Could SC2 artistically look more like SC1?

I'm still unsure about how I feel about SC2's art style, I have some reservations that I'll be detailing here.
I think at the moment SC2's art style lacks the clarity of SC1's. I know much of SC1's clarity can be attributed to it being in 2D and the limitation of 256 colour. But then the units made for SC2 don't look the same as their SC1 counter-parts. WarCraft III has a very distinct style (over-the-top features and 'blocky') and I think it's had some influence on how SC2 currently looks (the Zerg reveal trailer shows this the best). I think this is a mistake, I think it tends to make things noisy and can cause units and buildings to blend into each other making everything less clear.

I made a couple of images that hopefully get my point across, it's part of some of the more recent SC2 screenshots next to an approximate SC1 equivalent. Which one looks clearer, which one looks better?





So how would I do things differently? I'd take a cue from the 3D renders of the units found in SC1's manual. Below is four different renditions of the Battlecruiser, to me the one from the manual not only looks clearer but matches the SC1 unit more closely and just looks better.




In the spoiler tag are some 3D renders found in the SC1 manual that I would pretty much copy verbatim (assuming the unit is still used), espeically the zergling and hydralisk.

Spoiler

Well that's my $0.02 anyway.

 

I think that if you play the game for certian amount of time the things will clear up a little.
Its now a little harder to recognize units, thats true, but compared to other 3d RTS I think that SCII looks very neat.
As Blizzard officials said themselves: They could include much greater graphics, hollywood explosions and all sorts of effects, but they decided to sacrifice part of the graphics to lower the HW requirements and make the game clearer.

I love the old SC clarity, and new SC graphics and looks, I think everyone feels pretty much the same about that.

As for the comics look... meh... Its really only the zerg with this problem. I dont want another Warcraft III but I dont want Blizzard ruining zergs looks.

 

operationals got a point there
i mean, sc1 was detailed and recognizable
but when i look at sc2, im like "WTF? wheres my marines again? is that my marine? omg, the flying red ones look like my marines with jet packs, OMG! i cant see my medic!!! *top pic 'omg! zealots are attacking *bottom pic 'lol wut?"
apparently, sc2 lacks in bright colors and recognizable features, but maybe thats a major side effect of having sc rendered in FULL 3D



... oh and one more thing, having a creep-nourished zerg base hurts my eyes, i mean, its kinda blurry

 

Op's got a great point, and it's very valid. I feel that when the game is in motion in front of you, it will be a lot easier to tell what is going on/what is what. Time will only tell.

 

SC needs the overwhelming saturation it has because of the limitation in graphics. Because everything is so pixelly (is there such a word?), the rough edges become less obtrusive when paired with overflowing colours. However, too much saturation in 3D backfires and creates a cartoonish feel to it. That's why Blizzard lowered it, much to the game's advantage I might add. We'll get used to it, no need to worry.

 

I think it's fine. It's just a matter of getting used to it.

 

Does SC2 lack clarity among units? Yes and no. I'd say any issues with clarity we're seeing right now are simply because the artwork isn't done yet. As far as graphics go, Protoss look finished and clear to me - I can see the different units pretty well. Terran is a bunch of dull scuffed metal, so it's going to be hard to tell the difference in some units, and Zerg are looking sub-par right now. Another thing about SC1 was that units had a sort of personal space about them - if they moved into each other or (if Zerg) were both burrowed in the same place, they would move away from each other until they didn't overlap. Perhaps they still need to do that in SC2

 

They don't need to do that and they won't. Allowing units "less personal space" is part of the improved moving mechanic of SC2. When moving groups of units, it will look much smoother now.

 

Like many have said before, playing the game is much, much different then looking at screenshots.

 

sc2 units now looks unclear because the overall visuals (color, sharpness, shadows, reflection) was toned down. i love the original graphics and visuals of sc2 right when it was newly announce. now everyone like the less color realistic one, but imo it looks less exciting just like all other realistic rts games outhere, cnc3, warhammer 40k, looks good but you get tired and boring after awhile since the unit dont look "lively". the original sc2 graphics have an artistic look now it just look like the same as all other rts realistic plain boring looking.

 

I like the look of Starcraft 2 at the moment. Some units may be unclear, but it was said before... the artwork isn't done yet! I like how they toned down the colours a bit, made it look more like a real war and less like a psycadellic freak-out. But I don't think it makess the units look less "lively" at all. I've played rts's that went for full on realism (Supreme Commander for example) and found they do lack livelyness and even originality. I know that some people think visuals don't matter but I disagree. I like how Starcraft 2 is going for the mid-range of cartoonish vs realism. If the game was hell-bent on being realistic you'd have to put all the units to scale, Imagine the size of a Battlecruiser against a Zergling, and imagine the firepower of the BC, no fun at all! But on the other hand if it was more cartoonish... I.. I don't even want to talk about it.

 

Well marines and medics are still easy to recognize (hopefully medic comes back.) Medics are mainly white in color, however, the reapers may be a little hard to find mixed in with marines. In the zerg videos, zerglings are a little hard to spot at times, but then aren't they always? At least for me, i tend to lose track of where my lings are running if not hot keyed. The contrast and tone of the game is perfect for me, not too bright, not diablo dark. After seeing videos of the game, you tend to not notice the art because the motion of each unit is pretty realistic (except for banelings, MAYBE). Changes yes, overall re-masking of the game, no. I vote #2

 

lol ursa warrior lol!
yea when you look into the difernce,you will see that sc2 is more blurry then starcraft1.but thts a high effect no other game i saw acomplisshed.
for me its ok if its a little blurry,as long as its nice graphics,missions, and fair game.
though it makes it look more realistic more real.i vote for its good enough.

 

I remember that SC1 was tweaking the graphics all the way until release. They made huge improvements in the graphics during alpha and beta that made the units easier to distinguish. I think the creep and some of the units are a little difficult to distinguish, but I think Blizzard will continue to tweak the graphics until release.

Additionally, I think once we are use to looking at the new units, are brains will subconsciously recognize them just like it does for SC.

 

This is very true. When I first got my hands on SC it was very hard to distinguish units and stuff so it was quit confusing, then I got used to it.

 

^
That's how it is with just about every game. You're busy trying to look at everything at once to understand wtf is going on, and everything is just blending together. After a period of time, you get used to it, and you know what you're looking for. Win!!

 

I think it has more to do with the color saturation than anything. StarCraft had somewhat washed out, earthy rustic backgrounds and very vibrant, colorful faction colors. If Blizzard works at toning down how vibrant the backgrounds are I don't think this will be as much of a problem. Other problem here I can see is unit clumping from infinite-selection mechanics, looks relatively easy to have tons of ground units completely hidden from view under a dozen battlecruisers

 

Don't forget these are set up action shots, in a real game there won't be tons of ground units and 12 BCs; there would not be enough pop limit and readily available gas and minerals to do so.
But when the balance issues are ironed out, they will focus mainly on the visuals, this is when things become more distinguishable like Sc1.

 

Wow thiose pictures..... Side by side looks awesome. its like.... A revolution. (Now this is a kinda of revolution I can debate, learn, and pass on)

 

I personally think it looks brilliant.