Mr. Jack hired by Blizzard

[XSOLDIER]

Nicol is right. In-game models won't necessarily become magically cooler by bringing in a person who does 2D artwork alone and who doesn't do 3D work. One prime example is the Stalker. Initially, the 3D model for the unit looked pretty bad despite having a reasonably good concept art to base off.



Now, I'm not saying Blizzard hiring Mr. Jack was a pointless move. However, his impact will not likely be as great as some are making it out to be. Instead, I suspect he'll mainly do stuff like official art, etc.

This is only half of it. The model DID look sub par despite the concept art, -but- it was polished and improved, and became a better looking model because of the awesome concept art (and a little bit of fan pushing) that kept pushing the overall design to improve.

I don't see the grounds for claiming that just because Mr. Jack's not personally responsible for the modelling, that somehow Blizzards entire professional 3D Modelling / art team won't be capable of turning his concepts into viable in-game models. That's just not true, and it's ridiculous to think so.



It's not an ENORMOUS impact, but it will make a noticeable difference. You see Samwise's artwork come through in the finished models, and now we'll be seeing some of Mr. Jack's too.


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[Pandonetho]

I absolutely despise the Stalker's little head that sticks out. It's ugly IMO, and doesn't look much like a science ficiton figure at all. It's not even a machine, it looks like a half living creature of some sort that's hoping to get headshot.

[ArcherofAiur]

I absolutely despise the Stalker's little head that sticks out. It's ugly IMO, and doesn't look much like a science ficiton figure at all. It's not even a machine, it looks like a half living creature of some sort that's hoping to get headshot.

lol those Dark Templar have a sick sense of humor to take a critically wounded comrade, encase him in a armoured exoskeleton, and then stick his head out through the front.

[Perfecttear]

Yeah, i also don't like the head, and exspecialy that "scarf" that is covering the head,it's ridicouless and it makes it even worse.
It would be much bether if it would look like this:

[Kimera757]

I wonder if Zer'atai stalkers wear the scarf... and do they need help sticking zerg bones on?

[ArcherofAiur]

Yeah, i also don't like the head, and exspecialy that "scarf" that is covering the head,it's ridicouless and it makes it even worse.
It would be much bether if it would look like this:

Hmm that looks pretty cool. It would be nice if it had two shields and they folded over the front when it wasnt shooting.

[DemolitionSquid]

That model looks like a Necron lol

[ArcherofAiur]

That model looks like a Necron lol

That brings back memories of the Soul Hunter. It looked so much like a Destroyer and yet so much less cool.

[Pandonetho]

Well, you're comparing art to an ingame model.

[Nicol Bolas]

The model DID look sub par despite the concept art

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).

You see Samwise's artwork come through in the finished models, and now we'll be seeing some of Mr. Jack's too.

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.

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.

doesn't look much like a science fiction figure at all. It's not even a machine, it looks like a half living creature of some sort

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.

those Dark Templar have a sick sense of humor to take a critically wounded comrade, encase him in a armoured exoskeleton, and then stick his head out through the front.

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.