- Joined
- May 27, 2007
- Messages
- 162
Well, I've been a busy bee today. Reinstalled my copy of 3D Studio Max, been tinkering around with the beta's .mpq file (which pretty much contains everything released at the beta stage, sounds, textures, effects... and models!)... So, just been looking at what can be done.
It will be a while yet before there is a tool which can convert .3ds files back into their .m3 formats (for use in the game), so it is hard to know what our limits as modders are at this early stage. Whether or not Starcraft 2 will allow us to use Bones for animations or what conventions etc we will have to adhere to.
But, there has been a bit of talk about Terrans looking a bit too 'junky' and people generally agree that the Protoss look shit hot and 'futuristic'...
You can see here, that the Marine & Marauder models when all textures and lightning have been removed are pretty basic. I forgot to check out the total poly counts for each model but they are well into their 1000's... Starcraft 2 uses a lot of dynamic lighting and texture mapping to make the models look good.
You can see here as well, the Siege Tank is pretty much a block. But the in game footage reveals a lot of nifty details and definition. On one hand, this is a very cool thing for us modellers, it means we don't need to craft tiny details (and make the poly count massive) on our models... But, as with every good thing... The downside is that texturer's and people with knowledge about rendering will have to up their game to compensate for this.
On a side note, the Banshee is one of my favourite models in SC-2 so far
.
Now, a lot of people have been saying that the Protoss are by far the most visually pleasing and aesthetic (nice to look at) of the three races. I for one, agree.
You can immediately pick out the difference between Terran & Protoss models. There is a lot less 'smoothing' going on, and therefore, the actual structure of the model is given more focus; the curving lines and flow of the contours.
You can see again, the Stalker has nice smooth curves and lines. But for me, the Immortal is the one model which does not look like it should belong in a Protoss Arsenal... It is so blocky and looks a bit too 'Terran' to me... The only feature remotely Protoss about it, is the fact that it has spider-like legs and is a strider. The entire upper half just looks like a gun-turret (to me at least).
And now, the best for last I guess - I absolutely love this model. Everything about it screams cool-ness. Yeah sure, conceptually it has been done before... Warhammer Tau? I beleive they have something similar... War of the Worlds? Identical to the 'robot' things in that film... But hell, it looks good don't it?
It will be a while yet before there is a tool which can convert .3ds files back into their .m3 formats (for use in the game), so it is hard to know what our limits as modders are at this early stage. Whether or not Starcraft 2 will allow us to use Bones for animations or what conventions etc we will have to adhere to.
But, there has been a bit of talk about Terrans looking a bit too 'junky' and people generally agree that the Protoss look shit hot and 'futuristic'...
You can see here, that the Marine & Marauder models when all textures and lightning have been removed are pretty basic. I forgot to check out the total poly counts for each model but they are well into their 1000's... Starcraft 2 uses a lot of dynamic lighting and texture mapping to make the models look good.
You can see here as well, the Siege Tank is pretty much a block. But the in game footage reveals a lot of nifty details and definition. On one hand, this is a very cool thing for us modellers, it means we don't need to craft tiny details (and make the poly count massive) on our models... But, as with every good thing... The downside is that texturer's and people with knowledge about rendering will have to up their game to compensate for this.
On a side note, the Banshee is one of my favourite models in SC-2 so far
.
Now, a lot of people have been saying that the Protoss are by far the most visually pleasing and aesthetic (nice to look at) of the three races. I for one, agree.
You can immediately pick out the difference between Terran & Protoss models. There is a lot less 'smoothing' going on, and therefore, the actual structure of the model is given more focus; the curving lines and flow of the contours.
You can see again, the Stalker has nice smooth curves and lines. But for me, the Immortal is the one model which does not look like it should belong in a Protoss Arsenal... It is so blocky and looks a bit too 'Terran' to me... The only feature remotely Protoss about it, is the fact that it has spider-like legs and is a strider. The entire upper half just looks like a gun-turret (to me at least).
And now, the best for last I guess
- I absolutely love this model. Everything about it screams cool-ness. Yeah sure, conceptually it has been done before... Warhammer Tau? I beleive they have something similar... War of the Worlds? Identical to the 'robot' things in that film... But hell, it looks good don't it? 
