StarCraft 2 Art Tools

[Ralle]

Blizzard just announced the immediate availability of their StarCraft II art tools. This will definitely help people making graphics for StarCraft!

The beta test is finished, and with Patch 2.1, our new StarCraft II Art Tools are live and available to you. It’s a complete package of plugins for 3ds Max, a large number of StarCraft II source art files, and all the documentation and tutorials you need to get you started.

These aren’t just some tools that we’ve whipped up. These are the exact same tools that our very own development team used to create Heart of the Swarm. The full capability of the StarCraft II engine is at your disposal -- to do with as you see fit.

If creating new models, textures, particle effects, animations, or any other 3D art asset for the StarCraft II engine sounds appealing, then make sure you meet the system requirements, and click below to start downloading the StarCraft II Art Tools.

Source: http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/blog/12444476/

 

[Hawkwing]

I'm eager to give this a try! I skimmed through the documentation a couple months ago and I got the impression that it would be reasonably easy to figure out the tools. Blizz seems to have done a fairly amateur-friendly job of putting them together.

 

[Chaosy]

I am not into SC2 but I am glad they released this. Might make SC2 a much better modding game.

 

[neo_sluf]

Is that for free?

 

[APproject]

Looks amazing, this is definitely a step forward for the modding community of SC2.

 

[Dr Super Good]

I would have thought that this site would have at least posted the news that with 2.1 going live arcade and all maps within are completely free for anyone to play. All you need to do is go onto BattleNet website, create an account (if you do not have one already) and download SC2 to be able to play any arcade map ever made.

 

[Misha]

this sounds pretty cool.
i just need a way to convert what i do already, for sc2, at least the mesh, anims and texture

 

[1)ark_NiTe]

This is a huge win for the SC2 modding community. What a great move on Blizzard's part.

 

[LordDz]

Is that for free?

The tools are, 3dsmax is free-ish.

I would have thought that this site would have at least posted the news that with 2.1 going live arcade and all maps within are completely free for anyone to play. All you need to do is go onto BattleNet website, create an account (if you do not have one already) and download SC2 to be able to play any arcade map ever made.

Yeah, Blizzard going crazy!

 

[Gilles]

A little late, but so awesome. Can't wait to see more resources coming out.

 

[Vengeancekael]

Love it!

 

[Garfield1337]

I am not into SC2 but I am glad they released this. Might make SC2 a much better modding game.

My thoughts exactly.

 

[Zwiebelchen]

Thanks blizzard for being 3 years too late!

 

[Talavaj]

Only compatible with max 2011, are they kidding ?

 

[StormWarriors2]

Finally. XD

 

[Dr Super Good]

Only compatible with max 2011, are they kidding ?

Well that is the tools they were kind of using when they finished making the game. I would be more cross with the makers of max than Blizzard because if they stopped messing around with their tools and added backwards compatibility then this problem would not exist.

 

[Gilles]

Well that is the tools they were kind of using when they finished making the game. I would be more cross with the makers of max than Blizzard because if they stopped messing around with their tools and added backwards compatibility then this problem would not exist.

This. Most of the large software developers do this and it drives me nuts.

 

[Asomath]

As with anything Blizzard and Starcraft related

Hell... its about time.

Only compatible with max 2011, are they kidding ?

Not supremely surprised by this. Anyways, 3ds 2011 is still offered as part of the free 3-year student license, so I'll be taking advantage of that.

Cheers,
~Asomath

 

[Statharas]

Only compatible with max 2011, are they kidding ?

I complained about this since the beta.

 

[tobyfat50]

Thi is great and all but I can't get them to work! I am sure I'm doing something wrong, if it works I'll switch to sc2 art (not entirely).

 

[Statharas]

Have you installed 3DS Max 11?

 

[tobyfat50]

Yes and they seem to instal correctly but when I try the preview I get a error in the sc2 preview window and nothing is displayed even if the script says it's all OK. Not even export works, tried it and I get a empty model. The script says import successful but in sc2 editor I get nothing and I tried everything from reinstalling the script to tracking evry possible thing that might make the tools not work, I even followed the steps on known bugs in the manual, just don't get what's going on? Does it require the heart of the swarm? cause I only got wings of liberty!

 

[Statharas]

Do your objects have materials? If so, Starcraft 2 materials (and bitmaps)?

 

[tobyfat50]

Yes I have all of those and I did all of that! I am starting to think It's my fault somehow for suffocating 3ds max, with scripts, maybe one of those is interfering with the art tools. I am tempted to reinstall 3ds max, if that is not the case maybe my sc2 isn't installed correctly. It's impossible to have such problems if it only requires Wings of Liberty... Dilemma!!!

 

[Statharas]

It actually requires HOTS.
There are many reasons why a model doesnt work. Send the max file and assets to me, ill try to get it to work.

 

[Rui]

(...) Anyways, 3ds 2011 is still offered as part of the free 3-year student license, so I'll be taking advantage of that.
(...)

How is that license acquired and in what area of studies? I'm studying informatics engineering, a bachelor analogue to computer science. Do I have the possibility to ask for such a license?

 

[Statharas]

I used to be in an agricultural high school and got the license like that.

 

[Asomath]

How is that license acquired and in what area of studies? I'm studying informatics engineering, a bachelor analogue to computer science. Do I have the possibility to ask for such a license?

They don't specify any majors, you just have to be attending an institution that they have verified. As long as you have a student E-mail for that institution, you should be fine.

~Asomath

 

[Chen]

It's good they released it. I'm happy, even I don't have Starcraft

 

[Statharas]

Stupid question, but is the editor available to people who lack Starcraft 2? Or is it specifically only the Arcade?

 

[Rui]

They don't specify any majors, you just have to be attending an institution that they have verified. As long as you have a student E-mail for that institution, you should be fine.

~Asomath

Sorry for the newbie questions, but where do we apply and where do we consult the list of institutions they have verified? Mine does have a student e-mail.

 

[theblitched]

pff, they should make Warcraft 4, and release tools like this.

Playing with custom maps in an Warcraft environment, is much much more fun for me.
This is the reason I'm still playing Warcraft III to this day.

 

[Statharas]

students.autodesk.com

And stop it with the WC4 thing, it wont happen, and even of it did, it would be like sc2 in terms of engine

 

[theblitched]

students.autodesk.com

And stop it with the WC4 thing, it wont happen, and even of it did, it would be like sc2 in terms of engine

I'm not complaining about the engine, I'm just saying it is less fun to play custom maps in a starcraft 2 environment than in a warcraftIII environment.

 

[Statharas]

We could make a Wc3 environment in Sc2 easily.

 

[Rui]

"Easily".^^

 

[Statharas]

Easily.

 

[tobyfat50]

I'm necroing but... As Easily as this:

 

[Rui]

No. It's not news that SC2 has dirt/grass tiles and trees that could help a smaaaaall tad to recreate such an environment, but almost every other game actually has that too.

Wc3 is more than just a few trees on top of a mono-textured, elevation-wise awkwardly shaped terrain. Sorry about the negativism, it's just that I'm hardly impressed. Everytime I hear someone saying wc3 in sc2 is easy, I see no evidence whatsoever. It's like that vain hope for a grand endeavor that never got finished. I am glad you took your time to present some, at least.

 

[tobyfat50]

Sure that sc2 assets suck and look like plastic, and sure nobody bothers to make something different simply because all everyone cares about is a lame multiplayer map that anyone can do but have you tried searching, there really is a wc3 conversion out there and looks similar to wc3. Also it's not the assets it's the engine that gives the power to the artist which in turn does magic with with talent. I find the SC2 engine to be everything I could have hoped for and it's a shame I realized this at such a late point in time.

Edit: Ow btw the terrain is a mesh I exported and not the actual terrain, the actual terrain in lots of times better and improved, the greatest improvement would be the introduction of brushes, additionally the textures (2048px max) size is not limited to a pathetic 128px.
* cliffs are improved, you can easily change you terrain textures to what you want, you have the ability to paint roads, better water and more types of it, terrain objects that blend with the terrain itself which you can also paint on, improved lighting, the ability to disable the terrain completely, should I go on?!

Oh and sorry I know what you mean now but I was just trying to point out that making something better is easier in sc2.

 

[gorillabull]

^ yes the engine is all that matters in the end. wc3's engine is like trying to pain a picture with a broken crayon when compared to sc2's those terrains are proof...

 

[tobyfat50]

Actually what I wanted to say is that it's really easy to convert\ import wc3 models in sc2 and make a better looking wc3 environment. It's almost no work at all, only importing models. Just for the sake of proving that, I would actually go and do it myself but I don't have the time to and won't. The people who want to should do it themselves, they have the power now!

 

[Ralle]

The terrains look neat. Good point.

 

[Zwiebelchen]

The only issue with SC2 maps is, that the maps are way too small compared to the enormous size of a WC3 256x256 or even 480x480 map.

 

[Rui]

Exactly! I'm glad you agree with me, because someone recently contradicted me on that. It's one of the limitations that set me off from learning the editor and trying anything.

 

[tobyfat50]

I'll have to agree on the file size and I can say that it sucks - coming from me, yes! And I understand why most people are getting set off on even trying it when I myself had my own issues with it, not to mention with Blizzard and the way they do things now, yes I am not kissing any of ther arses! They do both good and wrong so it's a 50\50.

They set that limit on map size for performance reasons, any bigger and your performance might suffer, as for the other limitations they added, it's ridiculous, especially for multiplayer although it's way better than wc3 but You'll have to keep in mind that a sc2 map files the file size a lot faster (let's say only custom terrain textures can easily be 20mb (if you are working with sc2 standards), the rest is a lot more). I personally don't care about the multiplayer, a single player mod is satisfactory for me, and there are no limitations, not even mapsize since it can be placed in mods.

A way around the map size is to scale everything really small, even the tiles can be scaled to match the units so that they look good at close up. The only problems will be with the shadows which will look weird on the scale but still work fine. A way around eve this would be to use static shadows if you know what you're doing!

I am starting to think people also don't give it a shot because it's more complicated than wc3, and it is but that is a price to pay for all that stuff it does.

 

[Ralle]

I'll have to agree on the file size and I can say that it sucks - coming from me, yes! And I understand why most people are getting set off on even trying it when I myself had my own issues with it, not to mention with Blizzard and the way they do things now, yes I am not kissing any of ther arses! They do both good and wrong so it's a 50\50.

They set that limit on map size for performance reasons, any bigger and your performance might suffer, as for the other limitations they added, it's ridiculous, especially for multiplayer although it's way better than wc3 but You'll have to keep in mind that a sc2 map files the file size a lot faster (let's say only custom terrain textures can easily be 20mb (if you are working with sc2 standards), the rest is a lot more). I personally don't care about the multiplayer, a single player mod is satisfactory for me, and there are no limitations, not even mapsize since it can be placed in mods.

A way around the map size is to scale everything really small, even the tiles can be scaled to match the units so that they look good at close up. The only problems will be with the shadows which will look weird on the scale but still work fine. A way around eve this would be to use static shadows if you know what you're doing!

I am starting to think people also don't give it a shot because it's more complicated than wc3, and it is but that is a price to pay for all that stuff it does.

Isn't this the point of the SC2MOD file format? Put all resources in a SC2MOD and get it hosted through your account, then link your map to that. This works the same way as appendixes in reports, it does not count against the page count.

 

[Rui]

I am starting to think people also don't give it a shot because it's more complicated than wc3

No kidding? =P
For me it wasn't the difficulty. I like large strategy maps like "LOTR: Battle for Middle Earth" and "Azeroth Wars", both of which have sizes much larger than some petty 256x256. In SC2, these things are a no can do. Therefore, I have no reason to want to mod the game.

 

[tobyfat50]

Isn't this the point of the SC2MOD file format? Put all resources in a SC2MOD and get it hosted through your account, then link your map to that. This works the same way as appendixes in reports, it does not count against the page count.

In theory for me but I haven't actually tried a mod yet so I have not witnessed how it works. I really don't know...

For me it wasn't the difficulty. I like large strategy maps like "LOTR: Battle for Middle Earth" and "Azeroth Wars", both of which have sizes much larger than some petty 256x256. In SC2, these things are a no can do. Therefore, I have no reason to want to mod the game.

Well that's fine and you are right on that point, it's your personal choice. To be honest I'll admit it right now, I am a bastard and I don't even care for the single player, all I care about is the artistic part since finding teammates that will work with you on a project is almost null. I've only been doing the artsy part of it till now, wc3 and sc2 alike. A single human being could not do it alone, even if you don't have a life. If there is something that should actually be used for making games I'd recommend Unity, which I am shifting to. I squeeze all I could out of wc3 capabilities and tried sc2 to convince myself that some things are achievable, I tried the hard way, Unity is a lot easier and user friendly If you understand what I'm talking about here.

In the meantime I'll let you enjoy/or not a irritating video on my sc2 materials.