View Full Version : Did you see the new Starcraft 2's grittier art makeover today?
Clair de Lune
19-02-2009, 20:18
BEFORE (http://img210.imageshack.us/my.php?image=beforeil3.jpg) (When SC2 was freshly announced last May.)
AFTER (http://img210.imageshack.us/my.php?image=afterln4.jpg) (A new makeover shot released just TODAY)
It's darker, grittier and units look more pissed off and menacing, all in the while retaining original color values. Now the before picture looks like a kiddie playdoh fight. I LOVE it.
LOOK at all the units getting a makeover! (http://www.starcraftwire.net/blog/comments/new-zerg-screenshots-and-concept-art/) (Don't forget this link)
Maybe Diablo III next? :whistling:
callsignapollo
19-02-2009, 22:19
hmm, first off, not the same image, it looks like banelings or something are exploding in the older one, i doubt this is a big art change
besides, i like it more neon-esque !
I'm pretty indifferent about it. Look nice both ways. It seems like the models are getting more detailed as well as less colorful.
And no, they're not going to change Diablo 3. With Starcraft, most of the development is about balancing for multiplayer, which is unaffected by graphics, plus the units are simply getting a new palette. Diablo 3 has bigger and more detailed characters, and changing them would be a lot more work.
Also, SC2 can make its units darker because they are usually outside where you can see them easily. For D3 when you're in dark dungeons, having enemies be dark would just make them hard to see (in a bad way).
satheron
19-02-2009, 22:50
BEFORE (http://img210.imageshack.us/my.php?image=beforeil3.jpg) (When SC2 was freshly announced last May.)
AFTER (http://img210.imageshack.us/my.php?image=afterln4.jpg) (A new makeover shot released just TODAY)
It's darker, grittier and units look more pissed off and menacing, all in the while retaining original color values. Now the before picture looks like a kiddie playdoh fight. I LOVE it.
LOOK at all the units getting a makeover! (http://www.starcraftwire.net/blog/comments/new-zerg-screenshots-and-concept-art/)
Maybe Diablo III next? :whistling:
Maybe, just maybe there really isn't an art change, and your just taking in the effects of zerg in different environments?
Maybe, just maybe there really isn't an art change, and your just taking in the effects of zerg in different environments?
It's definitely an art change, they show the differences in the last link posted.
I like the art either way also. The only think I would mention is that the "new" art style just looks like another Dawn of War or any of the other numbers of brown/grey gritty RTS games.
Neither stand out to me. Seen 1 modern 3d RTS, seen 'em all.
I prefer the new art style, it suits the Zerg's play style better for them to be like that... and not from raindow sherbet land
Bladewind
20-02-2009, 09:31
IF D3 have similar color undertones it would be perfect.
nice they made it less WoWish
edit:the baneling look really awesome now
thx needed a change from the flamewar this board is turning in <3
korialstraz
20-02-2009, 12:05
nice they made it less WoWish
What!? Now SC looked WoWish as well? Sometimes I wonder if people have a personal vendetta against WoW :crazyeyes:
thx needed a change from the flamewar this board is turning in <3
I've seen no flamewars, and if one arise mods will take care of it :whistling:
you before picture is from 2008
SC2 in 2007
http://starcraft2.com/images/screenshots/ss9-hires.jpg
Mizantrop
20-02-2009, 14:12
What!? Now SC looked WoWish as well? Sometimes I wonder if people have a personal vendetta against WoW :crazyeyes:
Some do, it's part of human nature to go against the mainstream, to say "I am an individual and not part of the mob". WoW is the mainstream of PC gaming at the moment, and it's players the mob.
About SC2 new graphics, I like them. But I hope Blizzard would keep them simple for better performance.
korialstraz
20-02-2009, 14:36
Some do, it's part of human nature to go against the mainstream, to say "I am an individual and not part of the mob". WoW is the mainstream of PC gaming at the moment, and it's players the mob.
About SC2 new graphics, I like them. But I hope Blizzard would keep them simple for better performance.
I dont't mind people who go against WoW, but in this case people seem to compare D3 and SC2 with WoW. Why would someone who oppose WoW so badly try and put D3 and SC2 in the same category? I don't get it, but maybe it's just me.
I liked the way it looked before and after, both have a special charm about it imo.
KillaMike
20-02-2009, 15:41
BEFORE (http://img210.imageshack.us/my.php?image=beforeil3.jpg) (When SC2 was freshly announced last May.)
AFTER (http://img210.imageshack.us/my.php?image=afterln4.jpg) (A new makeover shot released just TODAY)
It's darker, grittier and units look more pissed off and menacing, all in the while retaining original color values. Now the before picture looks like a kiddie playdoh fight. I LOVE it.
LOOK at all the units getting a makeover! (http://www.starcraftwire.net/blog/comments/new-zerg-screenshots-and-concept-art/) (Don't forget this link)
Maybe Diablo III next? :whistling:
what it remminds me is.... warcraft 3....
I dont't mind people who go against WoW, but in this case people seem to compare D3 and SC2 with WoW. Why would someone who oppose WoW so badly try and put D3 and SC2 in the same category? I don't get it, but maybe it's just me.
I liked the way it looked before and after, both have a special charm about it imo.
So you have no real preference in art direction; good for you. Some of us (I am in the case of D3) don't like what they've initially released.
Saying that something is "WoWish" isn't necessarily going against WoW. The Warcraft universe has always been very stylized and "cartoony". If something is considered "WoWish", that's because whatever it is looks exaggerated and cartoony... just like WoW.
Big shoulder pads, odd angles (shapes) and non-gloomy environments are things you would associate to WoW.
I love WoW. Play it everyday. Doesn't mean I want my D3 to look like it... and at first, at least when Blizzard first announced the game in Paris, it DID look like WoW. I wasn't happy with the changes they've done from D1 to D2 and so far I'm not impressed with D3's graphics either. I don't need super fancy graphics, I find D1's art style to be far superior to any of it's sequels. "Well you can just play D1 then! Bleeh!" No, I want an updated game! I want a sequel worthy of the original.
I don't hate D3 nor did I ever hated D2... doesn't mean I have to like the stupid graphics.
Don't give me that "D2 and D3 have you traveling around the world" bull-crap, because what we saw in the gameplay video was mostly indoors action.
As for SC2, the units and buildings in the first screenshots (not to mention the videos) looked like plastic... almost like you were playing with Warhammer figurines... which isn't necessarily a bad thing for SC2, but it's still WoWish. They've since changed that. Now, like somebody else mentioned, it looks less WoWish.
Blizzard isn't showing the diversification in art style that they should have.
I say that whole story about them trying a darker look for D3 to be completely BS. Maybe they did try but they didn't know HOW... because all they seem to be good at is "WoWish" graphics. Why did it take them so long to get where they are right now? Simple, they didn't like what Blizzard North was doing and there was commotion.
You can say all you want about the reasoning for the graphics for gameplay's sake... doesn't change the fact that it doesn't look like a Diablo game.
I think you need glasses buddy, cause they look nothing alike.
"doesn't change the fact that it doesn't look like a Diablo game."
Yeah maybe cause the first two were sprite based and now its 3D. They do indeed look different.
"non-gloomy environments are things you would associate to WoW."
Holy **** I didn't know that all games before WoW were gloomy. Anyway have you seen the Tristram pictures?
Lets not be intentionally stupid guys, I mean diablo 3 doesn't even have a light radius..
I'm not one of these guys who dislikes the art direction of D3, I'm completely satisfied with how it's looking.
That said, those graphical updates to the SC2 units do look about 2000% better in the after pictures. I'm not saying they should do it to D3, just saying it looks much better.
Still, I kind of hope they don't try to do a bunch of graphical updates because of all the positive feedback SC2 is getting now. I'm afraid that'd push D3's release date back even farther. :(
In the name of Zod
21-02-2009, 14:30
I'm not one of these guys who dislikes the art direction of D3, I'm completely satisfied with how it's looking.
That said, those graphical updates to the SC2 units do look about 2000% better in the after pictures. I'm not saying they should do it to D3, just saying it looks much better.
Still, I kind of hope they don't try to do a bunch of graphical updates because of all the positive feedback SC2 is getting now. I'm afraid that'd push D3's release date back even farther. :(
I concur with everything you just wrote. Its nice to see that they are refining a product before releasing it and allowing the public to comment. The older brighter models did look less detailed.
korialstraz
21-02-2009, 16:12
So you have no real preference in art direction; good for you. Some of us (I am in the case of D3) don't like what they've initially released.
Saying that something is "WoWish" isn't necessarily going against WoW. The Warcraft universe has always been very stylized and "cartoony". If something is considered "WoWish", that's because whatever it is looks exaggerated and cartoony... just like WoW.
Big shoulder pads, odd angles (shapes) and non-gloomy environments are things you would associate to WoW.
I love WoW. Play it everyday. Doesn't mean I want my D3 to look like it... and at first, at least when Blizzard first announced the game in Paris, it DID look like WoW. I wasn't happy with the changes they've done from D1 to D2 and so far I'm not impressed with D3's graphics either. I don't need super fancy graphics, I find D1's art style to be far superior to any of it's sequels. "Well you can just play D1 then! Bleeh!" No, I want an updated game! I want a sequel worthy of the original.
I don't hate D3 nor did I ever hated D2... doesn't mean I have to like the stupid graphics.
Don't give me that "D2 and D3 have you traveling around the world" bull-crap, because what we saw in the gameplay video was mostly indoors action.
As for SC2, the units and buildings in the first screenshots (not to mention the videos) looked like plastic... almost like you were playing with Warhammer figurines... which isn't necessarily a bad thing for SC2, but it's still WoWish. They've since changed that. Now, like somebody else mentioned, it looks less WoWish.
Blizzard isn't showing the diversification in art style that they should have.
I say that whole story about them trying a darker look for D3 to be completely BS. Maybe they did try but they didn't know HOW... because all they seem to be good at is "WoWish" graphics. Why did it take them so long to get where they are right now? Simple, they didn't like what Blizzard North was doing and there was commotion.
You can say all you want about the reasoning for the graphics for gameplay's sake... doesn't change the fact that it doesn't look like a Diablo game.
Ofc I have some preferences, but I won't let that get in the way for different art directions which does have a certain charm to it. D1 was dark and scary, but it made sense. Most (all) of that game was played underground in dark catacombs. D2, still somewhat dark and gritty, but lots of light areas. More or less entire act 1, act 2 was a bright desert, act 3 is a bit darker again, and so is act 4, act 5 was brighter again until the end where you neared Baal. D3 has some dark and light places, and while I'm in no way a fan of the ambient lighting used in caves I don't doubt that game will lack any dark and scary places. Just look at Tristram images for instance.
I agree that saying something is WoWish isn't bashing it all of the time, but from my POV, when someone says D3 is WoWish they continue on to rant about how bad the graphics is, how silly the armors look and how the game just sucks in general, which is why I replied to Psyco as I did.
No I don't associate such things with WoW, just because that game is popular every other game seems to be compared with it. Never forget there were games before WoW.
I don't see how you could get SC2 to look WoWish, sure it had lots of colors and such, but to me it still looked very much like SC2. They toned down the colors a bit for Zerg at least, which I'd agree to looking better, but I still think both art directions look great and wouldn't mind either one. Besides the game still isn't finished and may be changed at a later point, just like D3 and it's choice of colors. Everything won't look the same at release. Btw devs said they used icons from WoW just so they could start to test how things work, then to later make the real icons. It could be the reason so many people find it WoWish. I like it though, and even if they do change it I doubt I'll go into a frenzy about it.
Who are you to say what a gaming company like Blizzard should or should not have done? It's their choice, and people will either stop playing their games or continue playing.
I still don't see where you draw the conclusions that all Blizzard know is WoWish graphics. But let me put it in a different light, what game is it WoW looks like? Surely it's not the first colorfull cartoony game made. Only reason everything is WoWish is because that game is so popular, everyone forgets other games.
You can say it doesn't look at all like A diablo game, in my eyes it does, and I'll be sure to both play and immensely enjoy that game.
GoldenBird
21-02-2009, 16:41
I like the "makeover" pics much more. Must agree that SC2 looked very much like plastic.
D3 has some dark and light places, and while I'm in no way a fan of the ambient lighting used in caves I don't doubt that game will lack any dark and scary places. Just look at Tristram images for instance.
It's not all in the lighting, it's the style of the art too. You could take some anime and add some dark shading but that doesn't necessarily make it feel dark, it may just look silly and very cartoony. If you ask me that's the case with D3; the style (I especially have a problem with the trees in Tristram) looks cartoonish. The tree I saw in one of the screenshots reminds me of an anime tree that was colored in.
I have to agree with Mizantrop on the people hating WoW issue. It is just crazy when you go to mmosite (www.mmosite.com) and everytime a new game comes out people go like "W0W Cl0ne!" and say WoW is the crappiest game ever made and bashes on blizzard because of that.
But aside from that, I do like the new SC2 make over. It does look more consistent with SC1 and not too colorful as it was before, but I still like them either way.
I don't see how any of it looks like an anime, also note that not all anime have the same art style. Looks more like a painting to me.
Mizantrop
22-02-2009, 07:47
Psst. Newsflush: WoW, D3 and SC2 are all made by a little company called Blizzard. So instead of saying that all of these games look "WoWish" and rant about it, say that they all look Blizzish and live with it.
teh_Thrasher
22-02-2009, 08:57
hmm yes i like this. i was not impressed at how they looked at first (mainly terran even though i play zerg) they looked incredibly like wow graphics... maybe ur untrained eye is not as learned as ours... they were WAY WAY WAY!!! too cartoony for the sequel for starcraft... especially with a mature rating that im hoping it gets.
BUT it could just be the difference of picture... one pics they are out in the sun with great green explosions and they are color purple team. the other team is brown and there arent any explosions.. marines def look way more pimp ;)
teh_Thrasher
22-02-2009, 09:07
Psst. Newsflush: WoW, D3 and SC2 are all made by a little company called Blizzard. So instead of saying that all of these games look "WoWish" and rant about it, say that they all look Blizzish and live with it.
yeah yeah alright i DO agree with this.. games from the same company do and will have a tendency to look alike.. BUT we say it looks like WoW because thats where their art team went with it... warcraft/starcraft/diablo all looked different back in the day. but now they seem be getting merged into all having similar wow cartoon graphics. =[ these are just early pics (for d3) i hope.
In the name of Zod
22-02-2009, 10:01
'wowish' - shouldn't that be in the diablo dictionary somewhere. My definition would be 'fairy tale like imagery with bright colours made for pansy play'. :girly: or 'graphics and animations that look like they come straight from lah-lah land'. People have right not to like wowish graphics as much as they have a right not to like chick flix, romance novels, facial cream, tele sales people and mormons. I wouldn't consider that an opinion either! :coffee:
korialstraz
22-02-2009, 12:04
It's not all in the lighting, it's the style of the art too. You could take some anime and add some dark shading but that doesn't necessarily make it feel dark, it may just look silly and very cartoony. If you ask me that's the case with D3; the style (I especially have a problem with the trees in Tristram) looks cartoonish. The tree I saw in one of the screenshots reminds me of an anime tree that was colored in.
I already mentioned I like the art direction and don't find it to be cartoonish or WoWish in any way, but that's just my opinion. Btw you said the trees look cartoonish, but I can't seem to find anything cartoonish about this.
http://www.blizzard.com/diablo3/media/screenshots.xml
Raging_Zealot
22-02-2009, 18:13
yeah yeah alright i DO agree with this.. games from the same company do and will have a tendency to look alike.. BUT we say it looks like WoW because thats where their art team went with it... warcraft/starcraft/diablo all looked different back in the day. but now they seem be getting merged into all having similar wow cartoon graphics. =[ these are just early pics (for d3) i hope.
I agree, although I would say the cartoon/toyish graphics started with WarCraft 3 as much as WoW, but I think WoW did take it slightly farther. To be honest I also thought StarCraft II looked a bit too toyish/Warcraft 3ish in graphical design, compared to the original StarCraft (I did not have this issue with Diablo III however, I thought it looked fine from what they've showed us). I plan on playing both either way though.
Ammareddo_Fritter
22-02-2009, 23:34
When people say they liked Diablo 2 "dark" and people say, "Wut aboutt suny act 2?lololol," they are missing the point.
Compare:
Bright (http://www.dancolcer.ro/Html/images/Death%20In%20Desert.jpg)
Dark (http://fc63.deviantart.com/fs27/f/2008/125/7/0/700bccb2f7b67a49086e69244cd8254a.png)
Oh, no! The second image is too dark (and therefore scary) to show children! The first, bright one is okay. It's bright.
Funkopotamus
23-02-2009, 01:20
When people say they liked Diablo 2 "dark" and people say, "Wut aboutt suny act 2?lololol," they are missing the point.
Compare:
Bright (http://www.dancolcer.ro/Html/images/Death%20In%20Desert.jpg)
Dark (http://fc63.deviantart.com/fs27/f/2008/125/7/0/700bccb2f7b67a49086e69244cd8254a.png)
Oh, no! The second image is too dark (and therefore scary) to show children! The first, bright one is okay. It's bright.
Yeah, when this argument came up far too many people confused "dark" and "light" with like a literal measure of lumens.
korialstraz
23-02-2009, 08:47
When people say they liked Diablo 2 "dark" and people say, "Wut aboutt suny act 2?lololol," they are missing the point.
Compare:
Bright (http://www.dancolcer.ro/Html/images/Death%20In%20Desert.jpg)
Dark (http://fc63.deviantart.com/fs27/f/2008/125/7/0/700bccb2f7b67a49086e69244cd8254a.png)
Oh, no! The second image is too dark (and therefore scary) to show children! The first, bright one is okay. It's bright.
Well some of the people complaining about the game beeing too bright was actually talking about the literal meaning of bright. Like when you're outside and it's in the middle of the day... "Oh noes it's bright!"
Some people can't seem to grasp the idea of night and day (not implying that you don't ;)). The game has shown a dark side, both literal and the dark feel to it. Burning corpses and almost a gloomy atmosphere. At least in my opinion :P
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