StarCraft II Unit Model Upgrades

Several upgrades to the unit models of StarCraft II have taken place recently, and StarCraftWire.net have made an in-depth preview article about these changes as part of their StarCraft 2 Alpha guide article series. The technical guru Kalos is looking at changes that have increased detail, and some that have actually removed details.

Terran, Protoss and Zerg gets analysed.

[Leord]

Wow, the Viking actually lost featurs that are cool, same with the Stalker, but I think I like the shield thing more, actually...

[kalos]

I'm bias, I like the old Stalker. But I also think adding the silver trim was a good touch, it does link in with other Dark Templar technology's colour schemes that way.

[Terrice]

Personally, I prefer the new Stalker model for the same reasons that you've all listed. :)

[Maticus]

The game is looking really polished. I'm glad they kept true to the original models though.

[Medievaldragon]

The only model I wish they changed a bit is the Dark Templar. I don't mind the new model. Just, the double-edged scythe is so ridiculous. The psi-blade shoudl come from their wrists manifesting their psi-powers. That blade thing is completely external to their body manifesting on each end of the scythe. It makes no sense.

I say, ok keep the new model, but replace the new scythe with the old-school scythe.

[JonahNL]

Yeah, I'm glad too. Imagine having to get used to a new look for every unit! Never change a winning team, ey!

[Recka]

aye, tis looking very polished and can't wait to see this hit stored (not that my comp will run it :/)

[Leord]

@ MD: Well, they are talking about having both models out possible. I agree that the lack of physical attachment is a little bit weird for a psionic tool, but it's quite cool, on the other hand...

Ah, found it!

http://www.starcraftwire.ne...

I like the face of the Double Scythe one a lot more, but the one-handed one is really cool as a unit, and I think I prefer that for a unit.

[Rovdjuret]

Wonder if the will make the Computer requirements more demanding or less :S

[JonahNL]

Units are more detailed, have higher resolution textures and so on. It makes the game more demanding, but it's nothing to worry about! ;-)

[Leord]

I recommend these articles for you if you want to know the StarCraft 2 system requirements:

Info:
http://www.starcraftwire.ne...

Buyer's Guide:
http://www.starcraftwire.ne...

[Recka]

hmm game looks really good but whether it ups or downs it... 2.01 single core just aint going to cut it lol :P

[Perjoss]

I could be wrong (I usually am), but i don't think any blizzard game has ever used normal maps or the kinds of shaders that require monster video cards. The stuff in WoW that reduces frame rates is view distance and poly counts (theres not very high poly models in the game, but its the quantity of models on screen when you turn the view distance up).

What makes their games look so good is the choices in color pallet and fantastic texture artists, good lighting etc, clever particle effects, art choices, stuff that isn't all that demanding on the system.

You can be sure that even if SC2 is quite demanding on highest settings that the game will also scale all the way down to run on less powerful machines too, 'thats how they roll' (is it ok to say that at the age of 35? hmm)

[Leord]

You are right, of course, but some level of requirements have actually been confirmed from Blizzard documents, and you are right, they won't require monster graphics cards. Look at the links I posted above here, that should give you a good idea of what to expect. My PC is 4 years now, so I'll likely be forced to get a new one. It's a laptop, before you start asking me to upgrade it =P

[Medievaldragon]

Nice article. I wouldn't have noticed the differences without seeing both (before and after) images to compare.

[Leord]

Indeed, some are more of a nuance than actual great differences. I mean the Viking is changed, but not THAT much...

I'm very glad they are not using the left hand side Zergling at least, lol.

[Recka]

The article does highlight the changes and it's good to see some of them looking really good compared to their old ones

[JonahNL]

I was already able to spot differences between the Terran and Protoss demo's, but mostly only in colour schemes. This is a way better and more detailed comparison!

[JonahNL]

Wow! Awesome article, been waiting for this for quite a while!
You can definitely tell the units have become more detailed and darker in appearance. I like it so far, keep up the good work, Blizzard!

[kalos]

I'm glad you appreciated it, I've been wanting to write about it for a while as well :D

[SCFreelancer]

With some of the older units such as the zergling changes are really dramatic. Overall I like what they have changed. Sadly the Thor is still in, but I guess one can't have it all!

[Leord]

I think they recently gave the Thor new shoulders btw...

[kalos]

It always would figure that decent shots of the Thor's new shoulders would emerge today of all days, instead of two days ago when I actually could have done something...

[Dorjan]

great pics! I love all the new ones ever the one that the reviewer didn't!

[UIOP]

Both the new and old models look good. I really hope that we will be able to access all the versions in the editor.

[Terrice]

Good point, I wonder if the older models will be available in the editor...