Originally, Armored Core lacked any famous
mecha design assistance but Shoji Kawamori, creator of
Macross and
mecha designer extraordinaire, heard of the project and offered his services.
The studio found out that Tatsunoko, that originally provided the rights for
Macross to Harmony Gold, probably wasn't in the position to assign any license for the
mecha designs, which instead belong to Big West and Studio Nue.