Project
Metalcore
• Studio 369 Founder
• Studio Art Director
• Marketing
METALCORE is a free-to-play, first-person/third-person multiplayer mechanized combat game powered by towering War Machines fighting for dominance in large-scale battles.
Studio 369 at its height with outside resources had more than 30 artists. The largest art crew I've had in recent history. The challenges that come with a larger team are different and my role changes. At its core the things that matter always stay the same. Establishing a source of truth and visual pillars becomes essential. I really enjoyed the collaboration between the different disciplines of artists and how each embraced the world and design that became a playground for giant war machines.
Studio
Studio 369
Released
2025
Timeframe
4 Years
Project Type
Steam, Web3
Technology
Unreal Engine
Web3
NFT ownership
The scale of Metalcore is one of the more dramatic aspects. You get used to seeing the big mechs,
then when it calls for you to exit and enter a building you're immediately reminded of how small you really are.
The landscape needed to feel believable for life but also spacious enough for the massive machines.
Different biomes brought different hazards but were all beautiful. Just like Earth, if humans weren't there nature would thrive.
The bases were massive in size. Everything would spawn from them and most mechs could walk in and out.
The design was the same for all factions but they all had a unique color scheme.
These are the concepts for each building. We had a lot of fun with the variation and what they could be.
You can enter all of them and each one served a specific purpose.
I had established objective, criteria based critiques rather than subjective reviews. By framing all feedback around the set of creative pillars
I ensured adjustments served the collective vision rather than personal preferences. Consistency is key as the project grows.
There was a large variation in wildlife. Some were as massive as the giant mechs. Sadly most were cut for performance reasons.
Golden hour was a time of day we lingered on. Long shadows and the warmth of the sun gave the landscape a feeling of home no matter what you were doing.
Metalcore is a web3 game, part of that are NFT's. What makes it unique is that your NFT is an asset in the game. It has an actual utility in game.
Mostly in the set of a type of war machine or a specific character that belongs to a specific faction. Each had its own stats and rarity.
When you worked together, even the less powerful mechs were dangerous.
When you compare the concept images with the shots of the actual in game assets you see how they are almost indistinguishable. The concepts are the NFT's.
They are made with 3D shapes then painted over. Those 3D meshes are what the game artists take and start from. They then can texture them to fit any faction or custom skin.
The infantry had 6 classes and 1 heavy special. There was a collection of weapons as well.
The design for the classes needed to fit their respective roles.
The classes were the same for all three factions but all has their unique color scheme like the vehicles.
Much like Outpost Zero, the Jetbike was an essential part of navigating quickly through the landscape.
This was my favorite infantry class, the medic. He had these giant extra arms that would unfold like wings.
The idea was that when you laid dying, the medic would stand over you and those arms would make him look like an angel coming to save you.
I don't know that it ever played out like that.
The infantry NFT's were as vast as the vehicle versions. Each faction had characters that would support the infantry in some way.
You can see the collection with the link below…
So who are these factions I keep mentioning? They are the Metalpunks, Gearbreakers and The Holy Corporation.
Each one with its own backstory and motivations.
The visual language for each stems from their personalities and how they conduct themselves.
These were the cover images when we were doing seasons.
The factions were featured so each one had every design detail reflect that.
These are the "packs" that had a variety of assets. The Jetbike skins were also included.
By the time we were offering these, the design almost made itself.
I developed a common language so all teams understood my feedback as well as each other’s critiques.
This usually grows organically as the project reaches the early milestones.
You have to repeat yourself throughout the project to keep things consistent.
Games also have style guides, color scripts and an official Art Guide.
I would argue games like Metalcore have as much paperwork as a feature film.
Each faction even had its own "language" with a custom font with characters that they only understood,
this was reflected in the markings of their vehicles and graffiti in the world.
Arena was a companion app that would serve to use your NFT's. It never took off but I loved where it was going visually.
Metalcore being a web3 product had new design requirements that helped put art assets in a certain lanes.
The game economy went outside the game. Below is the design for the token offered…
I always approach the design of each detail as a piece of the larger world that it will live in. That sounds like common sense
and it is, that's why it works. My goal is to always give you something memorable and beautiful to look at.
The growth of the visual language is exponential. Some things are a given in a sci-fi setting, others are where the heart and soul of the world is.
