133 replies to this topic

[BladeXXL]

Very very good designs here! Good work. I'd realy like to see if PGI can bring theyr own concept... and what it would look like... maybe like one of these.

[Syrkres]

I like #3 if I had to pick only one. The general look and feel reminds me of other MWO mechs.

#1 and #2 I like because the ballistic hard point is on the top.

My suggestion is to take #3 and move the ballistic back to the top (though not sure how this fits in with hard points and slots). Though in the MAD-5S you can place a gauss in that ballistic and I assume that is not in the center/head.
So is there really a ballistic in the center or does it fall to the side?

I like the idea of limiting the size of the ballistic you can place there because we already have enough other mechs with it in the side torso.

[Karyudo ds]

Syrkres, on 18 November 2013 - 01:25 PM, said:

So is there really a ballistic in the center or does it fall to the side?

I don't think it has ever actually been center mounted really. The Glaug could, so the original art did, but Battletech didn't support any of the Marauder weapons being able to fit in the center, so on the record sheet they were on the left. We just sort of always ignored that.

[Randalf Yorgen]

I hated that I could only vote for one, what if they were 5 varriants. Some very talented people. I supose 1 could be the 75 ton IS version and one could be the Clan 100ton IIC version.

[Ingvay]

I went with Shimmering Swords, but Marcobra's is right there just a hair away from being my fav. Honestly, I like several pasrts of all five designs for different reasons.

Swords appeals to me the most overall, I like Cobras torso a bit more than the rest, I love Crow's gun design with the armor shielding, Bishops under-cockpit laser mount and general arm mounted weapons look nice and the armor panels/plating on Karyudo's version add a lot of realism.

Taking the top two vote winners and combining the best features from the others would make a marauder that would be widely liked IMO.

Great job by all the artists, and kudos to the top five.

[MoonUnitBeta]

Ingvay, on 18 November 2013 - 02:59 PM, said:

I went with Shimmering Swords, but Marcobra's is right there just a hair away from being my fav. Honestly, I like several pasrts of all five designs for different reasons.

Swords appeals to me the most overall, I like Cobras torso a bit more than the rest, I love Crow's gun design with the armor shielding, Bishops under-cockpit laser mount and general arm mounted weapons look nice and the armor panels/plating on Karyudo's version add a lot of realism.

Taking the top two vote winners and combining the best features from the others would make a marauder that would be widely liked IMO.

Great job by all the artists, and kudos to the top five.

I appreciate that you've posted about the positives in this thread and not the negatives Thank you.

[Stingray Productions]

it actually took me a while to choose one, i like them all!

[Bishop Steiner]

Karyudo ds, on 18 November 2013 - 01:55 PM, said:

I don't think it has ever actually been center mounted really. The Glaug could, so the original art did, but Battletech didn't support any of the Marauder weapons being able to fit in the center, so on the record sheet they were on the left. We just sort of always ignored that.

well, the MAD 3D could technically do it, since the large laser can fit in a CT, but I don't remember offhand if it DID.

[Bishop Steiner]

Cimarb, on 18 November 2013 - 12:27 PM, said:

Something that I have noticed a lot of people say is that this design should be more menacing, or that design isn't mean enough. I think you are putting way more into descriptions from lore than is warranted. Even the Wolfhound, which was a tiny mech, was described as a fierce design. Shoot, the Nova that Phelan piloted was described as "bristling with weapons". Not a single mech in existence is described as anything but a war machine designed to be the most powerful vehicle in the universe. Even the lowliest mech is a huge asset in a war, and that even goes down to the lowliest agromechs in the Dark Ages.

The Marauder was not feared because of its looks. It was feared because of its capabilities (such as one version being able to fire all three PPCs at once without building up any excess heat, for instance). It was made legend by the pilots that took those capabilities to the next level, such as Grayson and Natasha. It's like a Ford Mustang. Sure, it may not have the most aggressive styling, nor the best statistics compared to {insert vehicle}, but it is a muscle car legend and always will be.

I would disagree, because you need to look at the full context of the description. It is HOW the ferociousness, or aggressiveness was described. Things like insectile, crablike, lean, menacing, forward jutting, etc. Those DO paint a menta lpicture. The wolf hound was noted for it's "ferocious leanness" combined with it egyptian avatar like head. And the Nova packs 12 er medium lasers.... sounds pretty bristling to me, lol.

Ingvay, on 18 November 2013 - 02:59 PM, said:

I went with Shimmering Swords, but Marcobra's is right there just a hair away from being my fav. Honestly, I like several pasrts of all five designs for different reasons.

Swords appeals to me the most overall, I like Cobras torso a bit more than the rest, I love Crow's gun design with the armor shielding, Bishops under-cockpit laser mount and general arm mounted weapons look nice and the armor panels/plating on Karyudo's version add a lot of realism.

Taking the top two vote winners and combining the best features from the others would make a marauder that would be widely liked IMO.

Great job by all the artists, and kudos to the top five.

I'd happily team up with any of the them. All 4 are superb artists, and definitely know digital rendering better than I likely ever will.

In fact, I hope my critiques were not construed as attacks or negatives, because I feel all 4 of the other guys have a lot more business being on here than I do, TBH. One of the best thing's that ever happened to my art concepts was running into Kiriage, who has done such an amazing job bringing my KGC to life. I would love to see what any of these guys could do with my stuff, or even better in collaboration. But pretty sure most of them have plenty of their own designs to work on!

[Karyudo ds]

Bishop Steiner, on 18 November 2013 - 05:43 PM, said:

well, the MAD 3D could technically do it, since the large laser can fit in a CT, but I don't remember offhand if it DID.

That's true. When I went looking for a record sheet for my concept the one I found was a 3D. I don't think it was FASA made, but like Sarna's wording suggested to me, the laser was in place of the AC5 with heatsinks center. So I'm thinking it probably didn't, I mean the art would fit then but only for the one.

Bishop Steiner, on 18 November 2013 - 05:55 PM, said:

I'd happily team up with any of the them. All 4 are superb artists, and definitely know digital rendering better than I likely ever will.

Wonder Twin Powers activate?

[Bishop Steiner]

Karyudo ds, on 18 November 2013 - 06:09 PM, said:

That's true. When I went looking for a record sheet for my concept the one I found was a 3D. I don't think it was FASA made, but like Sarna's wording suggested to me, the laser was in place of the AC5 with heatsinks center. So I'm thinking it probably didn't, I mean the art would fit then but only for the one.



Wonder Twin Powers activate?

name the time and project bro, I'll be there!

[Scav3ng3r]

A lot of great designs throughout the whole contest, I'm glad to see all the pieces I voted for made it to the top 5, you are all amazing artists, makes me jealous ;P

Great job guys, grats on making it to the top 5! IMO you all won, sadly I was only allowed 1 vote, so I voted for Marcobra, I actually still use his holloween contest entry as the background image on my computer XD

The only design that didn't make it to the top 5 that I voted for was Dadrick's which was also an amazing design. Oh well thats what happens when you have too many amazing artists in a contest ;P

MoonUnitBeta: Awesome contest idea, I hope you manage to motivate some PGI people to rethink their ideas about adding more unseen into MWO. Would be nice to have a WarHammer to go with my BattleMaster ;P

[Cimarb]

Bishop Steiner, on 18 November 2013 - 05:55 PM, said:

I would disagree, because you need to look at the full context of the description. It is HOW the ferociousness, or aggressiveness was described. Things like insectile, crablike, lean, menacing, forward jutting, etc. Those DO paint a menta lpicture. The wolf hound was noted for it's "ferocious leanness" combined with it egyptian avatar like head. And the Nova packs 12 er medium lasers.... sounds pretty bristling to me, lol.

You miss my meaning, but that is usually because I suck at communicating it. Can you name a single battlemech that was described as anything BUT aggressive/mean/ferocious? "Awww, look at that cute little Timberwolf...isn't it just the sweetest thing?" Just doesn't inspire much awe, does it?

If you look at the original design that the Marauder was based upon, it wasn't very impressive. It was spindly, awkward and quite fragile looking. The great novelists that brought these mechs to life couldn't very well use those descriptions, so they had to use artistic license to inspire our imaginations. Every one of you used that same artistic license for these designs, but like a movie based upon a book, it may or may not be what each viewer was expecting.

What were we talking about again?...

[Karyudo ds]

Bishop Steiner, on 18 November 2013 - 07:32 PM, said:

name the time and project bro, I'll be there!

64 Page BT graphic novel annnnnnnnd go!


Wait... that's not entirely a bad idea.

Cimarb, on 18 November 2013 - 08:56 PM, said:

You miss my meaning, but that is usually because I suck at communicating it. Can you name a single battlemech that was described as anything BUT aggressive/mean/ferocious? "Awww, look at that cute little Timberwolf...isn't it just the sweetest thing?" Just doesn't inspire much awe, does it?

The Urbanmech sir. Not sure if the TRO used the word "cute", but if not then it was a missed opportunity.

Cimarb, on 18 November 2013 - 08:56 PM, said:

If you look at the original design that the Marauder was based upon, it wasn't very impressive. It was spindly, awkward and quite fragile looking.

Did you ever see it run? It looked bad running. I think it was more mention for flying and leaping really. I don't think design was bad when actually drawn well, but it was intended to be alien space magic and that doesn't come with a warranty. Unlike other mechs like the Tomahawk, Defender, Gladiator, or basically designed for what Battletech was about, so those worked out a bit better. When the Marauder's pilot is 40 feet tall, things are bound to not add up

[Kamikaze Viking]

Soo hard to decide.
But I agree with CarrionCrows that the design needs to be the Least Marauder like to get past HG.

That said I Love all 5 Designs.
I fully expect Marcobra to win (and he deserves it), but I have to vote for the underdog.
So my vote goes to ResidentCrow.
I'd love to see that thing on the field. Its different enough to get past HG, and its the only design to shield the cockpit from easy headshots.

[Kalam Mehkar]

MoonUnitBeta: Great idea and thanks for putting this together! It's been great just to see so much good fan art in one place.

I liked so much of the submitted art in the first thread and of course in this top five. Great job from everyone that participated!

I voted for Bishop's because, regardless of the slightly busy legs (that could always be cleaned up), it had the nicest "leanness" and aggressiveness to it that always seemed to be strong features of the original MAD TRO art. Well done! I liked all of the others as well, don't get me wrong, but I only have one vote this time

I agree with some of the other comments that a number of these tend to remind me of other MAD variants, like a MAD II, Nightstar, etc. Again, this is just my subjective preference and another reason why I liked the leanness of Bishops.

Thanks everyone!!!!!

[Ormstarr the Splitter]

Fherot, Bishop, thank you guys for the quality feedback. I'll admit that I sometimes cringe at paintovers (even from my AD, hehe) but don't worry I don't let that gut reaction take away from the intended message. I think you guys are both right about pulling the torso forward more. There's a lot of little things that will always bother me about the image, but isn't that always how it is?

Here are some quick crits to return the favor...

Fherot - You have some really solid linework here, something I personally admire because I'm so lousy at it I understand that you're not fully comfortable painting up your images yet, but I don't think you have anything to worry about there. If anything I'd say the technical issue that made this difficult to read was the choice of lighting. Backlighting is a tricky thing to pull off if you're just starting out with rendering. It requires a lot of commitment to hard shadows and a pretty advanced knowlege of form. It's generally used for dramatic effect and it's not typically good at showcasing design either. I would recommend sticking with a more simple overhead lighting situation until you feel comfortable moving on to a bigger challenge. I really do dig the design and it was an easy "like" from me. I do think the cockpit is a touch on the tiny side, but that's just my personal taste.

Bishop - Another easy "Like" with this one. You mentioned having some trepidation towards going digital but I honestly think your designs would really sing with some cleaned up linework which I think you could easily handle in Photoshop. Yours was easily one of my favorite designs in the contest. My only real crit would be that the angle and pose that you selected make it difficult to see what's happening with the legs. I think that if the torso is going to be so twisted, then we should be able to see both hips for a quicker read. I also think hiding the rear foot behind the hill makes it look a bit awkward, but the clarity of the front foot certainly helps. To be honest, while I really liked your design, it wasn't my #1 pick in the beginning. However there are a lot of elements that really resonate with me and the more I look at it the better I appreciate it. In fact, my final vote came down between you and crow, and I think you might be surprised by who I went with

Edited by Marcobra, 19 November 2013 - 02:52 AM.

[CarpetShark]

Can I vote for Bishop Steiner's remake of Marcobra's design? Please?

That said, my vote went to Karyudo DS. Something in the design spoke to me, and while it does look way too front heavy, I just took it that the mech was in mid-step before one leg goes forward and not at rest, which solved that for me.

Nice job, every single one of you.

Edited by CarpetShark, 19 November 2013 - 03:43 AM.

[NecrOdium]

Man, they all look great. Hard to choose, I understand why Marcobra's could win, due to looking on cue with the current art direction of MWO. But I had to vote for ResidentCrow, his mecha sort of had a japanese style to his design, and just looked unique.

Gratz to all 5 though!!

[fandre]

Voted for Marcobra (3) as it fits IMO best into the existing MWO mech style ... and it looks pretty fierce.I like to see it implemented by PGI as the smaler Marauder. Shmmering Swords version is my favorite basis for the Marauder II when it is adapted to the style from Marcobra but larger an far more bulkier. Ok, that might not be conform with canon.

Good job to all 5 of you. Like to see something from you in the next contest.

Edited by fandre, 19 November 2013 - 04:25 AM.