SC: RM Feedback/Inconsistencies Mega-Thread

[KaiserStratosTygo]

I feel like they definitely get that there are differences in the art style between SC1 and SC2, but I don't know if the art team knows how vast they potentially are. I doubt they would try to emulate SC2 though.

Artwise I don't think they would either, but those "comic book" briefing things have me a bit worried (as well as potential re-recorded lines)

[Undeadprotoss]

I think they also don't see a need to not have the unit portraits facing the camera directly, because the paradigm they're reasoning with is that you want to see as much of the unit as possible. Though I still am curious to see how the mobile unit portraits will turn out.

On a side note: Do you think there'd be any way we could influence the art team on this? I was thinking to make a Reddit post or something before it's too late.

[sandwich_bird]

Wait a minute... you're telling me they're using still cartoon drawings for the unit portraits??? How did I miss that.. Ugh, that's pretty bad. Why not just take the 3d models they used for sc1 and try to upgrade them? Or, depending on how many frames the portraits had, they could just upscale, use some filters to sharpen and have an artist draw over to clean. The process probably isn't a lot more different/demanding than what they're already doing with the unit sprites. These portrait animations had like what, 10-15 frames? You don't even need to redo every single frames, just the major ones and use other techniques to generate the in-betweens.

Maybe the whole reason we have drawn storyboards instead of old-school briefings and cinematics (I'm guessing the cinematics are gone too?) is because they weren't able to make their old 3d assets look good or it was too expensive to make them look good vs just having a bunch of 2d art. I can't argue with the effectiveness of their choice but it's disappointing.

It was during an incredibly pivotal moment for Blizzard as a company, there were several times when the team almost couldn't make payroll, and I think Mike Morhaim, Frank Pearce, and a couple other guys cashed in their debit cards at their local supermarkets to make sure they could have payroll every week. They were working with incredibly strained resources.

I'm not sure about that part. I know I heard this from Morhaim in their 20th anniversary video or something like that but I think the particular situation you're describing was pre-warcraft 1 or pre-warcraft 2 but I'd find it hard to believe that it was post-warcraft 2. I would expect them to be well off financially after the success of WC2.

[Robear]

Why not just take the 3d models they used for sc1 and try to upgrade them? Or, depending on how many frames the portraits had, they could just upscale, use some filters to sharpen and have an artist draw over to clean.

They no longer have the original 3D files for the portraits, and if they did they'd probably be horribly broken after having to be imported through 20 years of iteration in 3D software and file formats.
Additionally, each of the portraits has like hundreds of frames. Way too many to touch up by hand. Maybe also a reason they also don't want to straight up reuse the originals is because the terrans' mouth movements aren't actually synced to the lines they say. Which didn't bother anyone back in the day, but now they might want to avoid.

or it was too expensive to make them look good vs just having a bunch of 2d art

Yeah this is my guess, and I'm sure they won't be doing redoing the cinematics. Would be awesome, but would be way too expensive.

That said, they do seem to be animating the new portraits— if you look at the 3rd clip here, after it shows the old Aldaris and Sci Vessel portraits, you can see the new Battlecruiser portrait moving. I'm not sure, but maybe they'll be taking the 2D paintings and then projection mapping them onto simple 3D models, just to give them the ability to slightly change angle and blink and stuff. I'm definitely very curious to see how much they do.

[TheEconomist]

Oh, man .. Those unit portraits .. Not sure how I feel about this...

[Visions of Khas]

Comic- and animatic-style cutscenes and portraits have made a comeback in video games over the last few years. They'll cite comic book movies as an influence, but I'm convinced it's a matter of saving time and resources rather than a genuine desire for stylistic diversity.

[sandwich_bird]

That said, they do seem to be animating the new portraits— if you look at the 3rd clip here, after it shows the old Aldaris and Sci Vessel portraits, you can see the new Battlecruiser portrait moving. I'm not sure, but maybe they'll be taking the 2D paintings and then projection mapping them onto simple 3D models, just to give them the ability to slightly change angle and blink and stuff. I'm definitely very curious to see how much they do.

Seeing the BC portrait in your link vs the image posted earlier, I'd say it looks better in-game than taken out of context I guess. The SCV though... Ugh, we'll see!

[Undeadprotoss]

To Robear: I just saw the link and it indeed does look like the Battlecrusier portrait is mobile. Yet it also seems as if the lights are pointing directly as his face, which might mean a pretty well-lit picture when it's through with development.

There's no doubt in my mind that Blizzard will do moving portraits. The problem is, the more things the Classic Games team needs to do from scratch. the more ambiguity they are introduced with, and it becomes less likely they can/will preserve the exact atmosphere and lighting that is distilled within those portraits.

On a side note, I just got a Linkedin account to see if I could message one of the developers, hopefully they see it.

Artwise I don't think they would either, but those "comic book" briefing things have me a bit worried (as well as potential re-recorded lines)

So I was also really worried about the re-recording of lines, but everything available seems to strongly suggest they are remastering the sounds, sort of like how they did in those old Disney movies (albeit with far better technology). The Official Website (starcraft.com) says that the remastered version will have "remastered dialogue and audio", which leads me to believe that the terms remastered, revised, re-recored, etc are all just taken interchangeably to mean they are updating what they already have. They KNOW how important the voices were in StarCraft 1, I'd be willing to bet money they wouldn't bring in a new voice actor for a single line.

With the briefings, I agree, it is interesting. I really liked the old mission screens and the tattered look they had on them. The new interfaces for all of the races seem much more clean and shiny, which I am a bit concerned about. If you go to (Starcraft.com) there's a picture in the back with Carriers purifying Mar Sara, I think that's the kind of "comic book" style stuff they're going at.

______________________

There's so much potential in this project......anyone remember the mission "Choosing Sides" where you took Tassadar into that facility and every now and then an infested Terran would try to explode right next to you? That kind of stuff was incredibly atmospheric back then, if they do the atmosphere right, you could potentially have a StarCraft 1 experience that was better and more immersive than even the original was, oh boy, I have high hopes.

[Undeadprotoss]

Can't delete this post either, universe is a cruel place.

[Undeadprotoss]

Tried deleting this post can't for some reason