December DOTM Report: Artistic Direction

Here's this month's report. Enjoy.

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Monthly Discussion Report
Platinum Blizzard RTS Fan Site Program​

Monthly Discussion Topic: Artistic Direction of Starcraft II

This month’s topic is most definitely a broad stroke of the Blizzard brush. It deals with approximately a third of the equation of the lengthy success of a game, and nearly three fourths of its initial appeal. This is the overall look, graphical representation, and the “artistic direction†of Starcraft II. The difficult aspect of this discussion is that everyone’s aesthetic taste is different, but there are some recurring arguments, both positive and negative, that have defined three major categories of user preference.

The Haters- There will always be detractors from any style choice. Some people will always hate a certain color and its use, or imagine something completely different from the rest of the pack, or even the majority. These users usually love the artistic detail of the backdrops in Starcraft II but hate the building and unit styles.

The Excited- Sometimes I wonder if you could throw a brick at these Starcrafters and they would still love the design of Starcraft. Except for minor details they love everything about the design. Most of these users love the 3D look of units and hate only minor things, like the design of the Nomad.

The Unimpressed- In my mind, I wouldn’t worry about the other two categories; these are the people to please. From the numbers these users are in the majority and are comparable to the masses that go undecided before political elections. They can change the course of the success of any issue.

Now that the categories of our users have been established, we can address the questions that have been specifically asked by the development team.

The Terran Faction-

Negatives: The Terran are mean and dirty and a lot of users want them to look this way. While there have been some changes that have pleased the majority, most just want different lighting aspects and a continuance of the policy of making sure that Terran units don’t look like toys. Another negative has been the addition of the Bayonets on the Marines. Most users have expressed distaste in them, and while they offer an aesthetic indicator of upgrade status, most are pushing for their removal (the shields are widely loved). Lastly, the Ghost’s color scheme has been unanimously denounced in favor of a black theme.

Positives: The Thor is an incredibly defining unit aesthetically and the Battlecruisers look great. Buildings have a unique look and the overall Terran faction has a fighting demeanor that makes their fighting style look much “meaner†than it did in the original game.

Grade: B-. The Terran are a very unique race idea, despite being human and easily identifiable to players. While progress has been made, some tarnishes have been left on their race identity which should be corrected. The Nomad is a large detraction from the race’s looks and the “toy†look that was so prevalent in Warcraft 3 should be avoided.

The Protoss Faction-

Negatives: Not much to report here. Discussion is about 50/50 on the retention of the “ponytails†on the Zealots, and there has been some debate about their attack animation, but on the whole the Protoss are a rather solidly designed race in keeping with their identity, and let’s face it, they’re shiny and fun.

Positives: There are a number of incredible unit designs for the Protoss. The Dark Templar is great despite the criticism it has received. Attack animations are largely trivial, but we would like to see the DT’s attack become more powerful looking (maybe a double swipe of both sides of the blade wouldn’t hurt?). The Mothership is a testament to the design team’s creativity, as is the Colossus (it is NOT a ripoff of War of the Worlds!). The Protoss still retain their clean and finished look (don’t go into battle with muffed boots) and it complements their race identity. Love it, love it, love it.

Grade: A-. The incorporation of the Dark Templar with a larger role in the Protoss arsenal is a great path to take, we encourage the development team to stay the course and aim more for this incorporation theme.

Overall our members want a return to the gritty original style and distance placed between that of Warcraft III. Not that we want a return to the old 2D graphics, but we liked the style of play that it gave and the uncluttered appearance of such a game. The backdrops are absolutely amazing and the cartoony nature of the units simply detracts from that. Realism is the key in this universe, and perhaps that should become the mantra.