Mr. Jack hired by Blizzard

[DemolitionSquid]

On the topic, regarding gameplay, does anyone know if the Dark Templar is invisible while warping in, or can opponents fire on it during the warp-in phase?

I believe Warp-In is visible. Just like if you were warping in under Mothership Cloak.

[Norfindel]

On the topic, regarding gameplay, does anyone know if the Dark Templar is invisible while warping in, or can opponents fire on it during the warp-in phase?

They're invisible, but it's subject to balance. Mentioned by Blizzard somewhere (sorry don't remember where, the Q&A archive is a good place to look).

[Kimera757]

I suddenly realized I was slightly disappointed in Voice in the Darkness... that warband should have had a stalker or two. (And we know they existed by that point, they were in the previous story, Do No Harm.)

[KadajSouba]

Estuans interius
ira vehementi
Mr. Jack

Amen to that


The one winged MUTA!!!!!!!!!!

[Noise]

Oh just saw this thread. Yes indeed Mr Jack is a high school friend of mine - there has been a long 2 month build up and he just moved from Melbourne to California in last 2 weeks. From what he's said I get the impression they play a lot of Starcraft 2 in the office.

[XSOLDIER]

You're assuming that that model was supposed to represent the concept art. Considering the number of differences between that model and the art (notably the fact that the model is bilaterally symmetric and the art isn't), I'm pretty sure that this first version of the Stalker was probably based on early concept art that we didn't get to see (if they used concept art at all).

That's the purpose of concept art. That's why it goes from concept art to modelling. That's why the modelling team doesn't just control the whole process. I would assume that the 2 teams actually work fairly closely together, especially during this point of the development. That's why they make early drafts, and then they do art revisions to improve the appearance later on, because the first iterations of the units are essentially place-holders, while the game's still pre-beta, and things are still being moved and removed. The art's used to conceptualize what a potential unit should look like. Just look at the initial sketches that were done of the Stalker, and also how the Zerg models have gotten more and more polished.

Look at the differences between the drawing and the finished model. It gets the general similarities right, basic form and so forth, but a lot of the details are lost or replaced in translation.

I'm probably more familiar with all the little nuances of the revised Stalker's design, because I made a [url=http://blizzforums.com/showthread.php?t=11450]thread[/quote] suggesting a great deal of them about 2 years ago (a year & a day before they were put in place). The suggestions made were to reach a middle ground between the 2 models for a variety of reasons, but that's not really the point of discussion here. It's going over why I think that having Mr Jack as a concept artist will really make a visible difference in StarCraft 2, especially during the artistic fine-tuning stages as the game's polishing off the final product for release.

And these details are the primary difference between Jack's art and the concept art for the Zerg currently. After all, the gross structure of a Zergling is similar between both sides: four legs, two shoulder claws, spikes attached to the lower jaw, and a tail. It's the subtle details that make the difference.

True, but with the level of details that the models and portraits are capable of showing, it's good to have a concept art that you can use to pull out those details when the modelling team is making revisions.

I'm pretty sure that that's part of the point. It's not supposed to look like a machine. Personally, I prefer that they took the design from the first model and simply improved on it rather than using the new concept art.

The concept art isn't new. It was one of the first pieces of concept art that Blizz put up on the official site. You can see even more of that non-machine look in the early draft image that I put up earlier.

I thought the lore on Stalkers was that DTs projected their essence into the machine. Essentially, that they become the machine rather than putting a headless body inside a mechanical shell. I don't know, if I were a disembodied Protoss spirit possessing a machine, I think I'd like that machine to have a face.

Exactly. It's also a point that I made early on that the one of the biggest traits of the Dark Templar is their individuality - that's why their not a part of the Khala. Giving the machine their face is a way that they can keep that, even in death, unlike the assembly line-looking Dragoons / Immortals.

Point being that I think that with 2 expansions coming out, and the game getting more and more polished, and capable of high amounts of detail in the models, it's good to have a new concept artist on board that can put out ideas that push things up to their limits, and make the game look it's best.


X

[Nicol Bolas]

It's going over why I think that having Mr Jack as a concept artist will really make a visible difference in StarCraft 2, especially during the artistic fine-tuning stages as the game's polishing off the final product for release.

Except that much of that work is basically complete at this point. Oh, I'm sure a few models will see some work here and there, and there will be touchups where appropriate. But I doubt you're going to see a fourth remodeling of the Zergling or something. Not unless SC2 gets another delay.

The concept art isn't new. It was one of the first pieces of concept art that Blizz put up on the official site. You can see even more of that non-machine look in the early draft image that I put up earlier.

I meant new relative to the old model. It's pretty clear that the original Stalker model is not based on that concept art.

[mr. peasant]

I meant new relative to the old model. It's pretty clear that the original Stalker model is not based on that concept art.

It probably was except the model makers weren't particularly faithful to their source material. In other words, the deciding factor is not the quality of the concept art themselves but the model makers' ability to stick strictly to the designs handed to them and not adding their own spin on the unit. Sometimes, it works (see the Thor's concept art versus in-game model) and sometimes, it doesn't (Stalker concept art versus initial model).

[Nicol Bolas]

It probably was except the model makers weren't particularly faithful to their source material.

Or maybe they were drawing based on a different piece of concept art. Same goes for the Thor. They might have done a model of the initial one, didn't like it how it played in 3D, and did some revisions to the art that we aren't privy to.

[mr. peasant]

Or maybe they were drawing based on a different piece of concept art. Same goes for the Thor. They might have done a model of the initial one, didn't like it how it played in 3D, and did some revisions to the art that we aren't privy to.

Except Blizzard liked the in-game Thor. That's why they've been so hessitant to redesign the unit's appearance and have dug their heels in to find it a place in multiplayer.