Dev Vlog #11
Tina: Hello, welcome to Dev Vlog #11. I'm Tina, community manager at PGI, and I'm sitting here with Lisa, a 3D artist, and Alex, our concept artist.
So, how are you guys feeling today?
Alex: Pretty good!
Lisa: Good! Excited to be here!
Tina: What were you guys working on today?
Lisa: I am the cockpit artist here at PGI, so I'm working on Wave 3 right now. Currently the Arctic Cheetah!
Tina: I see.
Alex: I'm working on the orthos for the crab. And that's it.
Tina: (to Lisa) So you're working on the Ebon Jaguar right now?
Lisa: Yes, I just finished it up actually! It's a pretty cool looking mech.
Tina: So how much research do you do before you start working on a cockpit?
Lisa: Before I start, I always have the concept art from Alex, so I have an idea of what it is supposed to look like. And I also usually get the high poly model from the mech modelers, which is really helpful when making it look like the inside matches the outside. And that's really helpful. But I also get a lot of inspiration from places like Sarna, and Alex's brain. He knows *everything* about Battletech!
I definitely look at a lot of cockpits online. Sometimes I just type "Cool cockpits" in Google images and see what comes up.
Tina: Oh, so that's like the one we saw on your desktop. You have a cockpit as your desktop image.
Lisa: Yes, that is the Douglas D-7. It's actually a cockpit from the 1950s.
Tina: Wow, it looks very impressive.
Lisa: It actually inspired the IS cockpit mechs for after the King Crab. The King Crab, Urbanmech and Zeus all have styles inspired by that cockpit.
Tina: The Urbanmech! That cockpit has a lot of jokes on it. Can you tell us about those?
Lisa: Well we wanted to do something that would be kind of fun and unique, because it's the Urbanmech... the Urbie. A really fun mech! But we still wanted it to look like it fit in the Battletech universe, not a joke. I know there were some people who were interested in steampunk or shag carpet and hot tubs and lots of silly things. So I just came up with some ideas to fill it in. Alex helped me with that. He liked the idea of putting a speedometer in there, so I added some sticky tabs
Tina: You designed them from scratch. You have nothing from the past of Battletech...
Lisa: That's true. I have pretty much the exterior concept, so everything on the inside is inspired by real life cockpits, and whatever I can think up to make them feel cool and interesting. And make sure I keep good visibility while still making them *there* and present, and feel unique. Because every single one is unique, and I work really hard to make every single one have its own elements that fit together and help make it worth... being cool.
Tina: Especially when you are trying to separate the IS and the Clan mechs too, right? You have to try to differentiate those right?
Lisa: Yes. The Inner Sphere mechs are more inspired by the older kind of technology we have. So I try to look at 1940s and 1950s kinds of cockpits. Also what the previous cockpit artist has done before me. I did not do all the cockpits for the game, just the last ones. And the Clans, they are newer, obviously the Clan tech is more advanced. So they get more unpainted metal, and they feel more cramped, and they have good visibility. They're kind of fun to make because they get to be a little more industrial, a little more science fiction, whereas I try to keep the Inner Sphere more based on real cockpits, feeling more real materials, that type of feel to them.
Tina: Do you have a favorite cockpit?
Lisa: I have... my favorite Clan is the Nova. Sometimes the Kit Fox. It depends on what day you ask. I like the really unique cockpits. And the Kit Fox has kind of the almost T shape. And for Inner Sphere right now I really like the Grasshopper. I like the asymmetrical cockpits a lot and you can kind of see into the mech. You can also see what is outside that one.
Tina: You were also working on the Executioner, right?
Lisa: Yes. I finished that one recently. And that one was fun, because the assaults they get to be big, heavy mechs. Thicker bars, very large cockpits with lots of shapes. You get lots of side windows; if you look sideways they're a lot bigger. Pretty fun to work on! A lot of work though!
Tina: (To Alex) And do you have a favorite cockpit?
Alex: Probably the King Crab. Just nice and wide visibility, and I can see the claws when I keep spamming the door open and close button. I usually at the start of a match just start facing people and... /clackity claw gesture... really fast.
Tina: And right now you're working on the Crab, right?
Alex: Yeah, I'm doing the orthographics for the Crab right now. I just finished up doing the Resistance versions of the Resistance 2 lineup. The paint scheme... there will be extra geometry and everything like that. And that's what I'm working on now.
Tina: Now that you've designed over 40 mechs, do you have another favorite that you are hoping to tackle one day?
Alex: I really do want to work on the Bushwacker. That one is a fun design...
Tina: It has a funny name too!
Alex: It's kind of a boxier looking crab, but it's got more stuff going on. It's more of a generalist. It looks like an attach chopper on two legs. I just like the aesthetics.
Tina: If you were a real live Mechwarrior, what mech would you pilot?
Alex: Probably one of the crab ones. Either the regular Crab or the King Crab.
Tina: You like the claw things?
Alex: I LIKE THE CLAWS! They just... they speak to me. I ... I like the claws.
Lisa: Not the Timberwolf? That's what I would choose.
Alex: Everybody chooses the Timberwolf!
Lisa: Because it's so good!
Tina: I would too!
Alex: Yeah, but everyone's doing it.
Tina: Although those light mechs, the speed is pretty fun. I can imagine it's like being in a little race car or something.
Lisa: Yeah, but you can only take one or two hits and you blow up!
Alex: If you get hit!
Tina: Was there any challenges in the Wave 3 pack?
Alex: Yeah, the Arctic Cheetah. It wasn't until I started it that I realized that the missile boxes were going to be kind of a problem, in terms that they needed special treatment. Since they were up here and fixed, whereas every other missile launcher on every other mech is down past the elbow. We had to figure something out for how those would work. Aside from that, no. The mechs were pretty straightforward.
Tina: How are the Resistance 2 mechs going?
Alex: Those went well. The Crab was my favorite to do. The Black Knight was probably the hardest one, relatively speaking. Lot of different takes on it in trying to make that really "dude in a knight suit with guns attached" look proper, military, ... yeah, that was a bit of a challenge.
Tina: A lot of players commented on the helmet; they really liked the helmet shape. (To Lisa): Are you working on the Resistance 2 cockpits right now?
Lisa: No, I'm still working on Wave 3. Alex gets to work quite a bit ahead of us. I'm working alongside the mech modelers. Making sure they get out on time.
Off camera: Have you looked at the Resistance 2 mechs?
Lisa: Oh yes, I'm always looking far ahead. The concept art is really fun to look at. Yeah, I've already started to think about how they are going to look, but I need to make sure I stay focused on Wave 3 first! The Crab is my favorite one from that. I think it looks the coolest. Very unique.
Tina: It's cute too!
Lisa: Cute? Ok, it's cute too! It's got a long head... it has its own personality. I like it when they have a very unique, distinct personality like that.
Alex: I'm hoping we can get that looking down the hood kind of ... in the first person view aspect to it if possible.
Lisa: It'll be possible! We always attach parts now for the exterior. I don't see why not! ... It's on tape now. I have to do it!
Alex: My only regret is that that nose will get in the way of seeing the claws.
Lisa: Yeah, those claws aren't going to be visible for that one. You're just sitting on a big box.
Tina: How happy were you with the redesign of the Crab after doing the King Crab?
Alex: Pretty good! I tried to keep it pretty close to the original mini. I kinda went a little out there with the claws. Basically all I wanted to do with the legs was make sure it didn't look like it was falling over, like the miniature does. Kinda had to add an actual cockpit to it, because the mini doesn't really have a visible head. Yeah, had to add that to it. Otherwise I tried to keep the design not that much changed, because I really liked the original one and I think it looks pretty cool as is.
Tina: When do we get new pilots?
Lisa: That's actually being worked on by one of the mech modelers! And it's looking really good! I can't say when, but it's coming.
Tina: I'm sure people can't wait for that?
Lisa: I can't wait for that either!
Tina: How often do you play Mechwarrior Online?
Lisa: Four or five times a week now. At least one or two drops. It's pretty fun! Just after work here. I should probably start playing on my dev account.
Tina: You like to hide! (To Alex) What about you?
Alex: I haven't played in a while. I've been a little busy. But I'm trying to play some more on weekends.
Tina: You guys should join the Dev Drops on Fridays if you haven't yet.
Alex: We're... not very good.
Lisa: You should probably play, because you're one of the better people!
Alex: Noooooooo.... I'm mediocre and I've seen the people out there, and it's like they're expecting the feeder fish to fight back against the big fish.
Lisa: Well, I'm going to play. I've got headphones finally so I can actually use voice on there. I'll give it a try, see if I can help the team at all. It won't be 12-0!
Tina: You're pretty good with mediums, aren't you?
Lisa: No, I play heavies. Currently I like the Timberwolf and King Crab.
Tina: Ah, the Timberwolf. That's my favorite to play. I just put a bunch of lasers in there and...
Thank you very much for your time from your work to come talk. Thank you very much for watching, and until next time!
Bonus footage:
Tina: Lisa, why are you the Executioner? Do you have any idea why Dennis chose this?
Lisa: I don't have any idea why my boss chose me to be the Executioner! I have *no* idea!
Alex: I have no idea why I'm the Arctic Cheetah! I literally don't.
Tina: What is this... "get out of here Stalker"? A hybrid Mechwarrior-STALKER meme?
Alex: Yeah, I'm a fan of this STALKER game, and in the original Stalker concept art I threw a bunch of references all over the paint job. And it's also a throwback to the old doodle I had done on the internet like years before, and actually based the look of the Stalker on that, because people seemed to really like that picture, so I just rolled with it.