than 20 soaking wet.
Technical ability aside, not much has changed. I still lay awake at night dreaming of the perfect ‘Mech and I would jump at the chance to make something official. Up to this point, designing the new Hatchetman was probably the highlight of my career, so when the opportunity presented itself to design our own HBS ‘Mech for the Heavy Metal expansion, I tried to play it cool but I was mentally high fiving the 10 year old me that dreamt up the fearsome “WARHEAD III”.
While Mitch was clear that this could be our own homegrown design, I really wanted to explore existing ‘Mechs first just to make sure we weren’t passing over a potential fan favorite. We came up with a list of desirable ‘Mechs that exist in our timeline that we didn’t already have PGI models for. The criteria was that it had to be an assault class (this is HEAVY METAL after all) and it had to be cool, because let's face it, no one is going to buy our latest expansion if the flagship ‘Mech is a Hoplite (yes, I know that’s probably someone’s favorite ‘Mech… fight me!) We even reached out to the Catalyst guys for some input which helped shorten the list. I generated some sketches based on our 2 top picks as well as 2 unique designs of my own.
Pillager and Behemoth/Stone Rhino (left) both technically exist in this timeline but are super rare. The Goblin and Phobos (right) are my proposed new designs
Of this set, the original design that I had code named “Goblin” (named after the Italian horror/prog-rock band) was gaining the most traction around the studio. As we decided to move forward with that design, I started to solidify some of my personal goals for it.
There were a few specific things that I wanted this ‘Mech to do:
- Keep the Banshee company in the 95ton slot
- Boat some heavy ballistics because I love dakka (I also played competitive Mechwarrior Online for a while with ISENGRIM, so my instinct is always to go with those high mounts)
- Give it a unique silhouette without breaking our already established PGI aesthetic
- Hint at design elements from the [REDACTED] since this might be our only opportunity to fit that look into our current timeline...
I pulled together a reference sheet of elements from Alex Iglesias’s MWO designs to help ensure I keep the proportions and mechanical elements consistent with the ‘Mechs we already have.
As you can probably tell from the “Warhead III”, I love giving mechs skull faces, so I’ll always have a soft spot for the Banshee
I made one more pass at the sketch before moving on to a 3D blockout. There are still some proportion and balance things I’m not happy with at this stage, but that will be much easier to address when I get into 3D.
We hung up a large print of this image, complete with the name, in one of our meeting rooms and to this day I still catch myself calling this thing Goblin...
My favorite program right now for doing rough 3D blockouts is Oculus Medium. It’s not the easiest program to do hard surface design in (although some may remember that I did make the Hatchetman’s concept model in Medium), but it’s simple interface and the ability to quickly move around and scale the form really speeds up this part of the process for me.
It ain’t pretty, but it’s good enough for the next step...
From there I take the blockout into Google Sketchup to solve all the new problems I just made for myself. This lets me really dig into the industrial design of the thing and make sure the design holds up from a technical perspective. I might not get another chance to make a new ‘Mech for Battletech, so I want to make sure every part works and holds up from every angle.
Starting to take shape as I hammer out the forms
At this point I have just about everything in place. Since the initial sketch, it’s gotten bulkier to better fit the tonnage and as a result the code name “Goblin” started to feel far less fitting. Several names are being kicked around internally but nothing has stuck yet.
I still miss those smaller mid-fins, but they just didn’t fit with what came next...
It was around this point that our lead designer Ryan Burell proposed the idea of using our new ‘Mech as a platform for one of the weapons that he was working on, the Thumper Cannon. Admittedly, I wasn’t completely sold on the idea at first. My headcanon role for this ‘Mech until this point was what I was calling a “Ballistic Bastard”, something that would open up armor at range with UAC5’s then get close and finish off open components with LBX10s, but it should never stop plinking away with dakka.
This would be all well and good if we didn’t also have the Annihilator which basically does that exact same thing but bigger and badder. With that in mind, we still needed a gameplay hook for this thing and if we wanted to introduce the Thumper Cannon, we needed a unique ‘Mech to do it. Turns out there really wasn’t a better candidate than this ‘Mech. So within the span of one design meeting, I was convinced that I could make this thing work.
I designed the Thumper Cannon directly in the Sketchup model to ensure that it would feel fully integrated into the ‘Mech.
Mirroring the 45° angles of the legs really helped the Thumper feel like an integral part of the ‘Mech
To project a sleek forward-facing predatory look, I put more emphasis on thick compound curved armor up front, while transitioning to more angular, less armored panels on the rear. Using a concept model instead of detailed 2D drawings allows me to quickly experiment with things like proportions and thickness of panels to ensure this thing can move without clipping into itself. One thing I think the PGI designed ‘Mechs do really well is to make the mechanical elements look like they can fit neatly under layers of heavy armor and still provide a proper range of motion, so it was important for me to maintain that quality bar here.
I can also spin it around and make sure it looks great from every angle!
At this point I’m happy with the base model, so it’s time to send it off to our contract vehicle artist, Victoria Passariello to get it game ready. She’s already done amazing work with the Hatchetman and misc. vehicles and turrets that I’ve designed, so I know this ‘Mech is in good hands.
While Victoria was working on the high poly model, I started working out the texture treatment. Due to it’s mysterious origins I wanted this thing look more advanced than the rest of our ‘Mechs. To push that concept, I wanted to skip the major blemishes and battle scars that our other models have built into their base textures, and I gave it some prominent production markings to make it feel like it rolled off the assembly line directly into storage. It’s the ultimate barn find!
Most of the stainless steel look will get covered by the paint scheme, but the production markings still sit on top.
Now my favorite part, paint schemes! Since each 'Mech gets 6 schemes, I always try to ensure that I cover as many styles as I can, from more classic panel fills with stripes that highlight the forms to more organic camo patches designed to obfuscate.
For the proper Heavy Metal inspiration, I had to go full grimdark with the names
Around this time we got Victoria’s high poly model in and the whole studio was so pumped to see how it turned out!
Just look at that handsome boy!
This was the point where we absolutely needed a more fitting name. We passed around a spreadsheet with options and we all seemed to gravitate towards big aggressive animal names. The shark theme came up several times which made sense given the sleek yet imposing forms and that giant dorsal cannon now turning into such a defining feature. Some of the options along that line were Hammerhead, Goblin Shark, Tiger Shark, Megalodon (cool, but doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue) and finally Bull Shark. We found that last one really stood out and described both the look and personality of this thing and so from that point on it was known as the Bull Shark!
When Victoria delivered the final textured low poly model with all of the paint schemes, she also sent a beautiful set of renders that some of us still use as desktop wallpapers.
I can’t pick a favorite child, but just look at that Goblin skin…
Here’s a sped up process gif that shows how the Gobli...err Bull Shark went from a rough iPad sketch, to VR blockout to Sketchup concept model to final game ready model.
I want to give a huge thanks to Mitch for trusting me with this thing and an even bigger thanks to all of the BATTLETECH fans for playing and sharing this passion!
Next time I’ll talk a bit about what went into bringing the rest of the Heavy Metal and 1.8 ‘Mechs to the game.
I know I’ve said it before, but Battletech has always held a very special place in my heart. As a kid, the mechanics of the gameplay didn’t really grab me, but reading through the novels and flipping through the TROs was an endless source of inspiration. Naturally, like many fans, I’ve always fantasized about crafting new ‘Mechs with distinct looks, unique loadouts and compelling backstories. While the Bull Shark is far from my first attempt at it, it’s definitely the one I’m most proud of so far.
Check out this 30 year old drawing I pulled from the archives. Talk about lostech, does anyone even know the stats of an arm missile?
Also… 110 tons? Come on, there’s no way this thing is more than 20 soaking wet.
Technical ability aside, not much has changed. I still lay awake at night dreaming of the perfect ‘Mech and I would jump at the chance to make something official. Up to this point, designing the new Hatchetman was probably the highlight of my career, so when the opportunity presented itself to design our own HBS ‘Mech for the Heavy Metal expansion, I tried to play it cool but I was mentally high fiving the 10 year old me that dreamt up the fearsome “WARHEAD III”.
While Mitch was clear that this could be our own homegrown design, I really wanted to explore existing ‘Mechs first just to make sure we weren’t passing over a potential fan favorite. We came up with a list of desirable ‘Mechs that exist in our timeline that we didn’t already have PGI models for. The criteria was that it had to be an assault class (this is HEAVY METAL after all) and it had to be cool, because let's face it, no one is going to buy our latest expansion if the flagship ‘Mech is a Hoplite (yes, I know that’s probably someone’s favorite ‘Mech… fight me!) We even reached out to the Catalyst guys for some input which helped shorten the list. I generated some sketches based on our 2 top picks as well as 2 unique designs of my own.
Pillager and Behemoth/Stone Rhino (left) both technically exist in this timeline but are super rare. The Goblin and Phobos (right) are my proposed new designs
Of this set, the original design that I had code named “Goblin” (named after the Italian horror/prog-rock band) was gaining the most traction around the studio. As we decided to move forward with that design, I started to solidify some of my personal goals for it.
There were a few specific things that I wanted this ‘Mech to do:
- Keep the Banshee company in the 95ton slot
- Boat some heavy ballistics because I love dakka (I also played competitive Mechwarrior Online for a while with ISENGRIM, so my instinct is always to go with those high mounts)
- Give it a unique silhouette without breaking our already established PGI aesthetic
- Hint at design elements from the [REDACTED] since this might be our only opportunity to fit that look into our current timeline...
I pulled together a reference sheet of elements from Alex Iglesias’s MWO designs to help ensure I keep the proportions and mechanical elements consistent with the ‘Mechs we already have.
As you can probably tell from the “Warhead III”, I love giving mechs skull faces, so I’ll always have a soft spot for the Banshee
I made one more pass at the sketch before moving on to a 3D blockout. There are still some proportion and balance things I’m not happy with at this stage, but that will be much easier to address when I get into 3D.
We hung up a large print of this image, complete with the name, in one of our meeting rooms and to this day I still catch myself calling this thing Goblin...
My favorite program right now for doing rough 3D blockouts is Oculus Medium. It’s not the easiest program to do hard surface design in (although some may remember that I did make the Hatchetman’s concept model in Medium), but it’s simple interface and the ability to quickly move around and scale the form really speeds up this part of the process for me.
It ain’t pretty, but it’s good enough for the next step...
From there I take the blockout into Google Sketchup to solve all the new problems I just made for myself. This lets me really dig into the industrial design of the thing and make sure the design holds up from a technical perspective. I might not get another chance to make a new ‘Mech for Battletech, so I want to make sure every part works and holds up from every angle.
Starting to take shape as I hammer out the forms
At this point I have just about everything in place. Since the initial sketch, it’s gotten bulkier to better fit the tonnage and as a result the code name “Goblin” started to feel far less fitting. Several names are being kicked around internally but nothing has stuck yet.
I still miss those smaller mid-fins, but they just didn’t fit with what came next...
It was around this point that our lead designer Ryan Burell proposed the idea of using our new ‘Mech as a platform for one of the weapons that he was working on, the Thumper Cannon. Admittedly, I wasn’t completely sold on the idea at first. My headcanon role for this ‘Mech until this point was what I was calling a “Ballistic Bastard”, something that would open up armor at range with UAC5’s then get close and finish off open components with LBX10s, but it should never stop plinking away with dakka.
This would be all well and good if we didn’t also have the Annihilator which basically does that exact same thing but bigger and badder. With that in mind, we still needed a gameplay hook for this thing and if we wanted to introduce the Thumper Cannon, we needed a unique ‘Mech to do it. Turns out there really wasn’t a better candidate than this ‘Mech. So within the span of one design meeting, I was convinced that I could make this thing work.
I designed the Thumper Cannon directly in the Sketchup model to ensure that it would feel fully integrated into the ‘Mech.
Mirroring the 45° angles of the legs really helped the Thumper feel like an integral part of the ‘Mech
To project a sleek forward-facing predatory look, I put more emphasis on thick compound curved armor up front, while transitioning to more angular, less armored panels on the rear. Using a concept model instead of detailed 2D drawings allows me to quickly experiment with things like proportions and thickness of panels to ensure this thing can move without clipping into itself. One thing I think the PGI designed ‘Mechs do really well is to make the mechanical elements look like they can fit neatly under layers of heavy armor and still provide a proper range of motion, so it was important for me to maintain that quality bar here.
I can also spin it around and make sure it looks great from every angle!
At this point I’m happy with the base model, so it’s time to send it off to our contract vehicle artist, Victoria Passariello to get it game ready. She’s already done amazing work with the Hatchetman and misc. vehicles and turrets that I’ve designed, so I know this ‘Mech is in good hands.
While Victoria was working on the high poly model, I started working out the texture treatment. Due to it’s mysterious origins I wanted this thing look more advanced than the rest of our ‘Mechs. To push that concept, I wanted to skip the major blemishes and battle scars that our other models have built into their base textures, and I gave it some prominent production markings to make it feel like it rolled off the assembly line directly into storage. It’s the ultimate barn find!
Most of the stainless steel look will get covered by the paint scheme, but the production markings still sit on top.
Now my favorite part, paint schemes! Since each 'Mech gets 6 schemes, I always try to ensure that I cover as many styles as I can, from more classic panel fills with stripes that highlight the forms to more organic camo patches designed to obfuscate.
For the proper Heavy Metal inspiration, I had to go full grimdark with the names
Around this time we got Victoria’s high poly model in and the whole studio was so pumped to see how it turned out!
Just look at that handsome boy!
This was the point where we absolutely needed a more fitting name. We passed around a spreadsheet with options and we all seemed to gravitate towards big aggressive animal names. The shark theme came up several times which made sense given the sleek yet imposing forms and that giant dorsal cannon now turning into such a defining feature. Some of the options along that line were Hammerhead, Goblin Shark, Tiger Shark, Megalodon (cool, but doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue) and finally Bull Shark. We found that last one really stood out and described both the look and personality of this thing and so from that point on it was known as the Bull Shark!
When Victoria delivered the final textured low poly model with all of the paint schemes, she also sent a beautiful set of renders that some of us still use as desktop wallpapers.
I can’t pick a favorite child, but just look at that Goblin skin…
Here’s a sped up process gif that shows how the Gobli...err Bull Shark went from a rough iPad sketch, to VR blockout to Sketchup concept model to final game ready model.
I want to give a huge thanks to Mitch for trusting me with this thing and an even bigger thanks to all of the BATTLETECH fans for playing and sharing this passion!
Next time I’ll talk a bit about what went into bringing the rest of the Heavy Metal and 1.8 ‘Mechs to the game.
