Mecha

For the mecha modeling, I already had a general direction during the concept design stage, and in the modeling stage I mainly need to complete further detailing and design.

In the leg section, I added more mechanical details and hydraulic rods to make it look more industrial overall, and at the same time I tried to make it appear thicker and more powerful.

In the central main body of the mecha — the most important and visually prominent part, the nuclear warhead bay — I tried to make the detailing fit more closely with a Cold War style.

In designing the railgun, I mainly weighed between a railgun and a coilgun. Although the railgun’s appearance is more sci-fi and fits modern aesthetics better, in the last century electromagnetic coils were the most common, which is why retro-futuristic works are full of coil-based technology. However, after considering everything together, the coils would make the overall style feel very out of place and inconsistent with the rest of my design, so I chose the railgun as the final option.

For the radar, the modelling follows the most common style of a phased-array radar, but I added some extra details to increase the overall visual interest of the design.

Preview

Super AI

The final form of the super AI is designed as an extremely simple holographic tablet. It has no face, no limbs, and no mechanical structure. In essence, it is a rectangular cuboid floating in the air. In the material creation, I chose a glass-like texture, giving it a kind of eerie feeling.

I want its presence to be cold, distant, and completely without humanity. It floats there quietly, like a tombstone of civilisation. In the meeting room scene of the story, these super AIs will line up in rows, like silent judges.