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ART BOOK

01 V I S U A L D E V E L O P M E N T

Establishing a bold visual direction to bring BATTLETECH to Kickstarter. In the fall of 2015, we made the decision to crowdfund BATTLETECH on Kickstarter. What followed was a whirlwind of planning, prototyping, and visual exploration. (Not to mention a crash-course reimmersion into the BattleTech universe, which I had lapsed from since MechWarrior 4.) Working with Jordan, Mitch, and our amazing concept art team in the weeks leading up to the launch of the Kickstarter campaign was one of the most creatively-fulfilling experiences of my career. We knew from the start that we wanted to bring the world of BATTLETECH to life in a way that hadn’t been experienced before. On the shoulders of Piranha Games’ fantastic ‘Mech designs, we dove into the deep end of BATTLETECH lore, looking to bring visual authenticity to the franchise’s rich setting with sweeping scenes and vistas, flawed human characters, and functional design details. What Joel, Jenn, Maury, Jon and I arrived at was the set of 15 images below - a visual roadmap to where we would take BATTLETECH over the next two-and-a-half years. Looking back on these illustrations, it’s incredible to me how much of this vision - and more - we’ve realized since the days of the Kickstarter campaign! I am thrilled and honored to present you with the vast collection of concept and production art that follows in this art book.

— Mike McCain, Game Director

Joel DuQue // CONCEPT ILLUSTRATIONS Jon Kay // GRAPHIC DESIGN Mike McCain // ART DIRECTION Jenn Ravenna // CONCEPT ILLUSTRATIONS Maury Weiss // CONCEPT ILLUSTRATIONS

02 O P E N I N G C I N E M A T I C

“A golden age of prosperity, upheld by the great MechWarriors of old...” The opening cinematic has the difficult job of trying to convey a thousand years of BattleTech’s future history in about a minute. The initial imagery of humanity’s first interstellar “jump” calls back to our relatively recent memories of our first steps into space, and is thus immediately emotionally impactful. The montage that covers our expansion to the stars tells a familiar story of technological advancement and pioneering spirit, followed by prosperity. For brevity’s sake, we skip over the early feudal wars and jump ahead to the foundation of the Star League in 2571 - to illustrate its ascension, its everexpanding production of BattleMechs, and of course its inevitable collapse. The downfall of the Inner Sphere’s Star League was lead by forces from the Periphery, alliances of worlds on the edge of known space. The end of the cinema leaves us at the beginning of the Succession Wars, which continue for hundreds of years, bringing us finally to 3025 - the period of technological decline and military exhaustion in which our BATTLETECH title takes place.

— Jordan Weisman, Executive Producer

Loïc Bramoullé // MOTION & VFX Joel DuQue // CINEMATIC ILLUSTRATIONS Mike McCain // CINEMATIC ILLUSTRATIONS Jenn Ravenna // CINEMATIC ILLUSTRATIONS

03 C H A R A C T E R S

Designing the cast of characters for BATTLETECH’s story campaign. Designing characters is such a fun part of any project. For me, figuring out the ins-and-outs of what makes a particular visual style tick, and getting it just right, is very important. BATTLETECH was such a new challenge for me personally, as we had the opportunity to start from the ground up in designing our original cast of characters to star in BATTLETECH’s Restoration campaign. As a fan of the MechWarrior series as well, there was a lot of pressure! I wanted to bring emphasis to the nobility of BATTLETECH, with flourishing ornate patterns on top of harder structural lines to represent the rough, technologicaly-fallen nature of the BATTLETECH universe. Designing for the crew of the Argo, and the characters representing the various Noble houses, were among my favorite parts of the character design process. Below, you may notice some very different directions that we almost took a few characters, as well as a few ideas left on the cutting room floor. Thank you very much for supporting the project and I hope you enjoy the hard work in the designs that myself and the team have put into the characters. It really was an honor!

— Joel DuQue, Principal Character Designer

Joel DuQue // CHARACTER DESIGNS Jenn Ravenna // ADDITIONAL CHARACTER DESIGNS Maury Weiss // 3D CHARACTER ART

04 B A T T L E M E C H S

“We feud across the stars with these ancient and terrible machines...” BattleMechs are the iconic war machines of the BattleTech universe! Our ‘Mech models are based on those built by the art team at Piranha Games, creators of MechWarrior Online. The great work Piranha did on the original assets gave us miles of a head start, but there was still a long road ahead to make these ‘Mechs the stars of our game. In addition to re-rigging all ‘Mech skeletons for our own animation tools, we also invested in what we called “resurfacing”. This involved re-texturing every ‘Mech to work with Unity’s Physically Based Rendering pipeline, and to give them a salvaged, patchwork look to reflect the “technological retrograde” aspect of the 3025 time period. An external 3D art team at CGBot set to work re-texturing these ‘Mechs, as well as creating new damage geometry - so that our ‘Mechs can explode in a shower of wreckage befitting that last-ditch DFA maneuver you launched from across the map. Lighting rigs help add a sense of scale, and the glowy bits provided by emissive maps hint at the future tech under all that armor. With ‘Mechs at the heart of the BATTLETECH experience, we hope you enjoy the care and detail that went into bringing these machines to life.

— Steven Rynders, Principal Character Pipeline Artist

CGBot // ‘MECH SURFACING Piranha Games // ORIGINAL ‘MECH DESIGNS & ASSETS Marco Mazzoni // PAINT SCHEMES, CUSTOM ‘MECH DESIGNS Hollie Mengert // MECH ANIMATIONS Jenn Ravenna // PAINT SCHEMES Steven Rynders // MECH RIGGING Maury Weiss // ‘MECH SURFACING

05 V E H I C L E S

A host of vehicles to complement Piranha’s BattleMech designs. Support vehicles and turrets, while not the stars of the battlefield next to ‘Mechs, play a key role in fleshing out the mechanized portion of the BattleTech universe. Even though they are fun targets for stomping and multishot, they can still be dangerous in larger numbers or when left unaddressed – don’t underestimate them on the battlefield! BATTLETECH’s vehicles and turrets were largely created by several talented artists external to HBS. To name a few of the key players, we had the honor of enlisting the help of one of the original ‘Mech and vehicle designers back in 1984, Duane Loose, to update some his vehicles, as well as longtime BattleTech artist Marco Mazzoni to flesh out the set. We were also lucky to connect with Victoria Passariello, who created masterful 3D realizations of these concepts, along with her work on our spaceships. Our internal team, headed by Maury Weiss, put on the finishing touches of getting all of these units into the game and making sure they get destroyed with a satisfying explosion of metal bits! Hopefully you enjoy the role of these supporting vehicles and turrets as they add variety and strategic challenges during your missions.

— Chris Klimecky, Lead Producer

Duane Loose // VEHICLE DESIGNS Marco Mazzoni // VEHICLE DESIGNS Victoria Passariello // 3D VEHICLE ART Chris Rogers // VEHICLE DESIGNS Maury Weiss // ADDITIONAL 3D VEHICLE ART

06 E N V I R O N M E N T S

The settlements and sweeping vistas of the Rimward Periphery. One of the most important things, when you’re talking about making a game where giant walking tanks blast each other into scrap with arrays of futuristic weapons, is where they’re doing the blasting. Our goal in BATTLETECH is to give you the sense of being in a real place where real people live and die. The word we kept coming back to as a touchstone was ‘naturalistic’. Not a game level, not a carefully managed environment with waist-high cover, but a rolling countryside. A jagged mountain pass. A wind-scoured desert basin. The astonishing art that follows captures that touchstone perfectly. These are places, not game arenas. These are the worlds where humans cling to a marginal existence, or thrive and flourish, or suffer under a brutal dictatorship. As Jenn’s concept art guides us through these distant visions of the future, and the map art team brings these worlds to life, they keep us grounded in the fundamental reality of these locations. Through color and detail, through both familiar and alien elements, the very human universe of BATTLETECH can emerge as a place worth fighting over, and fighting for.

— Kiva Maginn, Lead Designer James Ball // 3D ENVIRONMENT ART Cassidy Aquilino-Berg // 3D ENVIRONMENT ART Joel DuQue // ADDITIONAL STRUCTURE CONCEPT ART Zach Hartlage // 3D ENVIRONMENT ART Mike Hines // TERRAIN GENERATION Tristin Ishmael // 3D ENVIRONMENT ART Matt Lucas // 3D ENVIRONMENT ART Jenn Ravenna // ENVIRONMENT CONCEPT ART Lee Scheinbeim // ENVIRONMENT RENDERING

07 S PA C E C R A F T

Designing spacecraft and interstellar travel in the BATTLETECH universe. The Leopard and the Argo are the spaceships that carry your mercenary company to their next job. We wanted our ships to look somewhat plausible while still being part of a universe with giant, ancient BattleMechs. Our version of Piranha Games’ Leopard takes some design cues from the real life space ​ shuttle, implying that the underside is covered in a heat resistant surface to protect the ship on reentry. The Argo is hundreds of years old, and the ship looks it! When first recovered the ship is a hulk, barely holding together. Scaffolding is visible through gaps in the hull and the interior is a mishmash of screens and hanging wires. Around the Argo’s spine are the three habitation pods that rotate when the ship is coasting, but fold back along the axis of thrust when undergoing acceleration. There are many planets you can visit in the Periphery, the surfaces of which are created with a combination of fractals and real world map data. The atmospheres are drawn with a technique called raymarching to give a sense of light scattering through the clouds. But more importantly, down there is your next paycheck.

— Lee Scheinbeim, Principal Lighting & Rendering Artist

Will Avery // 3D ARGO INTERIORS Joel DuQue // ARGO INTERIOR DESIGNS Mike McCain // SPACESHIP DESIGNS Victoria Passariello // 3D SPACESHIP ART Lee Scheinbeim // SPACE RENDERING Maury Weiss // 3D SPACESHIPS & INTERIORS

08 I N T E R F A C E D E S I G N

Surfacing a universe of information at the click of a mouse. BattleTech has a history of complexity, and our game is no exception! Presenting the sheer tonnage of information that a player might need was a big challenge for our UX team. Our early designs locked onto high contrast for accessibility, and an austere military feel to keep the UI rooted in the setting. With each successive mockup or prototype, we tried to distill how to show the right information at the right time: surfacing what’s important now, with icons and layered information to help players decide what to do next. As you can see in the images here, it took us a few tries! We’re very grateful for the direct feedback from our players through early alphas and playtest builds to help make sure we stayed on target. After much collaboration and iteration, we arrived at a set of interfaces that allow the player to manage lots of technical data in a way that felt informative without being overwhelming. Hopefully in the end, you’ll feel empowered as a MechCommander, able to evaluate your crew and the battlefield all while being just a few clicks away from strategic and tactical decisions!

— Erik Fleuter, Lead UI/UX Technical Designer

Ryan Burrell // UI ART & DESIGN Spencer Curtis // UI ART & DESIGN Erik Fleuter // UI ART & DESIGN Jon Kay // GRAPHIC DESIGN, ICONS & CARTOGRAPHY Hollie Mengert // ACHIEVEMENT ICONS Val Nunez // ADDITIONAL UI ART Chris Rogers // UI ART & DESIGN

09 E V E N T S

The trials and tribulations of running a fledgling Mercenary company. As you travel between contracts, or wait for Yang and his team to refit your ‘Mechs, you get glimpses of life aboard the Argo when Events come up. Many times these are key decision points that can influence your Lance’s effectiveness in combat, but there are also moments when you can catch a glimpse of the less critical areas of the Argo, like the Lounge or Hydroponics Lab. It’s in these quieter moments that you get a sense of what your crew is like in between missions. You might find a traumatized MechWarrior in the MechLab when she should be in bed recovering, or you might end up dealing with the fallout of Yang’s terrible cooking. In each case, when you react to those events you get a look at the day-to-day life of your mercenary company in between combat drops. Most of the images on the following pages were produced under contract by the art team at Voracious Games, while the remainder were produced by the HBS team.

— Chris Rogers, Lead Sim-Game UI/UX Designer

Anguel Bogoev (Voracious) // EVENT ILLUSTRATIONS Aryo Jati Darmawan (Voracious) // EVENT ILLUSTRATIONS Joel DuQue // EVENT ILLUSTRATIONS & STORYBOARDS Sengamphon Lattanavong (Voracious) // EVENT ILLUSTRATIONS Hope Lee (Voracious) // EVENT ILLUSTRATIONS Chris Rogers // EVENT STORYBOARDS

10 B A C K E R P O R T R A I T S

Nobles and mercenaries, heroes and villains, and many generous Backers. There’s something very special for me about playing a mission in BATTLETECH with one of our Kickstarter Backers in my lance. Seeing their MechWarrior portraits at the bottom of my screen gives me a sense of connection that’s hard to adequately describe. This is one of the people who got us here. Who believed in us. Who helped make this game happen. We’ve felt their invisible support for the last two and a half years and now I get to actually see them in the game and share the experience of playing together - at least in spirit. I love reading the character backgrounds we wrote based on their instructions, and I love how Joel took the photographs they provided and turned them into 31st Century MechWarriors.

— Mitch Gitelman, HBS Studio Manager

Joel DuQue // PORTRAIT ILLUSTRATIONS Lisa Heidoff // ADDITIONAL PORTRAITS David Kaye // ADDITIONAL PORTRAITS

SPOILER WARNING

11 S T O R Y C I N E M A T I C S

Bringing the characters and environs of the Aurigan Reach to life. In developing the BATTLETECH story campaign, we knew that we’d have three primary storytelling tools at our disposal: in-mission dialogue (through which we could advance the plot during individual story missions), group conversations (through which we could deep-dive into the politics and intrigue of the BattleTech universe while simultaneously giving the player a chance to engage in some light roleplaying), and story cinematics, through which we could do any narrative heavy-lifting that our other tools weren’t suited for. From the very beginning, we knew that a lot of our major narrative beats were going to have to be handled through cinematics; these were events that would be too large to convey on an in-game map or in a group conversation setting, and we believe in the old adage that it’s better to show than to tell. The scripts were written by myself, Mike McCain, and Mitch Gitelman, and were then brought to life by our composer, Jon Everist, our VO cast, and the wonderful people listed in the credits section below. In case you couldn’t tell, I love these cinematics, especially the “History of the Universe” sequence that opens the game. I hope that you feel the same!

— Andrew McIntosh, Principal Writer

Loïc Bramoullé // CINEMATIC MOTION & VFX Joel DuQue // CINEMATIC ILLUSTRATIONS Mike McCain // ADDITIONAL CINEMATIC ILLUSTRATIONS Jenn Ravenna // CINEMATIC ILLUSTRATIONS Chris Rogers // ADDITIONAL STORYBOARDS Ben Zweifel // CINEMATIC ILLUSTRATIONS Maury Weiss // ADDITIONAL CINEMATIC ILLUSTRATIONS

THANK YOU! HAREBRAINED

SCHEMES

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END TRANSMISSION

2018