Artist's commentary
Concept art for the Slave Zero project, used to focus test a range of mecha styles for the main character in a “Blade Runner meets Evangelion” style action game.
High-level story: rebel hero steals prototype mecha from megalopolis overlord and uses the overlord’s own new weapon against the regime. Rebel hero has to permanently merge with the mecha, giving up his humanity in the process (a conceit prohibiting the “pilot” from ever exiting the “vehicle”, thus leaving the team only a single scale to design for). A bio-mechanical mecha made sense here.
Conservative types in the company, only familiar with the Mechwarrior franchise of giant robots (itself a direct, bastardized western derivation of Macross and Dougram), pushed for the boxy mecha-style (option A). The development team, Marketing, and multiple focus groups overwhelmingly preferred the two more-bio-mechanical styles (options C & D). In the end the project ended up with something a bit more heroic-looking and closer to the rounder mecha style (option B), with the biomechanical style (the fifth sketch) reserved for enemies… a decision I disagreed with and thought was, frankly, a pussy move that minimized the impact of the hero’s sacrifice… that he has to become a monster to fight monsters.
In the end the Project Lead let me down anyway by failing to deliver on the pathos of the story and the final character (to be shown later) was a result of design-by-committee. I learned to not-hate it, like it a little even, but remain disappointed with it. It was the last time I put my heart into something that someone else owned and, more importantly, that someone else could fall down on.
We had that chance to make something bold, memorable, grotesque, and unique.
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